...rehabilitative programs within prison systems. Basically, rehabilitation programs are used to correct and rehabilitate criminal offenders so that they can emerge as useful members of society once they complete their prison sentences. Some of the rehabilitation programs that are commonly used to reform inmates include counseling, health and fitness programs, transcendental meditation, academic programs and religious programs. These rehabilitative programs are usually based on the assumption that criminal behavior in most suspects is caused by some contributing factor such as a history of violence, psychological or mental disorders. Such an assumption does not refute that some criminals make their own personal choices to break the law but rather it argues that these personal choices are usually caused by certain factors which contribute to criminal behavior. Rehabilitation programs are therefore based on such perspectives where the various correctional programs are designed to deal with criminal enforcing behavior. For example counseling programs could focus on the behavior that led to the criminal offender committing the offense while educational programs could focus on how to change negative behavior to positive behavior. Correctional programs in prison facilities are therefore important in reducing the recurrence of criminal behavior as well as reducing recidivism among probationers and parolees. In general, rehabilitation programs have been effective in reducing recidivism among...
Words: 2134 - Pages: 9
...Rehabilitation Pap CAJ: Introduction to Corrections . Rehabilitation Paper The goal of rehabilitation came during the middle of the twentieth century when corrections adopted a medical model, in which crime was believed to be the result of an underlying pathology of offenders that could be diagnosed and treated (Seiter, 2011). Offenders were considered sick and in need of treatment to prepare them to return to the community as productive, law-abiding citizens. Correctional agencies implemented a variety of treatment programs to improve offenders and to provide them with the tools necessary to be successful members of society (Seiter, 2011). The need for rehabilitation of offenders was emphasized by the Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, appointed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1966, which noted a need for “substantial upgrading” of the correctional system and its reorientation “toward integration of offenders into community life” (Seiter, 2011). Throughout the years, many processes have been created to form the rehabilitation process of criminal justice. This process has reached out to many offenders and their families by allowing them to return to the community as changed individuals. Rehabilitation has many different process, but most, if not all have been proven successful in returning offenders to the community as changed individuals (Seiter, 2011). Rehabilitation is defined as a return to a previous form. In criminal justice, rehabilitation...
Words: 1454 - Pages: 6
...being incarcerated and reducing prison overcrowding. Non-violent offenders can remain free of incarceration to participate in diversion and rehabilitation programs while maintaining employment to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. Reforms to the US Criminal Justice System considering current affairs should include a reevaluation of sentencing laws to cut down on prison overcrowding. Community reintegration support is a key factor in reducing recidivism and prison overcrowding. Reintegrating back into society after incarceration for offenders can be almost impossible due to legal roadblocks and societal stigmas. Community reintegration support programs give former inmates help to transition back into society after incarceration. Community reintegration support programs entail housing, employment, education, and substance abuse treatment. Reintegration programs can also provide interventions for people with mental health issues. The issue of mental health is a current affair in society but also prevalent in prison with inmates having a very high rate of mental...
Words: 1581 - Pages: 7
...Evaluation In this paper I will evaluate the past, present and future trends pertaining to the development and operation of institutional and community based correction. As part of the evaluation I will identify and analyze current and future issues facing prisons and prison administrators today. I will also identify and analyze the role/issue of alternate correction systems as a developing trend. Trends within the criminal justice system continue to influence the development and operations of institutions and community-based corrections. As mandatory sentencing laws can cause an increase in prison population, prison administrators face a daunting task in addressing the issues that overpopulation causes. “Apart from the highest priority of addressing prison population growth, prison managers are often confronted with an array of issues relating to imprisonment practices and their consequences” (Greenfeld, Beck, & Gillard, 1996, p.9). Development and Operations of Institutions The development and operations of institutions appears to operate around two opposing philosophies if punishment versus rehabilitation. The evolution of the development of corrections past, present and future has seen many changes throughout the inception of prisons. In the past the trends for prisons were solitary confinement with little concern for the rehabilitation of inmates. The well-being of the inmate was not a major concern. After all they got what they deserved, right? Society wanted criminals...
Words: 1117 - Pages: 5
...Rehabilitation Process Paul Wall CJA/234 – Introduction to Corrections November 18, 2013 Instructor- Barry Lewis Rehabilitation Process Rehabilitation is a vital part of the criminal justice system process. The ultimate goal for any convicted offender is to return to society a better person. There are several options in the prison system when it relates to a prisoners release such as parole, and mandatory release. Probation and community corrections are both options judges have at his or her disposal during the sentencing process. Current rehabilitation options, the parole process, the probation system, and community corrections are areas that often need to be reviewed or critiqued. Because the rehabilitation process is the most critical portion of an inmate’s life in prison, officials need to review every program to ensure its value and substance. Rehabilitation in Prison Each inmate will began the process in which he or she begins to improve him or herself. Rehabilitation is a programmed effort to alter the attitudes and behaviors of inmates and improve their likelihood of becoming law-abiding citizens again (Seiter, 2011). When a person is rehabbing, he or she is trying to obtain the personal qualities and character traits once contained before the life of crime. Some of the modern rehabilitation programs main objectives is to make the offender an even better person than he or she was prior to committing crimes. The origins...
Words: 1408 - Pages: 6
...Resources,” n.d.). Transition should take into consideration such aspects as postsecondary education or vocational training, employment, independent living, and community participation. Transition may be considered a multidimensional process that includes beginning working life, social and community participation, establishing satisfactory adult relationships, and beginning emancipation from the family (Cobb & Alwell, 2009) (Pallisera, Vilà, & Fullana, 2014). IDEA’s definition of transition services appears at §300.43. Under IDEA transition services means, a coordinated set...
Words: 1813 - Pages: 8
...Juvenile Rehabilitation Shelly Stanko CJS/240 February 26, 2012 Farrell Binder Juvenile Rehabilitation In the previous few decades, the United States justice policy has become more punitive. In particular, in the 1990s legislatures all over the county passed laws under which an increasing number of young people can be charged in criminal courts and incarcerated in adult prisons. Certainly, in nearly every state today, youths between 13 and 14 can be prosecuted and penalized as adults for an array of crimes including non-violent offenses (Kristin, 2009). Punishments have become more severe even in the juvenile system. Generally, it is believed that the rising anxiety among citizens concerning the threat of juvenile crime has propelled this tendency and that members of the public favor this legislative tendency toward severe punishment. However, it is unclear whether this opinion about the right solutions to youth crime is precise. On the other hand, different surveys have found the public favors tougher policies regarding youth crime and punishing juveniles as severely as adults. However, a thorough review of sources of information about public views indicates that the perception that the public favors punishment for youths is largely based on either opinion surveys that pose few simplistic questions or publicized crimes like school shootings. It is possible that analysis of public views...
Words: 1875 - Pages: 8
...Corrections in America have been constantly changing since the 1930s. From rehabilitation, (1930s to 1950s), to reintegration, (1950s to 1970s), to punitive, (1970s to 1980s), ways of sentencing criminal offenders have transformed immensely. Why is this a big topic of interest? Why should the people care about where the correctional system is headed? Corrections are a major part of the American culture and research over the past should be used to see what can be done to help corrections for the better. This paper will discuss the reasons why corrections have moved from a rehabilitation model to the punitive model and how that has affected the sentencing practices. Then it will discuss the possibilities for the next era of corrections and why...
Words: 917 - Pages: 4
...Justice Handling the Dilemma over Community vs Institutional Corrections It is the first day of break and Jimmy wants to have a good time with his friends. Long story short, Jimmy decided to drive home drunk and crashed into another car. The driver of the other car passed away.What kind of punishment should Jimmy receive? It seems fair for him to spend time in prison. Should he see probation after the jail time? How much? This scenario helps introduce the dilemma we have today as a society about institutional vs. community corrections. Punishment for crime has always been an issue for debate. With the growth of the American colonies, the colonists needed a system of punishment for lawbreakers. Many methods developed in Europe meant to bring shame to those offenders were adopted. Around this time, the world saw a change in punishment ideology; some began to stress that humans are not perfect and make mistakes. Thus, there should be more reform as well as punish. In 1682, William Penn made a push for change. He limited the death penalty to cases of murder only and called for fines and imprisonment for most offenses. This is widely considered the beginnings of the prison system in the U.S. He also helped start the creation of jails, like the High Street Jail. The first federal prisons were established in 1891. Before this date, prisons were organized by states and territories. The establishment of parole and probation, or community corrections, began in the 1870s. ...
Words: 2138 - Pages: 9
...The Value of Community Corrections Sharvon P. Woodard Professor: Tiffani Davis Introduction to Sociology January 29, 2012 Society defines community corrections as a set of penalties and sanctions given to people convicted of crimes that are unrelated to imprisonment. Community corrections frequently come in the form of probation or commuted sentencing from a parole board, often upon release from prison. Examples of these penalties include residence in halfway homes, monitoring by reporting centers, work release programs, house arrest, and general community supervision. Community corrections programs serve the purpose of monitoring behavior of the convicted criminal, evaluating the likelihood of recidivism, holding criminals accountable to monitoring standards, establishing rehabilitative programs that serve a positive socializing function, and contributing to financial efficiency goals of the community. The type of corrections program is typically adjusted across a range of factors, including supervision, rehabilitation, and counseling. Each of these interests has the long-term goal of reducing the risk of future criminal activity and keeping the community safe. The most properly functioning community corrections programs streamline punishments with the needs of the criminal based on active assessments and risk awareness (Belenko & Taxman, 2011). The idea is that these personalized programs will ultimately be more helpful than a simple stay in local penitentiary...
Words: 1019 - Pages: 5
...standing debate whether rehabilitation works over punishment and incarceration to decrease the rate of recidivism of past offenders and to successful re-integrate them in the society. In 1974, Robert Martinson an American sociologist observed no evidence that rehabilitation programs were reducing rates of recidivism, the tendency for past offenders to relapse into criminal behavior and re-commit offenses (Cullen, 2012). In his study “What Works? Questions and Answer About Prison Reform”, was highly influential that “nothing works” became a criminological doctrine in the correctional system. This presented to pursue the “get tough on criminals” ideology of the 1980s and early 1990s where many correctional practitioners...
Words: 775 - Pages: 4
...Rehabilitation Hector Rodriguez Jr CJA/492 December 3, 2011 Professor Jeffrey Newton Rehabilitation When one thinks of rehabilitation they refer to fixing something, such as when you are injured. You get rehabilitation to help you fix or strengthen your injury. When we look at corrections rehabilitation is fixing a person’s mind set. Showing them what is acceptable behavior and what is not. So when we look at this type of rehabilitation we want to reeducate someone to understand that criminal behavior is wrong. Rehabilitation has been around for a while, as early, as the 1800’s in prison. The prison was trying to succeed in showing the prisoners through labor and the use of discipline to show prisoners proper behavior. Early doctors and psychiatrist found that criminal behavior was a disease. They did studies that showed a certain person of a center genetic makeup, height, weight hair and eye color. These findings would be the description of a criminal; it would be found to be false. The true era of rehabilitation from the 1950’s to 1970, in the beginning it was not taken serious and was not part of the curriculum. There was nothing defined to give direction to state facilities and there was no guidance on how to develop a program. The first type of a rehabilitation program was penology; it was a scientific method to punish people. James V. Bennett believes in the individual treatment of criminals in the penal system based on observations and perceptions...
Words: 1278 - Pages: 6
...Juvenile Justice and Rehabilitation When discussing rehabilitation or punishment for juvenile delinquents, I believe there should be rehabilitation over punishment. Granted there are numerous cases that completely warrant punishment, but punishment isn’t always the answer. Adults are usually given second, third and fourth chances to change their lives. And sometimes rehabilitation isn’t involved. I believe since adolescents still have plenty of time to get counseling or learn about themselves and why they acted the way they did, there is always an opportunity for them to change. Adolescents don’t have the same thought process as adults. They tend to react emotionally, so if their emotions are flying high, adolescents aren’t always able to stop themselves from doing something foolish or harmful to others. This is also the point in their life when they are becoming curious about how their bodies are changing. Also add in drug or alcohol experimentation and that’s a recipe for trouble. There are numerous supporters for rehabilitation, just like there are individuals against it. As long as there is a juvenile justice system, there will always be a debate. One person that agrees with rehabilitation is Kurt Kumli, a supervising deputy district attorney for the Santa Clara County’s Juvenile Division in California. Mr. Kumli (2001) stated that there are different methods that work on different kids. But the one thing that is constant, is the need to get to the kids “sooner, than...
Words: 2500 - Pages: 10
...Correction Trend Alfreda Jernigan CJA-394 02-15-2012 University of Phoenix Correction Trend Compare and Contrast- Past, Present, and Future trends pertaining to the development and operation of institutional and community based corrections Correctional programming today is at a level of effectiveness that exceeds previous expectations. Jurisdictions throughout the United States there are other programs that utilize research-based programs to educate, train and motivate offenders. Gone are the days of haphazard implementation of programs that sounded good, but often just occupied time for the offenders. The past evolution occurred for many reasons (Corrections Today, 2010). One of our biggest wake-up calls was the claim made about 30 years ago that, nothing works in corrections, in terms of rehabilitation. Although this widely publicized statement was removed from its context for some less-than-honorable purposes, it did in fact bring some attention to the conundrum that many prisons were not effective as change agents for offenders, but rather seemed only to serve the purpose of separating problems from society (Corrections Today, 2010). 7,225,800 adults were under correctional supervision (probation, parole, jail, or prison) in 2009 (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2010). While this singular purpose was acceptable to many citizens, the more visionary leaders, both inside and outside of corrections, understood that the only good thing that could ever result...
Words: 1314 - Pages: 6
...Internationally The international history of CBR started in the 1960s, efforts to establish rehabilitation centers in developing countries had taken hold in urban centers, but failed to provide support and assistance to disabled people in rural areas throughout the world. The response of world aid organizations was to shift funding from city-based hospitals to rural community programs. The first CBR pilot projects were launched in the 1970s, and their continuing success has led to CBR programs being adopted throughout Africa, Asia and South America. Locally Based on historical accounts the government's concern for the disabled persons began as early as 1917 and the national concern for rehabilitation was manifested by non-government organizations as well. On January 16–20, 1978, the country hosted the Second International Conference on Legislation Concerning the Disabled organized by the Rehabilitation International's national affiliate, the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation for Disabled Persons (PFRD). During the said conference, President Ferdinand Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 1509 creating the National Commission Concerning Disabled Persons (NCCDP). NCCDP was tasked to prepare and adopt an integrated and comprehensive long-term National Rehabilitation Plan (NRP). From the time of its inception in 1978, the Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Disabled, Inc. (PFRD) served as the Commission's Secretariat to assist the NCCDP Board in...
Words: 986 - Pages: 4