The Effects Of Incarceration On Life After Incarceration

By the lack of rehabilitation programs in the state and federal prison systems, the chances of convicts releasing and returning back to prison increases rapidly. The lack of rehabilitation is one of the most leading causes to an offenders relapse or to a new crime that will be committed within 3 years from the offender’s release. A rehabilitation program

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).

his paper examines multiple factors that help determine reasons for why there is such a great amount of people relapsing back into criminal behavior once released, which only leads them into a federal or state prison. Recidivism can be perceived into different category’s based upon the why factor. Criminal acts that result in rearrests, and reconviction or return to prison with or without new a new sentence during a three-year period following the prisoner’s release is considered recidivism. There are many different reasons why a person goes back into prison once being released, whether by choice or force or even just nature of habit. Many studies have been conducted to find a pattern or reason on why recidivism is so common. Available

One of the most important ways to modify the imprisonment system is to reform prison reentry programs. In recent years, this topic has emerged as an extremely important local, state and federal policy concern for several reasons. First and foremost is public safety, “as nearly two thirds of all released prisoners will be arrested and over half will be reincarnated within three years.” This high recidivism rate has remained virtually unchanged during the last decade. Despite this clear effect on public safety, it is important to note that the consequences of prison reentry programs seeps into other aspects of the community, impacting public health, homelessness, and leading to a decline in civic participation. It also can foster a loss of connection between communities and family members. In addition, there is a question of social status, as from the prisoner’s perspective it can seem that they are essentially released into a permanent second-class status, in which they are stripped of basic and civil human rights, including the right to vote, serve on juries, and the right to be free of legal discrimination in employment, housing and access to public benefits.

Society has often struggled with how to help prisoners once they are released back into civilization. The number of prisoners in the American prison population has grown considerably in the last couple of decades. For many prisoners the process of arrest, incarceration and release is a continuous cycle, there is very little hope of them living in civilization for a long period of time. There is also a high a retention rate of the returning offenders. A large portion of these prisoners are minorities of African Americans and Hispanics face more time in jail or prison is extremely high. The success rate of offenders is measured by how long one can avoid being incarcerated and not by being reintegrated into civilization. These issues have become a national crisis in Joan Petersilia book titled “When Prisoners come home: Parole and prisoner reentry,” she address these issues head on. The main purpose of this book focuses on how to help prisoners once they have been released out of prison. Petersilia gives efforts for future reform to alter the in prison experience, change prison release, revocation practices, revise post prison services and supervision as well as a working with the community to enhance informal social control. These are efforts that represent a better policy towards reform of prisoners and re-entry in the system. The book goes into great detail about the suggestions Petersilia makes and why it is necessary for change.

The growing number of individuals exiting prison each year has prompted renewed interest among academics and policymakers in the challenges of reintegrating former prisoners into society (Visher & Travis, 2003). The challenges of reentry appears to be daunting, as the prospects for successful reentry are often dim. More than 40 percent of those released return to prison within three years, a phenomenon known as the “revolving door” (Pew Center on the States, 2011). This “revolving door” is a

Law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. This confinement, whether before or after a criminal conviction, is called incarceration.

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

The United States of America has the largest prison population in the world. The United States incarcerates six hundred ninety-three people per one hundred thousand people and boasts an incarceration rate that is almost five times higher than most other countries (Wagner & Walsh, 2016). The incarceration rate within the U.S. is significantly higher than the incarceration rates of other countries due to the prevalence of institutional racism within the American criminal justice system. While the criminal justice system unjustly targets minority individuals, African Americans and Hispanics are especially targeted (Brennan & Spohn, 2009). African Americans and Hispanics account for a minority of the U.S. population but make up the majority of the U.S. prison population. Despite comprising only 13.6% of the U.S. population (Rastogi, Johnson, Hoeffel, and Drewery, 2011), African Americans account for 37.8% of all prisoners in the U.S. (Inmate Race, 2017). Hispanics are also targeted by the criminal justice system at abnormally high rates. Hispanics make up

The United States justice system can be described as a cycle, where people enter the prison system, are released, and upon failure to integrate into society soon find themselves back behind bars. Although the means in which the cycle is perpetuated can be argued, the rate of re-offenders is constantly trying to be reduced. One term used to define this type of convict is recidivism, which is the repeat criminal action of a convicted inmate. Recidivism is fastly becoming a issue in the United States as it has been shown that 70% of convicted offenders have been reconvicted within three years of release (Esperian, 2010, p. 322). As crime of any background can be detrimental to society, this high rate of reentry into the justice system has stimulated

Additionally, these overall rates of incarceration can be accounted for changes in policy throughout time. The justice system was not the same it was before. The fourth president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York, Jeremy Travis, claimed in his book, “The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences,” that from the 1940’s to present day, lawmakers sought to change behavior and criminal policy year round. However, this led to an increase in pursuing and punishing the lawbreakers, mostly seen in the West, between all the levels of government, local, state, and federal government (Travis 105). For example, state and federal legislators signed laws intended to ensure that

The label of collateral consequences has been applied to civil laws or policies that restrict activities or access to resources for ex-inmates or convicted felons (Mays & Ruddell, 2015). Neighborhoods with high rates of incarceration suffer collectively, intensified policing, and the criminalization of residents in return creates poverty. After being released from prison, former inmates experience many of the collateral consequences of incarceration. The unintended costs and penalties individuals and their families encounter as a result of a prison term (Mauer & Meda , 2002). Many of these repercussions creates difficulties of reentering the community after release parolees’ struggles to find work and housing. This may jeopardize their efforts

It is common knowledge that the American prison system has grown exponentially in the last few decades. The prison population within the last forty years has risen by two million inmates. Multiple factors such as overcrowding and cost cutting have also decreased the quality of life within prisons by an order of magnitude. With this rising statistic, it becomes increasingly urgent to understand the effect of incarceration on our prisoners and whether the reformation process is actually doing more harm than good.

Additionally the enforcement of an effective rehabilitation program promises a significant recovery that consequently restoring a positive balance within an inmate’s self-image. Subsequently, rehabilitating offenders will give them a ‘second chance’ to better themselves and help them focus on their wellbeing and self-improvement. A juvenile that participated in a rehabilitating program states, “ I can be something in life. Before I just wanted to be a gang member. Before, life meant gang banging. Now I don’t even went to associate myself with it” (Shea, W 2008). This further demonstrates the influence rehabilitation as it relates to a kind of coping mechanism for those troubled with conviction. Despite the positive feedback from participants