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Rehabilitation programs in prisons
Intro about rehabilitation in prisons
Effects of rehabilitation in prison
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According to the U.S. Department of Justice, there are currently over 2.2 million individuals serving time in federal and state prison, with 95 percent of those individuals being released and returning to their perspective communities across the nation. Majority of those individuals returning have needs that was either unaddressed while incarcerated or during the reentry process, which will negatively impact their ability to live a crime free productive life while in the community. Once released from prison, inmates are faced with a myriad of challenges such as finding stable housing, maintaining employment, combating substance abuse, and addressing physical and mental health problems. However, with the help of community support, offenders would less likely return back to prison and are
Since the 1940’s, incarceration included three models according to Cole, Smith, and De Jong (2014). Incarceration is based upon the custodial model, the rehabilitation model, and the reintegration model. The custodial model presumes that every inmate is incarcerated because of the idea of deterrence, retribution and incapacitation. Within the model order, discipline, and security are accentuated all throughout incarceration. During the 1950’s, the rehabilitation model was developed to highlight and design treatment programs for offenders.
It is believed that letting a criminal free from incarceration puts society at risk. Before the reform recidivism rates were high, scaring the public with the idea that criminals can reenter society. When comparing individuals who were sentenced to prison to those in diversion programs, those in diversion programs were more likely to stay out of jail while those who went to jail were more likely to have re-arrests. It was reported that 64% of the treatment sample were arrest-free over a two-year follow up period. Those in the diversion program had recidivism rates as low as 36%; this compares to the group who were given jail time with a recidivism rate of 54% (Parsons, Wei, Henrichson, Drucker, & Trone, 2015).
By giving the offender adequate guidance to ease the transition into society, but also giving them some independence and control over their own lives, COSA helps offenders reintegrate with significant success. The program also ensures that, throughout all of this, the community as a whole remains safe and secure. COSA, “has the dual role of providing [the offender] with support through the very hostile response from the community and monitoring [their] behavior to ensure that the community was kept safe” (Clarke et al, p. 3). By addressing the community’s needs as well as the offender’s, the program generates impressive results even when the community is initially reluctant to allow offender re-entry. COSA’s multidimensional process allows offenders to reintegrate into society safely and successfully, while also keeping the community safe.
Changing criminal behavior, not pausing it while incarcerated is what is needed to keep the public safe, making offenders aware of the destruction they have caused to society, and making them accountable via treatment programs and discipline. Unfortunately, upon release an offender may have set backs, being in a structured, disciplined environment, followed by complete freedom may prove bad for some. Many halfway houses are located far away from an offender’s residence, therefore even if employment is secured during treatment when released they return home to no job, or support, and are put back in the same situation. Community support is imperative in the effectiveness of halfway houses, sadly, many communities refuse halfway houses in their communities, lack of education and fear have been a huge
La Greta, I really enjoyed reading your post as I have been a part of such programs since I began my career as a police officer 18 years ago. I started by conducting parole checks on violent offenders and quickly learned how little they were prepared to return to society. You are very correct in that an offender’s re-entry starts the minute they begin their sentence. This is going to require the cooperation and collaboration of the prison system, probation and parole, law enforcement, prosecutors, social services and public housing. The money is out there in the form of federal grants and it just takes a little work to find them on the internet.
When society is not accepting the newly released prisoner, it makes them feel like they don’t belong, so they go back to their old ways,which involves reoffending. For instance, when a person has served a long-winded sentence,it could be hard to convert what society is now versus what it was before. In addition, programs are provided to reduce the rate of recidivism, but the effectiveness of the program is the bigger issue. Programs tend to be generalized and do not meet the needs of an inmate on an individual level. Also, the program could lack the essentials such as funding and proper staffing.
The article “Prisoner Reentry in a Small Metropolitan Community: Obstacles and Policy Recommendations” by Brett Garland, Eric J. Wodahl, and Julie Mayfield explains how the study proves that rehabilitation services provided during imprisonment for inmates that are going to reentry society are beneficial. In the study 43 male offenders were asked to identify which programs help them or that can help them to reentry society. It is mention in the article that the main obstacles male offenders face after reentering includes employment and reconnection with their
Jail reentry is a solution to jail crowding that works by transitioning the offenders from prison to the community (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). This is part of the strategies to ensure that fewer offenders will commit crimes upon release. The jail reentry includes measures such as improving the jobs skills of the inmates; increasing their wage potential and assisting them to find jobs after release. Then once particular inmates are identified with the potential to integrate into the society, they are released from the state or federal prison.
Life after incarceration, here today gone tomorrow. 95% of adults sentenced to prison will return to our communities, and reentry will be their first step back into society. Imagine have a thousand questions flooding one’s mind all at once. Where will I live, how will I survive, and contribute to the family, while maintaining to the stipulations of one’s parole/ probation, without risking freedom. The number one goal for those newly released back into society by way of the reentry program is to never return to the inside of a prison cell.
Community corrections also helps offenders learn from their faults and give them a chance to think about what they could do better and to help transform their
The concept of ‘recidivism’ is central to understanding the criminal justice system. Recidivism occurs when a person commits a crime again despite having been punished before. One of the main goals of the criminal justice system is to reduce recidivism but in fact longer sentences may increase the probability of recidivism (Griffiths & Cunningham, 2000). One reason is that the climate within a prison is not helpful to the inmate in making personal changes that can lead to reduced recidivism. However, psychologists are trying to develop intervention programmes that in fact lead to such personal changes so as to reduce recidivism.
In the criminal justice system, the corrections component is also responsible for the rehabilitation of the convicted individual. It is their duty to attempt to make the defendant a productive member of society once again. Based on the individual’s behavior while incarcerated, the court and corrections officials may decide to place them on parole, which ensures that the individual will comply with the rules of society once they are fully released from the system. The criminal justice system is an essential role in the organizational structure of not only the United States but also in countries around the world. If there were no criminal justice system to administer punishment, the world would be unstructured, disorganized, unjustified, cruel, and not to mention a chaotic place for it citizens.
This approach also prevents overcrowding in prisons because it also deals with rehabilitative
The correctional system consists of many different government agencies that are responsible for protecting the population from dangerous individuals who may bring self harm or bring harm to others. The correctional system is made to keep everyone safe from those who are considered a criminal or convict. Punishment and rehabilitation are two of the methods used for those who have been categorized as criminals. Punishment consists of parole, probation, imprisonment and death whereas rehabilitation consists of redirection for an individual that has been convicted of a crime. Rehabilitation is a method that could be a mental aid for someone who may possess a mental illness depending on the severance of the crime.
