Rehabilitation Paper
Sylvia Pierce
CJS/230
December 18, 2011

In the prison setting, a generic definition is something that makes a prisoner a better person. This is pretty open ended for it does not describe the change agent how the change takes place or the consequences of change a prisoner can become a better person and still be a criminal.
In the 19th Century beginning in Britain, did prisons as know today become commonplace. The modern prisons system was born in London, influenced by the utilitarianism of Jeremy Berthan introduced the principle of observation and control that underpins the design of the modern prison. The notion of prisoners being incarcerated as part of their punishment not simply as a holding state, until trial or hanging was at the revolutionary. This is when prisons had begun to be used as criminal rehabilitation center.
In 1779, the British Government passed the Penitentiary Act, which made the rehabilitation of criminals a function of all prisons. Since then, while imprisonment has remained the central form of punishment in the criminal justice system, the emphasis on correction rather than punishment has steadily increased. Despite the entrenchment of rehabilitation in social and criminal justice policy, the idea that prisons are not intended to rehabilitate but rather solely to punish and protect the public retains considerable public support in some areas. (Politics.co.uk, Rob Owen, Chief executive St. Giles Trust-October, 2010). Improved condition and opportunities for rehabilitative activity in prisons generate the complaints that modern life behind bars is soft and too much like a “holiday camp”.
Rehabilitation programs are provided by various religious organizations. Prisoners meet these organizations regularly and clergies provide than counseling and religious teaching. They help people to refrain and reform from