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The Pros And Cons Of Offender Reentry Programs

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There are many problems, concerns, and issues that revolve around offender reentry within the United States, but there are also a lot a positive thing that can come from an offender being reentered into the community. In recent years, criminal justice professionals have begun looking to the community to act as the vehicle for handling the weaknesses of the criminal justice system. One of the biggest weaknesses with the criminal justice system is offender rehabilitation. Professionals believe that reentry programs should primarily be based on community intervention. In establishing the role of the community, professionals first must construct or identify what a community is essentially. Conceptions of a community range from a street corner, …show more content…

First, all Reentry Partnership Initiatives are geo-based, and they will operate at the neighborhood level. RPI planners often study offender release statistics, targeting neighborhoods with high per captia rates of prison releases, to select the areas for the programs. Second, Reentry Partnership Initiatives are proactive, as well as having problem solving ventures. In the selection of target areas, some RPIs have identified services and informal institutional supports such as churches or community groups that can be very beneficial for offenders upon their release. In areas that lack in services, planners have sought to build support for the RPI. Also, at the individual level reentry case managers work with offenders prior to release to identify any risks and protective factors. This allows reentry case managers to develop plans that are responsive to any risks and other factors prior to the offender’s release. Third, these initiatives are partnerships where authority and accountability are decentralized. In order for a state to be allowed to use an RPI, they had to agree that the RPI would be planned, controlled, and monitored by representatives from agencies and groups, that are diverse, which are chosen from both formal and informal institutions of social control. However, Reentry Partnership Initiatives fall short in two elements. One, at this time, they do not place priority on a community’s quality of life. It is just expected that the quality of life for the community will improve if the reentry initiatives reach their primary goal. Finally, as of now, no Reentry Partnership Initiative has tackled the larger mission of strengthening the capacity of the communities for self-regulation or the realization for the collective aims of welfare (Young, Taxman, & Byrne,

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The Second Chance Act is authorized to allocate funding to the federal and state for reentry programs. Reentry programs was designed to assist incarcerated individuals with a successful transition to their community after they are released. The act also have established a National Offender Re-Entry Resource Center for states, local government, service providers, faith-based organizations, correctional and community organizations to collect and disperse best practices and provide training and support for reentry. The Second Chance Act is an important step towards ensuring the rehabilitation of criminals so they can become productive members of society. Federal assistance is needed to help state and local governments implement programs to ease the transition for offenders and make sure they receive support so they can truly have a second chance to live a law abiding life.

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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).

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When considering the involvement of the community in an offender’s reintegration, it is intriguing to examine the cooperative approach that has existed in Indigenous communities for centuries. Aboriginals in Canada have restorative healing

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Sammy Vogel Criminal RehabilitationTable Of Contents Background 3 Overview 4-7 What Rehabilitation is 5 Norway 6 Private Prisons 7 8-11 History History of the US justice system 9 History of Norway 10 History of California’s Rehabilitation Programs 11 Controversy 12-15 What people think 13 Reasons why it’s a good idea 14 Reasons why it’s a bad idea 15 2 Background Definition Rehabilitation programs are defined as programs that reduce recidivism by improving behavioral skills, mental health, social functioning, and access to education and employment. What We Have Right Now: We do not currently have a well-funded rehabilitation program in our prisons.

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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.

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With the high level of incarceration and offenders on corrections supervision, there is a need to be able to identify those who have a greater chance to return back into the system. It has been shown that at least two-thirds of these offenders will re-offend the other one-third will not. It is extremely important to identify those offenders who are at a high risk to recidivate and devote services and resources to those individuals and cases (Baird, 2009). The RNR model is the ideal approach to risk management and rehabilitation since it addresses all three components: 1) whom to target for correctional intervention, 2) what needs to address, and 3) how to remove barriers to successful implementation of a supervision and treatment plan (Desmarais & Singh, 2013; Administrative Office of the United States Courts & Office of Probation and Pretrial Services, 2011).

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The Male Community Reentry Program offers rehabilitation services such as mental health care, medical care, education, housing, social support, employment, substance abuse rehabilitation, and many other services (Freudenberg 1725). The program is provided in Kern County jail and in Los Angeles jail. In order for inmates to qualify they need to have 120 days remaining prior to their release date. The program offers prisoners the opportunity to develop their social skills and services to overcome their mental disabilities and substance use disorders to reentry society. Most ex-cons struggle to find a job, housing, and socialize with others because people do not want to have a relationship with a criminal.

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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.

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The Cox proportional model has shown that “urban residence, childhood and recent abuses, living with a criminal partner, selling drugs, stress, depression, fearfulness, and suicidal thoughts are stronger positive predictors of recidivism and also criminal peer associations, carrying weapons, alcohol abuse, and aggressive feelings” (Benda 325). Physical factors as well as emotional factors play a role in returning. When inside jail these inmates should see a therapist or a doctor a few times a week to talk about problems and how they are going to change when they return back to their regular

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The best way to reintegrate offenders into society is to ensure that each offender has at minimum a high school GED, and a trade that he or she can use to become a functional member of society. At Coffield we offer a number of programs that will help offenders become better members of society after they are released from prison. The biggest program we have is the education department which contains class and testing for the GED program, trade schooling such as welding, horticulture, auto mechanics and college courses provided by Trinity Valley Community College. I have met several inmates that have decided to leave the gang life behind them and better themselves in order to make something out of their lives other than being a criminal the rest of their live and these men have earned a college degree. As a correctional officer, it is a good feeling to look back on an inmate’s life and for him to tell you where he went wrong and for him to take steps in his life to change his future so he isn’t just another

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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.

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When the American prison system began, it was believed that rehabilitation, the act of restoring one’s character, could be beneficial for criminals to start over. According to Tom Wicker, “The system…began as a reform impulse, the idea that if offenders were isolated, shielded from the public mockery that had accompanied hangings and the stocks, given time to repent, and worked hard, they could be turned away from crime and transformed into useful citizens” (xii). Criminals could become better citizens and have a positive outlook for a future if they worked hard and were secluded from the outside world. Although this idea seems more humane, it did not last long in the prison system because many people believed that any crime committed deserved

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It appears on the multiple studies reviewed in this report there is a variation in the response pending the severity of the offense and the type of restorative justice utilized. It is indicated Sentencing Circles are consistent in all arenas; they report a low recidivism rate in relation to all levels of crime severity. Over all, recidivism rates were down with restorative justice programs when compared to traditional programs. Statistics reported dependable results noting when offenders did re-offend the crimes were not as violent or severe and this was found not to be the circumstance with traditional programs (Umbreit, Vos, & Coates, 2006, p.

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The term prison reentry has been used to describe the process of offenders returning home after a prison or jail confinement. The problem posed by offenders being released from a penal institution and struggling to successfully transition back into society is complicated. As a result, significant changes are needed in regards to offenders reentering back into the community. The task of addressing the issue at hand is what level the current problem is dominant and how to eliminate this tug of war. Furthermore, the challenge concerned by communities of offender reentry is how to make this transition from custody to the community as safe as possible.

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According to the National Institute of Justice, “Recidivism refers to a person 's relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime,” (Recidivism). A study conducted in 2005 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics about recidivism revealed “about two-thirds (67.8%) of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within 3 years” upon release (Cooper). These high rates are influenced by a number of factors both while in prison, and following release. For instance, drug offenders “underestimate their vulnerability post-incarceration,” especially because many often return to neighborhoods that are associated with pre-incarceration drug use. Not to mention, they need proper housing and employment to readjust into society, but they lack access because they are labeled in society (Chandler).

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