Rehabilation of Prison Inmates Essay - 1234 Words

Prison inmates, are some of the most disturbed and unstable people in society. Most of the inmates have had too little discipline or too much, come from broken homes, and have no self-esteem. They are very insecure and are at war with themselves as well as with society. Most inmates did not learn moral values or learn to follow everyday norms. In order to rehabilitate criminals we must do more than just send them to prison. Of the 600,000 criminals that are released into society each year, 70% of them are re-arrested within 3 years of their release from prison (Cullen). These statistics are so surprising, but its because we mostly hear about the huge number of rehabilitation programs there are, how much they cost, their design and†¦show more content†¦Most of the time, offenders are â€Å"denied access† to rehabilitation. So, what can be done? Findings over the years have pointed to increased monitoring of released criminals joined with instant punishment when a violation of parole is noted. A few of the current programs might help, but positive outcomes seem to be dependent on the attitude of the individual offender rather than the content of the program. In other words, the released criminal must take responsibility for his life. What researchers who study rehabilitation have begun to see through a glass darkly is that there is no such thing as an ideal program, one that can be cut out and pasted in anywhere. Instead, what researchers have found is that successful rehabilitation programs share certain characteristics, most of which relate either to treating offenders according to their individual circumstances or to the program’s administration. There is a form of an ideal program, but all successful programs merely reflect this form rather than represent it. As one study says, â€Å"The important issue is not whether something works but what works for whom.† (Rotman) There should be three values that are applied in all cases of a successful rehabilitation programs. First is what we would define as the ‘risk of offending again’. It has been proven in research that programs that seek to treat all offenders, regardless of their likelihood of re-offending, often miss their target. Successful programs match theShow MoreRelatedDefine, Then Compare and Contrast the Prison and the Jail Systems.979 Words   |  4 Pagessystem. This week we will examine corrections, the major goals of contemporary sentencing, who is sentenced, and how these sentences are formulated. Please respond to all three of the following prompts: * Define, then compare and contrast the prison and the jail systems. Jail is a place of detention, a place where an individual convicted or suspected of a crime is tained. Jail holds people accused under federal, state , county and or city. Jails people awaiting trial, people sentenced for