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During the last eight weeks, the CJUS200 class has been exposed to several concepts.
The one that resonated the most with me was this week's materials on Prison Rehabilitation
Programs. Rehabilitation programs in prisons from a Biblical worldview offer restoration and
redemption to the inmates, giving them a second life to live even while serving a life sentence.
Often, when someone is convicted of a crime and sent to prison, they are forgotten by
society, though the idea of prison is to punish the individual and rehabilitate them. Rehabilitation
is rarely found in prison. Often, prison makes the individual worse. According to the Department
of Justice, "inmates who participate in correctional education programs have 43 percent lower
odds of returning to prison than those who do not, and every dollar spent on prison education
saves four to five dollars on the costs of re-incarceration." (U.S. Department of Justice, 2023).
This sounds helpful for the inmates. "Unfortunately, in The United States, only 20 percent of
American prisons used CBT programs, and only 5 percent of individuals had access to these
programs." (Lam, 2020).
The Bible is about redemption and salvation from sin. The Bible teaches that by nature,
all humans are sinful, and we are separated from God because of our sins. "For all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24). The great thing about salvation is that it is God's
great gift, and redemption programs are rooted in faith-based learning; this learning helps
reeducate inmates that there is hope for their future. Through community support, hope, and
forgiveness, these inmates can look inward and have a spiritual transformation that rewires their
thought processes. Hank Curry, the head horse trainer at the Northern Nevada Corrections
Center, works with 20-25 inmates, taking wild, unbroke horses and training them to become
working horses wholly tamed. This transformation is representative of what these Rehabilitation
programs do for the inmates.
This information has increased my understanding of inmates and seeing them as
individuals; I have had a biased opinion of prison sentences. Typically, we only see/ hear the
worst about offenders. After digging into the topic of prison rehabilitation programs and
watching the videos, I see that every person has a story and deserves a second chance. I pray that
more prisons adopt programs to help rehabilitate inmates and give them a second chance at a
feeling of purpose.
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References:
Howard Long. (1978). The Holy Bible, New International Version. Biblica.
Lam, S. (2020, March 24). Updating the prison system: Rehabilitation reform. Home.
http://uchicagogate.com/articles/2020/3/24/updating-prison-system-rehabilitation-reform/
#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20only%2020%20percent%20of,from%20punitive
%20deterrence%20to%20healing.
Prison reform: Reducing recidivism by strengthening the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Department
of Justice Archive. (2023, November 29). https://www.justice.gov/archives/prison-reform
YouTube. (2019, November 12). 5 incredible prison rehabilitation programs. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmqL65ZBx44
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