Reducing Recidivism Within The Correctional System

A two-pronged prevention approach has proven effective, with primary prevention strategies aimed at the community 's general population and secondary prevention strategies targeting youth between the ages of 7 and 14 who are at high risk of joining gangs. Prevention efforts undertaken by law enforcement departments around the country include: “Participating in community awareness campaigns (e.g. developing public service announcements and poster campaigns). Contacting the parents of peripheral gang members (through the mail or during personal visits) to alert them that their children are involved with a gang. Sponsoring gang hotlines to gather information and facilitate a quick response to gang-related issues. Organizing athletic events with teams of law enforcement officers and gang members. Establishing working relationships with local social service agencies. Making presentations about gangs to schools and community groups as a combined effort at prevention and information gathering. Sponsoring school-based gang and drug prevention programs (e.g. DARE and GREAT)” (Hess, 2013 p.230).

There are separate drug courts for adults and juveniles. An adult court is designed to reduce recidivism and substance abuse among drug-involved offenders in the community. It also seeks to increase an offender’s success in recovery through continuous treatment, mandatory random drug testing, community supervision and use of other rehabilitation services. In juvenile treatment court, offenders meet frequently (often weekly) to determine how to address the substance abuse and other related problems of the youth and his or her family that brought him or her to the justice system (Treatment Court

The YCJA is good at giving youth at a second chance at life.Because of how youth offender can get out of getting a criminal record for example .First time offenders don't go in the system and get a warning if it's not a serious offence.They also do not allow the young offender's name in the public if the youth has committed an indictable offence so it can protects the privacy of young offenders.News media may not publish their names unless they receive an adult sentence.which gives them a chance to enter society without a criminal record.It also gives them counselling which will provide them positive choices in the future ,and help them participate

T.A.R.G.E.T is an acronym for Tri Agency Gang Enforcement Team represents a multiagency approach to targeting current gang members with suppression measures while also targeting entire gangs with police suppression. Each team in the TARGET program consists of gang investigators, a probation officer, a deputy district attorney, and a district attorney investigator. This program uses a three-pronged strategy: 1 selective incarceration of the most violent and repeat older gang offenders in the most violent gangs, 2 the enforcement of probation controls graduated sanctions and intensive supervision on younger, less violent gang offenders, and 3 arrests of gang leaders in “hot spots” of gang activity. A major aim of the TARGET program is to reduce

The first important ingredient in the G.R.E.A.T program is the instruction of life skills is the foundation of the program. The program is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership for children in the years immediately before the prime ages for introduction into gangs and delinquent behavior. In accordance with a study by Dr. Esbensen in 2000, delinquency often serves as a precursor to gang involvement, the GREAT program focuses on providing life skills to students to help them avoid delinquent behavior and resorting to violence to solve problems. Communities need not have a gang problem in order to benefit from the program as its primary objective is prevention and is intended as an immunization against delinquency, youth violence, and gang membership.

The YCJA has the liability to assign a youth meaningful consequences that would instill one with positive behaviours and actions. This is why they are able to appoint a person counselling and community service as a consequence. Some might argue that this is not fair and equitable because they wonder how picking up garbage in the community would be advantageous, but in reality “Community supervision orders are sometimes given with other sanctions and, at a minimum, require the young person to keep the peace, be of good behaviour, report to correctional personnel and appear before the court as required.” Considering that youth’s minds are still being developed, including their frontal lobe which is responsible for a person’s behaviour, reasoning and intelligence, it is easier to implant positive behaviours in these 12-17 year olds compared to adults. In terms of counselling and seeking psychiatric aid, the YCJA takes into deliberation not only the severity of the crime, but also one’s characteristics, attitude and background.

The YCJA otherwise known as the Youth Criminal Justice Act was created to make separation between adults and youths. It refers to kids from the ages of 12 to 18. The main goal of this act is to help kids stay away from the law so they are trouble free.

This reason among others is why it is so important that we continue to facilitate correctional programs that increase the margin of public safety through the successful rehabilitation of offenders. Reentry programs are very promising for communities for a plethora of reasons. First, they provide the opportunity to mold offender behavior as they begin the transition process back to their natural environments or communities, therefore reducing the rates of recidivism. They also offer the tangent ability to actively deal with major violations of after initial release supervision. This has recently become a big concern because the prison population is steadily increasing, which is a direct turnaround from the past.

G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education And Training) was developed in 1991, by Phoenix Police Department to reduce teenage participation in criminal behavior and gangs, so “a combined effort was created with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Phoenix Police Department (PPD), and began as an eight-lesson middle school curriculum” (“History of the”,n.d.). Additional instructors, officers and law enforcement agencies where added help manage the program. These agencies were: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Police Department; La Crosse, Wisconsin, Police Department; Portland, Oregon, Police Bureau; Federal

The prison system often proves ineffective at reconditioning prisoners to free life due to the high potential of recidivation soon after release, the decrease in education and other programs in prisons, and the physical and emotional results of the conditions in which prisoners live. Although some may argue that the threat of a prison sentence deters potential criminals from pursuing a life of crime, the experience of prison may result in increased criminality, subverting the goal completely. Firstly, many prisoners recidivate, or reoffend, soon after release. Of released prisoners, “44 percent... were rearrested within one year and 68 percent were rearrested within 3 years” (Mears). Since nearly one half of prisoners committed another crime in one year after their release, the rate of recidivism indicates that the prisons fail to recondition inmates to free life. This may be due to the failure of rehabilitation programs offered in prisons; many recently released prisoners end up back in prison soon after release due to the limited reentry programs (Pager 2). Rehabilitation efforts in prison aim to reduce recidivism by changing a person's mindset from one of crime and criminality to one of compliance with laws and consideration for others; however they do not often accomplish this goal well, if at all. Rehabilitation efforts in prisons produce less positive effects than those offered in the community (Clear 132). The lack of results likely stems from the poor environment

In today's society, there are more and more juveniles getting involved in criminal activity.  Low self-esteem, poor decision-making and communication skills, association with a negative peer group, and a dysfunctional family unit are some characteristics of delinquent youth creations (Extension Journal, Inc. 1993).  With this being said, there are also many different types of juvenile diversion, intervention and prevention programs and resources available for these juvenile to help with rehabilitation.  These programs are created to help the youth with criminal activity issues and help reduce to eliminate the rate of

Since crime in America is at an all-time high, the correctional system should utilize funding received to implement the use of more programs like the R-N-R (Risk, Needs, Responsivity) program methods in more Correctional facilities to reduce crime, address specific needs of mid and high-risk offenders, and the reduction of recidivism rates.

Teen courts are gaining popularity in United States with every passing year. The main intent of these courts is to ensure that the youth of US becomes aware of the law that is extended and applied to them and must not feel exempted from legal jurisdiction just because of their age. However, there have been concerns about the increasing number of teen courts as the skeptics believe that it misleads the public regarding actual nature of the legal structure present in United States. Even then, various states in US are showing expediting progress in setting up teen courts because of their effectiveness in crime prevention. Teen courts, which are also known as peer courts or youth courts are becoming appealing element of legal structure in United States because of its effectiveness in violent youth control. Where youth especially teenagers gain little attention in national legal structure for minors crimes like shoplifting which doesn't make them eligible for real punishments, teen courts ensure that youth is made to face a memorable lesson although unofficial in nature.

Criminologist and politicians have debated the effectiveness of correctional rehabilitation programs since the 1970’s when criminal justice scholars and policy makers throughout the United States embraced Robert Martinson’s credo of “nothing works” (Shrum, 2004). Recidivism, the rate at which released offenders return to jail or prison, has become the most accepted outcome measure in corrections. The public's desire to reduce the economic and social costs associated with crime and incarceration has resulted in an emphasis on recidivism as an outcome measure of program effectiveness. While correctional facilities continue to grow, corrections make up an increasing amount of state and federal budgets. The recidivism rate in

G.I.R.L.S. Keeping It Real (Girls, Independent and Proud, Relationships on Equal Terms, Leaders Today and Tomorrow, Staying Safe and Strong) is an initiative to empower at-risk 11-15 year old females throughout the city of Wilmington, Delaware, with the knowledge and skills empowering them to make good decisions and lead peaceful and productive lives. Six monthly G.I.R.L.S. Teen Summits (Teen Summits) have been developed with the goal of reducing the occurrence of youth gang violence and related crime by: increasing positive decision-making skills, increasing capacity to resist negative peer pressure, providing girls with a healthy view of interpersonal relationships and human sexuality, coaching participants to channel anger into