The Criminal Justice System And Are Introduced Into A New World

Many offenders who are released from prison encounter many obstacles which hinder their progress towards community re-entry. On their own, many fail to secure employment, housing, or complete education or training programs. Without guidance or assistance many offenders return to crime to support themselves. Fortunately there are number of organizations that see the need for services to assist offenders on their path back into the community. One such organization that has proven to be successful is the Safer Foundation.

There are many barriers to reentry. The convicted felon is denied the right to vote, they are not granted access to student loans, welfare benefits, public housing, or food stamps (Gideon & Sung, 2011, p. 8). In addition, these released offenders regularly return to communities that are experiencing social decay, are plagued by poverty, and few employment opportunities (Gideon & Sung, 2011, p. 8). They are also denied entry into a number of employment fields due to their status as a felon. Denying them assistance and a social safety net often hinders their reentry abilities and their transformation to a law-abiding citizen (Gideon & Sung, 2011, p. 8). As mentioned prior, the added burden of intensive supervision can also be problematic to successful 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

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).

Corrections are an important part of the criminal justice system and they work in concert with law enforcement and the courts. Citizens in the United States expect criminals to be monitored, with some in secured facilities, so they will not fear of becoming continual victim of crime. To illustrate this expectation further, there are 2.5 million individuals on probation or parole and 1 million individuals in jails or prisons (Morris & Tonry, 2013, p. 370). However, does every individual confined in jails and prisons still need to be there or is there a better way to deal with certain special prison populations? Due to the large number of prisoners within the correctional system, certain special populations of inmates do not receive the rehabilitation or care needed to successfully reintegrate back into society. Additionally, these special populations create an undue burden on the correctional system in terms of financial costs associated with their confinement. There are changes that can be made to the criminal justice system to accommodate special populations of inmates. This paper will explore the alternative

Employment is always an issue when it comes to an ex-offender. Not only is it hard for the everyday person in society to find employment due to a poor economy, but it is much harder for an ex-offender. While in prison, prisoners are usually made to work. Unlike other programs such as counseling, prison work programs can be justified for reasons other than rehabilitation of the individual offender. From the perspective of the policy maker in the criminal justice system, they can help manage the population by occupying the time of the prisoners, aid in the operation of the prison, create revenue (maybe), and provide a

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

A history of incarceration reduces an ex-felon’s chance of being hired by fifteen to thirty percent as well as the annual number of weeks worked by six to eleven weeks. That is a large amount of people! This is a big problem that is not to be dismissed. Having been incarcerated leads to struggles in finding a job. Some employers do not even consider hiring people with any kind of criminal record, they are much more likely to hire someone without one instead (Prison Legal News). These statistics and studies show that unemployment rates are in fact higher for

About ninety-three percent of all people incarcerated are released eventually. Within three years, seventy percent of those released will be rearrested. states that inmates fail to successfully reenter society because of mental health issues, substance abuse, past criminal acts, total education level, economic standing, among other things. One an inmate is out they should have been rehabilitated in every way possible. They should be ready to enter a world that has evolved with no mercy towards them. Reentry in communities are determined by the amount of opportunity offered by the community itself. For example, the obtainability of housing, drug abuse treatment programs, health services, schooling and hiring opportunities are crucial for integration. One of the

A large number of incarcerated people leave the state and federal prisons every year. It becomes a major concern for federal, local, and state government when they reenter into the community. Most of these individuals do not fit into the community and after a short period of time, some of them would have committed new crimes or have violated terms in which they were released and thus re-incarcerated. This issue brings about many

Incarceration strives to isolate offenders from society but does not provide adequate therapy to change the mental states and behaviors of criminals. The recidivism rate, the rate of known and recorded relapse into criminal behavior after release from jail, proves that offenders need more than just isolation to change their behavior and eliminate their dangers to society. Communities need not only to provide help and pay attention to offenders with short sentences because of their earlier release than others. In California, an increase in parole grants in 2014 has resulted in 2,000 murderers, classified as the “highest Criminal History Category, VI,” returning to society with no therapy or assistance from reentry programs. 80% of offenders in the most serious criminal history category, the criminal group with the highest recidivism rate, relapsed and returned to prison within five years of release, and 60% of offenders returned to prison within three years of release (Prisoners and Prisoner Re-Entry, 2007; Sanchez, 2014; Sipes, 2017; St John, 2014). Overall, police officers arrest ex-offenders up to forty-five times more than they arrest members of the non-criminal population (Przybylski, 2012). Criminals need specialized psychological treatment to change their behaviors and make them safe to return to their communities. As recidivism becomes increasingly more problematic in today's society, criminal psychologists analyze the motives, incarceration experiences, and mental

Individuals with a criminal record re-offend mostly because of status discrimination which in turn leads to high unemployment rates. Having a criminal record in today’s society is damning when trying to find employment. Opportunities for an education are slim due to this, leaving them only their shot to gain entry into the workforce. A slew of jobs requiring specific things like licenses are barred from the formerly incarcerated. When released back into society prisoners have to once again try to adapt to a society that has been changing in their absence. Put back into the world with only their clothes and little money they might have had. Often at times with little education or employment prospects it seems that they would just end up back in jail. They head somewhere familiar ensuring that they will be accepted and taken in. Back to their neighborhood and back to old friends they haven’t seen in years. Convicts return back to those bad influences. In order to combat this drug treatments, housing, job training, classes and peer groups are established to assist them. Once released, convicts have many tools at their disposal for getting the help they need but it depends on what state they’re in and on the person. Will they seek help though? Will they themselves willingly avoid what got them into trouble in the first place; from returning home only hoping for the best without trying? With the fear of constant failure and

The After Incarceration Support Systems Program (AISS) is designed to educate, prepare and assist the inmate population with transitioning back into the community. Key components of the program include 1) Working with the inmate within the correctional center prior to release and 2) Working with the offender post-release in the community with an emphasis on a continuum of services. The primary goals of AISS are: reduce recidivism, improve public safety and support the whole person (AISS website, retrieved 7/19/15) The library presentation took place post-release as part of the community collaboration the AISS. The main feature of the program is its holistic, relational approach to working with the offenders and the largely voluntary participation of the offenders (Howe, M., Collins, K. & Engel, L., 2006). . The staff in the women’s program have remained same since the start of the program, and staff members perform “inreach” to incarcerated individuals to begin to form relationships (Howe, M., Collins, K. & Engel, L. 2006). Staff members “meet clients where they are,” and stay with them through the ups and downs of reentry,

Prisoner reintegration is one of the most important steps in rehabilitation. Making that changeover from repression then suddenly being sent back out into the community is extremely complicated. Point in fact, the method inmates follow in order for them to become socially accepted is very complex. Due to the reason, each offender is dissimilar from one another by either the crime in which they have committed or by the demographic factors which are presented prior to them being sanctioned to confinement. On the contrary, an offender faces multiple difficulties right after they are released from being incarcerated. The release of an inmate affects both that individual and the location they will be released into. Often time’s

“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others”…Thomas Jefferson. When getting a “second chance many citizens that have a criminal background are not awarded the same opportunity as those that have not been so unfortunate. Statistics has always shown that the employment of ex offenders, especially male offenders is considerably low compared to those of non-offenders. In 2008 it was reported, “one in 33 working-age adults was an ex-prisoner and about one in 15 working-age adults was an ex-felon. About one in 17 adult men of working-age was an ex-prisoner and about one in 8 was an ex-felon.