Discovering Practices That Reduces Recidivism

The tension between rehabilitation and punishment has been increasing dramatically. This is because there have been sharp rises in the prison population and repeat offender rates. When one area is over emphasized in relation to the other, there is the possibility that imbalances will occur. Over the course of time, these issues can create challenges that will impact the criminal justice system and society at large. (Gadek, 2010) (Clear, 2011) (Gatotch, 2011)

Community corrections is continually changing and has been for the past one hundred years. From the early to mid-twentieth century onward it has used three major models, the medical model, community model, and the crime control model. The major turning point for the American community corrections system that led to corrections as we know it today was in 1974 when What Works? - Questions and Answers About Prison Reform by Martinson was published. The system changed practically overnight across the nation. The notion of rehabilitating offenders was dismissed and a more punitive “lock them up and throw away the key” mentality took over. Presently the corrections system is still working in the crime control model, but professionals are trying to restructure how we deal with criminal offenders during and after incarceration. The difficulty in the restructuring is finding the balance between punishing criminal offenders proportionate to their crime, but also rehabilitating them to be productive members of society once they are released so that they do not recidivate.

The problem with prison reentry has been going on for many years in the United States, as I discussed in assignments one and two. Recidivism issues can often be linked with reentry issues because when offenders are returning to society, they need to be prepared, which is something that our current criminal justice system is not trying to achieve. In order to create some defensible solutions for prison reentry and the recidivism issues linked to prison reentry, the criminal justice system has to realize that there is no one overall solution because every offender have different offenses, different stories, different outcomes, and different prison sentences. Because of this, each offender's return to society will be different, and the reentry

During the past decade, there has been a newly found interest in prisoner reentry. This is due to a change in many of the factors surrounding the release of convicted felons and their reentry into to the community (Visher, C. A., & Travis, J. 2003). The number of people incarcerated in the United States prisons has quintupled and correctional facilities are working on getting them back into the community. Over half of the convicted felons that are released from prison return to correctional systems within one year of their release date. One of the most common reasons for their return into the prison systems is because many

Many would say that offenders are hopeless and if one looks at the rate of recidivism, one would definitely think that our nation’s offenders are indeed hopeless. However, what if there was a way to reduce the rate of recidivism and at the same time rehabilitate offenders in order to make them functioning members of the community? Reentry programs that are implemented correctly cannot only reduce the rate of recidivism but at the same time help to rehabilitate an offender through education, treatment, and therapy. The Second Chance At is a law that went into effect April 29, 2008 (P.L. 110-199) and it allows government agencies to provide services to offenders that will help to reduce the rate of recidivism as well as improve the

In the United States, each day approximately 1,600 adults are released from state and federal penitentiaries to reintegrate back into the community (Gunnison & Helfgott, 2013). Reentry programs have been created all over the nation to help offenders successfully transition from prison into society. Offenders are confronted with numerous obstacles when attempting to reintegrate back into society. Ninety-five percent of offenders are released to reintegrate back into the community (Davis, Bahr, & Ward, 2013). Upon release, ex-offenders realize that despite the fact that they are no longer incarcerated, they face many restrictions. The restorative justice development rose to address the disappointment of the criminal justice framework to manage victims, offenders, and communities in an integrated way. A core focus of this development has been to expand the role of the community in advocating changes that will avert the issues and conditions related with crime and the demand for a criminal justice intervention (Hass & Saxon, 2012).

Many criminals are sent to jail on a day to day basis. Once they have completed their sentence they are faced with many problems once they are “free”. These problems can be but are not limited to housing, employment, and substance abuse. The prisoner, once they are released, has a tendency to go back to their old ways and to continue the life of crime they were a part of prior to prison. To avoid this, while a prisoner is in prison, the staff creates a reentry program for the prisoner. The reentry program takes affect once the prisoner leaves prison. These programs are created within the community to help the offender from committing new crimes and to integrate them back into society. These programs are also created to help with

Ex-offenders face many challenges after being released into society after prison. This prolonged issue has gone on for quite some time in the United States, and it has been since recent decade that the United States has discovered reentry for prisoners (Johnson & Cullen, 2015). In 2007, the Second Chance Act of 2007 was introduced to break the cycle of recidivism; to rebuild ties between offenders and their families before and after incarcerated to encourage and support offenders; to protect the public; to provide and promote law-abiding conduct; to assist offenders in establishing a self-sustaining and law-abiding life providing sufficient transition

To wit, there are easily over 700,000 offenders released from state or Federal prisons. A disappointing factor, another nine million cycle throughout local jails and another 10,000 of these offenders are released back into the communities (Caporizzo, 2011). Nevertheless, more than 650,00 of those newly released offenders will be more than likely to re-offended and return back into the confined setting in which, they were once released from less than three weeks to three years of their release.

Imprisoning offenders may provide comfort to some in terms of public safety, it does little to reduce a cluster of issues that are bound to follow. These people will cycle in and out of the nation’s corrections system and eventually with the addition of newcomers, it will result in prison crowding. Instead of building more prisons, the National Center of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found a less costly and more effective way to reduce recidivism. They found that reconnecting ex-offenders to the world of appropriate employment is essential to maintaining recovery and reducing criminal behavior in the future. Drug treatment can be more effective than cycling people in and out of prison. Underemployment and joblessness

In years past, law enforcement and the criminal justice system have witnessed a paradigm shift in the expectations of the correctional system. Prior to modern societies innovative patterns of thinking, the general expectation of the correctional system was to either punish the offenders with confinement or rehabilitate the offenders from their criminally deviant ways. Unfortunately, the lack of effectiveness in the rehabilitation process and the high rate of recidivism has brought more attention to reform needed for the criminal justice system and corrections, more specifically. Society has come to expect that corrections be modeled around a rehabilitation-driven environment in order to successfully prevent offenders from re-offending.

As the number of offenders reintegrated back into society increases; “reentry programs can help former offenders reintegrate into society without continuing to engage in crime” (Wikoff, N., Linhorst, D.M, & Morani, N., 2012).

This essay will explore the factors that take a key play in a successful Reintegration of a rehabilitated offender. To have a successful reentry the offender is offered thru their Correctional Facility the following: Employment, Family Support, Financial Stability, Involvement in substance abuse programs, and Stabilization of any mental illness. Through discussion I will explain the pros and cons those rehabilitated face when re-entering society.

Upon release from prison, approximately 600,000 of ex-offenders are being released back into the community annually and will confront legal obstacles in their journey to reenter society. Many prisoners’ ex-offenders return to prison because they are unable to make the transition back into society. One factor that influences recidivism is lack of access to housing.

Past studies have shown that is suggested that roughly 70 percent of prison inmates released are re-arrested within the first three years post-release and almost 50 percent are ultimately returned back to prison. Still, most of the research now focuses only on recidivism and ignores that recidivism is currently affected by post prison reintegration and adjustment back into the community. Shortage of ongoing