Cjs 230 Rehabilitation Past And Present
Rehabilitation Past and Present
CJS/230
August 18, 2013
Rehabilitation Past and Present
Many years ago, rehabilitation was a priority in the prison system. After the focus shifted to punishment, it was clear to see that rehabilitation is necessary in the criminal justice system.
“Rehabilitation is the result of any planned intervention that reduces an offender’s further criminal activity, whether that reduction is mediated by personality, behavior, abilities, attitudes, values, or other factors” (Foster, 2006, p.382). Prisons use rehabilitation in an attempt to retrain offenders in a way that they are no longer a threat to society, but instead, turn them into productive, law-abiding citizens.
“Until the mid-1970s, rehabilitation
was a key part of U.S prison policy. Prisoners were encouraged to develop occupational skills and to resolve psychological problems--such as substance abuse or aggression--that might interfere with their reintegration into society” (Benson, 2003). Once rehabilitation faded out of the picture and harsher punishments were enforced, the inmate population within prisons soared. When prisons first opened, the goal was to make the offenders regret their actions to the point that they change their ways. Once manual labor was introduced to the prison system, it was more important to implement than rehabilitation because it helped bring in revenue. The inmates also reduce the cost of labor that the prisons had to pay workers by having to perform maintenance, cooking, and any tasks the prisons saw fit.
It was later discovered that many offenders suffered from some sort of mental illness or were uneducated. This lead to psychological treatment of the mentally ill and educating the offenders. These types of programs were considered a form of rehabilitation.
The current rehabilitation programs consist of substance abuse treatment, thinking patterns, faith-based programs, work, and the whole-person concept (Foster, 2006, p.394-395). “The basic idea of rehabilitation through imprisonment is that a person who has been incarcerated will never want to be sent back to prison after they have been set free” (National Museum of Crime & Punishment, 2008). This is due to the unpleasant experiences of prison along with programs to help encourage the offender to do better. Rehabilitation programs help change the offenders’ behavior while incarcerated, as well as when they are released. This affects the atmosphere in prison by making it more positive. It affects society by releasing more law-abiding citizens than habitual offenders. This means that the communities would be safer and there would be fewer prisons overcrowded if the programs were being properly implemented.
Rehabilitation has not been a main focus in the last few years as it should have been. To improve rehabilitation, I think that the rehabilitation programs need to be updated. Every staff member that will have any involvement in the rehabilitation programs need to be thoroughly trained and randomly monitored on the outcome of their participants, as well as monitored from time to time to ensure the proper methods are being used.
In conclusion, rehabilitation can only benefit prisoners, as well as society. While the programs are not always successful with every inmate, research has proven that the inmate count was much lower when the programs were implemented as a priority. Therefore rehabilitation can help drastically reduce the inmate count, while creating productive citizens.
References:
Benson, E. (2003). Rehabilitate or punish?. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org
Burk Foster. (2006). Corrections: The Fundamentals. Retrieved from Burk Foster, CJS230-Introduction to Corrections website.
National Museum of Crime & Punishment. (2008). Rehabilitative Effects of Imprisonment. Retrieved from http://www.crimemuseum.org
CJS/230
August 18, 2013
Rehabilitation Past and Present
Many years ago, rehabilitation was a priority in the prison system. After the focus shifted to punishment, it was clear to see that rehabilitation is necessary in the criminal justice system.
“Rehabilitation is the result of any planned intervention that reduces an offender’s further criminal activity, whether that reduction is mediated by personality, behavior, abilities, attitudes, values, or other factors” (Foster, 2006, p.382). Prisons use rehabilitation in an attempt to retrain offenders in a way that they are no longer a threat to society, but instead, turn them into productive, law-abiding citizens.
“Until the mid-1970s, rehabilitation
was a key part of U.S prison policy. Prisoners were encouraged to develop occupational skills and to resolve psychological problems--such as substance abuse or aggression--that might interfere with their reintegration into society” (Benson, 2003). Once rehabilitation faded out of the picture and harsher punishments were enforced, the inmate population within prisons soared. When prisons first opened, the goal was to make the offenders regret their actions to the point that they change their ways. Once manual labor was introduced to the prison system, it was more important to implement than rehabilitation because it helped bring in revenue. The inmates also reduce the cost of labor that the prisons had to pay workers by having to perform maintenance, cooking, and any tasks the prisons saw fit.
It was later discovered that many offenders suffered from some sort of mental illness or were uneducated. This lead to psychological treatment of the mentally ill and educating the offenders. These types of programs were considered a form of rehabilitation.
The current rehabilitation programs consist of substance abuse treatment, thinking patterns, faith-based programs, work, and the whole-person concept (Foster, 2006, p.394-395). “The basic idea of rehabilitation through imprisonment is that a person who has been incarcerated will never want to be sent back to prison after they have been set free” (National Museum of Crime & Punishment, 2008). This is due to the unpleasant experiences of prison along with programs to help encourage the offender to do better. Rehabilitation programs help change the offenders’ behavior while incarcerated, as well as when they are released. This affects the atmosphere in prison by making it more positive. It affects society by releasing more law-abiding citizens than habitual offenders. This means that the communities would be safer and there would be fewer prisons overcrowded if the programs were being properly implemented.
Rehabilitation has not been a main focus in the last few years as it should have been. To improve rehabilitation, I think that the rehabilitation programs need to be updated. Every staff member that will have any involvement in the rehabilitation programs need to be thoroughly trained and randomly monitored on the outcome of their participants, as well as monitored from time to time to ensure the proper methods are being used.
In conclusion, rehabilitation can only benefit prisoners, as well as society. While the programs are not always successful with every inmate, research has proven that the inmate count was much lower when the programs were implemented as a priority. Therefore rehabilitation can help drastically reduce the inmate count, while creating productive citizens.
References:
Benson, E. (2003). Rehabilitate or punish?. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org
Burk Foster. (2006). Corrections: The Fundamentals. Retrieved from Burk Foster, CJS230-Introduction to Corrections website.
National Museum of Crime & Punishment. (2008). Rehabilitative Effects of Imprisonment. Retrieved from http://www.crimemuseum.org