Capstone Paper, Topic is Prison Reentry and Rehabilition

CCJ4497

Anna Leimberg

Florida International University

3/29/20

Introduction:

Rehabilitation of the incarcerated people and providing them with a safe future is the responsibility of the state. When an individual commits a crime and becomes an offender, it does not absolve the state from its responsibility to ensure the basic human rights of the individual. Rather it becomes more of a responsibility for the state to ensure the well-being of such an individual. Criminal psychology shows that criminal deviation is the result of two factors which are biological and genetic layout and social factors. No one can be held responsible for the biological factors or genetic makeup because it is not under anyone’s control. Secondly, the social factors are generally exposure to aggression in childhood, dysfunctional families, negative social impact form violent environment and poverty etc. These factors are mostly originated from society and not result from one's individual efforts. Even with the presence of these factors, no one is denying the fact that the responsibility of one's actions lies on one's shoulder but at the same time, it does not free the state from its responsibility towards the well-being of an offender. The rehabilitation process ought to be for correction, not punishment but unfortunately, the reentry programs after one has served their due time in a rehabilitation centre is not very smooth and it does not motivate the individual to make better choices this time. It is because of standards rehabilitation and reentry system which does not suit the individual needs of every individual. The system needs to be more customized. Furthermore, the frameworks involved in probation and post-incarceration process need improvement. This essay will explore the current condition and process of reentry and rehabilitation of an individual in society and how this system needs reassessment and continuous monitoring (Thompkins, Curtis, & Wendel, 2010).

Review of Previous Research:

Many researchers have explored the field of rehabilitation and reentry in the society. The field of criminal offences, factors which contribute towards these offences, mindsets of the offenders and their backgrounds, rehabilitation process and the reentry constitute a diverse field on which a lot of work has been done by psychologist and criminologist to not only understand what enables the criminal activities to happen at first place and how they can be reduced if not eradicated through the better rehabilitation process. Through important outcomes include:

1. Religion can play an important part in the rehabilitation of people. A study was conducted in an Israeli prison in which prisoners from several months too many years were questioned about their dependence on faith to pass through the difficult time of prison. This study only enrolled those prisoners who were actively taking part in the religious services pf the prison and the results showed that their reentry in the society was relatively more successfully than other offenders.

2. Role of technology is explored in its connection with rehabilitation and reentry programs. The study showed that despite being the leading country in the information and technological advancement in the world, the rehabilitation process has little employment of technology. All the processes and approaches are still very much manual and they are not using technology to make it effective. The study introduced the three-step process for using technology in the rehabilitation process. The first step is the employment of technology during the time of an individual in the prison, second is the employment of technology in reentry and third is digital rehabilitation.

3. The rehabilitation process is studied in context with cultural and social values. The culture who are open and more accepting have high results of reentry and rehabilitation centre are more successful. On the contrary, the social values which outcast the offenders for once and for all do not have very promising results for re-entry and rehabilitation process. Hence the role of social values and cultural norms is also very important for re-entry and rehabilitation (SHUFORD, 2018).

Policy Effectiveness:

Reentry program is formulated under policies of social well-being and programs for the safety of citizens. The policy effectiveness of any re-entry program can be measured if there is no repetition of the crime by the same individual or overall decrease in crime rate. The policymakers formulate the policies with the intention and aim to reduce the crime rate in the city or state and ensure safe streets for all citizens. Furthermore, their aim is to ensure that the offender once freed from the rehabilitation centre does not resort back to violence. Hence the sole purpose is to ensure that there is no re-entry into crimes Furthermore, another main objective of the policy is to make changes in the attitude and general approach of the offenders after their time in rehabilitation and his change in attitude must be positive and less violent. Moreover, policymakers develop policies to achieve public safety. Through these objectives, the effectiveness of the policies is measured. If there is general safety of citizens, because of reduced crime rate and there is no involvement of old criminals in the crime and violence again, then there is hope for betterment. Also, change in the attitude of the offenders after the rehabilitation centre is clearly an indication that the policies are effective and they are yielding their results. This can be measured through their life choices and their involvement in violent activities. If these objectives are not achieved then there is need of corrective policies and new policies must replace the old policies for better results (Reisdorf, & Rikard, 2018).

Recommendations:

For better results, it is crucial that new policies are introduced for rehabilitation and re-entry purpose. Following recommendations are given for new policies and programs:

1. The evidence-based system ought to be developed which provides better insights into what I expected of an individual after their re-entry based on their previous behaviour and change in their behaviour during their tie in the rehabilitation centre. There is enough research on their topic. The policymakers should sue that research and create a tracking system which could score the habitants of the rehabilitation centre based on their performance.

2. Digitalization of the reentry programs must be the first priority of the policymakers. As technology has penetrated in every aspect of our life and there is more than enough evidence of its effectiveness and efficiency hence it is high time that digitalization is introduced in reentry programs and not only in the reentry programs but also the concept of digital rehabilitation should be given enough consideration and ought to be applied in near future.

Religion should be sued for creating more peaceful individuals during their time in the rehabilitation centre. Aggression leads to violence and violence leads to serious crimes. Aggression can be replaced through peaceful minds which is possible through religion. Religious programs in the rehabilitation centre can help in making people see where they went wrong and how to make the right choices in life. This will make the rehabilitation process fruitful and will also make reentry successful (Garot, 2019).

Conclusion:

Reentry and rehabilitation process is a major part of the justice system which has been unable to deliver the required results due to overgeneralization of the rehabilitation program for everyone. This system has its limitation dues to financial constraints by governments but this needs policy revision by the state. Introduction of religious programs, digital rehabilitation and reentry and employment of credit scoring to determine the change of attitude can help in making rehabilitation and reentry system effective (Hlavka, Wheelock, & Jones, 2015).

References

Garot, R. (2019). Rehabilitation Is Reentry. Prisoner Reentry in the 21st Century: Critical Perspectives of Returning Home.