Prison Classification

●Reading 14 (pages: 264-269)

1.) The authors believe inmates should have a voice in how they are classified. Do you agree? Why or why not? No, I don’t agree with the authors believing in that inmates should have a voice in how they are classified. The reason why, is because these people went against the law to commit a crime and they should be ready to pay for the consequences for their actions.

2.) Why would inmates care about the classification process? The reason why would inmates care about the classification process, is because they are the experimental subjects that will either benefit or suffer the consequences from the outcome of the classification process.

3.) What factors most affect the inmate classification process, according to

The primary obstacles facing a prisoner returning to his or her community, are (a) classification decisions, (b) prison program participation, (c) assignments to prison-community transition programs, and (d) post-release community supervision.

2.) Should all people released from prison have a period of supervision in the community regardless of whether or not they have "maxed out"? Yes, all people released from prison should have a period of supervision in the community regardless of whether or not they have "maxed out."

3.) Summarize the reentry strategies that have work, have not worked, and are promising. The reentry strategies that have work are considered "working," with significant tests indicating that the intervention was effective and its evidence supports the conclusion. The reentry strategies have not worked are coded as "not working," with statistical significant indicating the ineffectiveness of the program. The reentry strategies that are promising gives available evidence too low for supporting generalizable conclusions, but empirical basis predict that further research would support such conclusions such as programs are found effective in at least one Level 3 evaluation. If a program is not classified under any of those categories, they are defined as having unknown

According to the author, rejecting rehabilitation was a mistake based on three reasons. First, their faith in the law to restrict state power made sense in the progressive 1960s but ultimately was a "bad bet" when the courts and legislators turned conservative. Second, the critics ' embrace of a justice model undermined the social welfare purpose of corrections, saying, in essence, that the state should not be in the business of providing services to offenders. Third, even more consequential, the justice model rejected the idea that corrections had a utilitarian purpose-that this system should be used to prevent crime.

2.) According to the author, why is rehabilitation the right thing (morally, legally, financially, etc.) to do in corrections? According to the author, the reason why rehabilitation is the right thing to do in corrections, is because it reinforces moral boundaries and communicates that offenders are moral agents (just like non offenders) who deserve to be held accountable for their bad