Prison Reform

Prison Reform
Catherine Johns
Axia College of University of Phoenix Most people who enter prison are lost. They have no direction in their life. They cannot find structure, so they turn to crime. They need help but they do not know where to turn. Think of how our world might be if there were better programs focused on reforming out prisoners while they are serving their time. The prison recidivism rate would decrease. Crime rates would lessen over time. Prisoners will have the opportunity to move on in their lives after they are released. While some states have reform projects for prisoners in place, the Government needs to look into providing better opportunities of reform to prisoners.

Many states currently have programs in place to help prisoners while they are serving their time. These programs help the prisoners to further their education and learn how to survive once they are released. Friends and family of prisoners in Minnesota have started a group called CURE-Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants. They base the theme of their group on the fact that prisoners are humans also and should be treated as such. Prisoners need to have the proper chance to reform and be forgiven of the crime that they have committed, so everyone involved can more on. CURE has spread to many other states in our nation as a way to help prisoner’s rehabilitation status. As a result, the state of Minnesota is rated among the best in the nation for the way they treat their prisoners and the education they provide them (Inskip, 1990). New Jersey, and other surrounding states, has Rebecca Sanford and Johanna E. Foster who have committed their careers to being prison educators. They are hoping to have their programs grow to many other states. The College Program was founded to help women who are incarcerated earn their GED and further their education, so they are able to find a job when they have completed their sentence. So far, with almost no financial resources, the program has helped nearly 250 women further their education. They also founded Project INSIDE, which helps juvenile offenders enroll in college-level courses to earn a certificate from a Community College. This is a federally funded program that focuses on women 25 years of age and under (Sanford & Foster, 2006). The problem with these and other college-in-prison programs are that they require approval from the Department of Corrections and funding from somewhere. The Department of Corrections Officers in some states can make it very difficult to approve these programs. They tend to be cautious of prisoner/civilian contact; which can deter educators from being able to enter the necessary areas to teach. They also can deter which inmates take the placement exams to determine their eligibility for the programs. These programs also require funding approval that can be difficult to obtain without assistance on many state government levels.

Prisoners who are released without receiving the proper reform programs are not only a danger to themselves but also to the communities they are being released into. The Superintendent of Education for South Carolina, Jim Rex, is beginning to realize the increased need for education in prison. He has compared the cost the government has spent on each inmate’s education versus the cost of paying them welfare and support once they are released and are unable to find a job. In a press release issued in October 2008 Dr. Jim Rex asked, “Are they going to be in prisons that we build and pay for, or are they going to be in homes they build and pay for (Gelinas, 2008)?” This shows that some states are beginning to realize the need for prison reform and the savings it could provide to the government. Incarceration has been figured to cost, on average, $22,000 per year. Which means that in order to incarcerate someone for a 10-year sentence the average cost would be $220,000 (Fauteck, 2001). If a criminal was given a shorter sentence with an emphasis on re-education and rehabilitation the cost would be much cheaper and much more effective. If there were more rehabilitation-oriented correctional institutions they would make more demands on the inmates rather than being excessively easy crime school kinds of prisons, like most of them are now. In some states, they have not realized the long-term effect prison reform can have on their community. These communities struggle to deal with the released prisoners because they do not know what to do or how to act. Some prisoners may be homeless because their families have turned their back on them, and they are not receiving the proper help to find a job. Other prisoners who are released may cause more crime in the community because that is all they know. They have not been given the proper treatments to break their deviant cycles. If the Government would begin to look at released prisoners as humans rather than statistics, more prisoners may feel more encouraged to enroll in the programs if they were offered. This way they can learn to start anew, and live a better life for themselves and their families. The failure of the parole system contributes to crime and increases the size of the prison population as well. Parole officers have so many offenders on their work load that there is not enough time in the day to give each one the true help needed when released into the community. This poor supervision and lack of help in finding a job makes the offenders lives more difficult, which in turn gives them more of a reason to disobey their officers and commit crimes. They think that because their parole officers fail to pay close enough attention to them they are more likely to get away with things. The sad part for the community is that most of the time the criminals are right. If there were better programs for criminals to go through while they are on parole they will stay out of trouble and be able to survive. Hawaii has implemented a program called HOPE ' ' Hawaii’s Opportunity Probation with Enforcement. This program is intended to help lessen the amount of paperwork a parole officer has to complete, so that they are able to spend more time helping their offenders instead of just punishing them and sending them back to prison. This program has had a very good success rate with more than 90% of the probationers improving their behavior over their probationary period (Kleiman, 2008). Another way to look at combating crime and recidivism rates is to establish more programs for juveniles both already in the system, and those who are on their way there. Some states, such as Wyoming, have established a program called Youth Alternatives. These programs are made to provide diversions that use reinforcement and structure to hold the youth accountable but help them down the right path. Youth Alternatives consist of four basic programs: Work Alternatives Program; Supervised Probation; Juvenile Alcohol and Drug Intervention Project; and a Weekend Jail Diversion Project. Each of these programs help the youth in different ways, so that they will be able to find jobs in healthy environments and change their lives to better themselves and the people around them. The Youth Alternatives program has helped many juveniles since 2004. Between 2004 through 2006 a total of 1,153 youth were referred to these programs. As is shown in the chart below, 1,034 or 90% of those referred successfully completed the program. 86, or 7%, were unsuccessful in completing the program, which usually resulted in a fine or jail sentence. Only 33, or 3%, of the youth who did not complete the program had their cases turned-over to the District Attorney to be prosecuted on the District Court level (Wyoming, 2008). [pic] Although there are programs available, and many more that should become available, still one question remains: How do our prisoners feel about the opportunities for reform that they are receiving? Many have completed these and other classes and programs that have helped them in their reformation process. Some are aware of the classes and programs, yet they are unable to enroll in them, in order for them to be helpful. Mike F., who is serving a sentence of 10 years for a sexual offense crime, states that Missouri requires a 9-month sex offender program before he can be released. He believes that the program is solid and has helped him discover who he is as a person, and helps in determining why he committed the crime. Another prisoner, John W., who is serving a 20-year sentence has participated in many of the programs and received the certificates. When he has gone before the Parole Board in hopes of being released he has taken the certificates, and they still sentence him to more time in prison. John believes that they are worthless if the Parole Board will not take them into consideration when determining their release date. Carl W. also has been offered these programs while serving his time but when he was released he felt there was nothing available to help him on the street. Other prisoners, such as Robert S., are currently taking a Criminal Thinking class through the Department of Corrections while they are incarcerated. Robert believes that this is good because he is learning more about how to react to certain things and how to refrain from the criminal thinking mindset. He is hoping that this class will help him once he is released back into his community but for right now he is still unsure. Lewis K. has been enrolled in a vocational technical program and has earned his certificate. The certificate did help him to obtain a job while he was out on parole; however due to poor parole officer supervision he has been incarcerated again and has lost that job. Many of the prisoners believe that no matter how hard they try to take classes to help them when they are released they are still at the mercy of their parole officers. Some feel as though they are thrown back in prison just because their officer was having a bad day. There is no continuity between the reasons parolees are violated and for how long they have to return to incarceration. If the Government would try to mandate the terms and length of parole violations many of the prisoners may at least feel like they are at least being returned for valid reasons. Many of the programs mentioned, such as CURE and Colleges that are offering college credit hours, are transforming the lives of our prisoners and their communities every day that they are being offered. Without funding from outside sources and help from society these systems may not be able to stay in place forever. If the Government does not want to look at it as helping the prisoners, should they not at least look at it as helping the communities they are being released into? We could all live in a much safer environment if we work together to reduce crime by reforming the prisoners while they are serving their time and by helping them survive once they are released.

References

Inskip, L. (1990, September 2). Prisoners’ friends set up CURE: [Metro Edition]. Star Tribune, p. 21A. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Business Dateline database.
Sanford, R., & Foster, J. (2006). Reading, Writing, and Prison Education Reform. Equal Opportunities International, 25(7), 599-610. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from Emerald Insight database.
Gelinas, J. (2008, October). Stat’s Top Educator Backs Prison Education Says ‘It’s Critical That Education Is Provided In Prison’. US Fed New Service, Including US State News. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Research Library database.
Kleiman, M., & Hawken, A. (2008, Summer). Fixing the Parole System. Issues in Science and Technology, 24 (4), 45-52. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from MasterFile Premier database.
Fauteck, P. (2001). Going Straight: An Ex-Convict/Psychologist Tells Why and How. IUniverse, Incorporated.
Wyoming Center for Business & Economic Analysis, Inc. (2008, July). Analysis of Recidivism Rates for the Office of Youth Alternatives.

References: Inskip, L. (1990, September 2). Prisoners’ friends set up CURE: [Metro Edition]. Star Tribune, p. 21A. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Business Dateline database. Sanford, R., & Foster, J. (2006). Reading, Writing, and Prison Education Reform. Equal Opportunities International, 25(7), 599-610. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from Emerald Insight database. Gelinas, J. (2008, October). Stat’s Top Educator Backs Prison Education Says ‘It’s Critical That Education Is Provided In Prison’. US Fed New Service, Including US State News. Retrieved December 12, 2008, from Research Library database. Kleiman, M., & Hawken, A. (2008, Summer). Fixing the Parole System. Issues in Science and Technology, 24 (4), 45-52. Retrieved December 10, 2008, from MasterFile Premier database. Fauteck, P. (2001). Going Straight: An Ex-Convict/Psychologist Tells Why and How. IUniverse, Incorporated. Wyoming Center for Business & Economic Analysis, Inc. (2008, July). Analysis of Recidivism Rates for the Office of Youth Alternatives.