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Rehabilitation programs in prisons
History of the correctional system
Rehabilitation programs in prisons
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retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation. Many people around the world followed these types of criminal punishment for many years starting back to the western countries. Rehabilitation is a way to restore an individual back to being a law abiding citizen by entering them into programs that works for that individual. During the retribution stage there is nothing more than punishment for doing the wrong thing. The deterrence stage aims to stop crime or the offender from reoffending and incapacitation is where individuals lose their freedom and liberty to jail or prison so they can not reoffend or harm anyone of a community.
Corrections have not always been where it is today. In the early 1800’s most people used harsh punishment and did
not consider rehabilitative or deterrence as an option. The Grand reform era included the first penitentiary in the United States; the Walnut Street was built in Philadelphia in 1790. This system was first operated as a jail then later turned into a full-fledged prison in 1790. Several reforms were instituted in this prison. The fee was dropped, inmates were clothed and fed, and were separated by gender. Children were not kept inside the prison and minor offenses were kept away from hard felons. The Walnut Street Jail kept their inmates
The Punishment Imperative, a book based on the transition from a time when punishment was thought to be necessarily harsh to a time where reform in the prion system is needed, explains the reasons why the grand social experiment of severe punishment did not work. The authors of the book, Todd R. Clear and Natasha A. Frost, strongly argue that the previous mindset of harsh punishment has been replaced due to political shifts, firsthand evidence, and spending issues within the government. Clear and Frost successfully assert their argument throughout the book using quantitative and qualitative information spanning from government policies to the reintegration of previous convicts into society.
Incapacitation is a form of punishment that removes an offender from society. This model protects the public by getting the criminals off the street. Deterrence is implemented by punishing a person and using them as an example to deter others from criminal activity or through punishment that deters the individual from committing further acts. Rehabilitation is a prevention model that avoids future criminal activity of an offender by providing treatment and teaching them how to correct their path. Utilitarianism is consistent with preventative models of punishment and suggests that offenders act rationally and punishment that lowers crime will benefit society and outweighs individual harm.
Corrections are a necessary tool to protect society from those who do harm to others or to others property. Depending on the type of crime that was committed, and if the crime is considered a state or federal charge, also depends on where the person sentenced will do his time. There are four main sentencing options available; prison, probation, probation and confinement, and prison and community split. When a person is sentenced to do their time in prison most likely they will go to a state or federal prison. If a person is ordered probation, it prevents them from going to jail but they have stipulations on their probation. This is called intermediate sanctions, which are the various new correctional options used as adjuncts to and part of probation. Some intermediate sanctions include restitution, fines, day fines, community service, intensive supervised probation, house arrest, electronic monitoring, and shock incarceration.
There is no simple right or wrong solution, there is simply choosing the best and most appropriate choice for the specific case. Choosing to use the combination of rehabilitation and deterrence is quite conflicting of one another. But some cases call for help and treatment, and so call for punishment. There are so many factors that contribute to a case, that the decision can be altered so fast by the smallest detail. The criminal justice system is complex, brutal, and sometimes unfair, but deciding on the right goal for the criminal can make all the
This objective rests on the assumption that there was some factor going into why the crime was committed in the first place, and that that factor can be either fixed or eliminated. There are many different approaches to rehabilitation including therapy, education, or some combination of the two. Generally the rehabilitation process begins with addressing the problems which led to criminal behavior, and then helping inmates find other ways to solve those problems that do not include criminal
The Criminal Justice system was established to achieve justice. Incarceration and rehabilitation are two operations our government practices to achieve justice over criminal behavior. Incarceration is the punishment for infraction of the law and in result being confined in prison. It is more popular than rehabilitation because it associates with a desire for retribution. However, retribution is different than punishment. Rehabilitation, on the other hand is the act of restoring the destruction caused by a crime rather than simply punishing offenders. This may be the least popular out of the two and seen as “soft on crime” however it is the only way to heal ruptured communities and obtain justice instead of punishing and dispatching criminals
In fact, restorative justice system response to wrongdoing that emphasizes healing the wounds of victims, offenders, and communities caused or revealed by crime (Schmalleger & Smykla, 2014, p.62). The main goal here is to establish a form of boundaries when it comes to the level and extent of punishment. Non one here on earth is allowed to just display deviant criminal behavior without some form of discipline and/or punishment. Furthermore, for those whom display criminal behavior disrupts the community as well. In addition deterrence is another key factor in the goals of punishment and the efforts to make it back right. Exploring further along to where restoration of the justice system have and still is occurring in today’s
Retribution – is a correctional aim which is to hold a person who has committed a crime accountable for committing a crime against another or society in the form of punishment. (Stojkovic and Lovell 2013) What we look at in retribution is when someone is punished there is legitimacy in the punishment of a particular crime that was committed. Some of the pros of retribution are retribution can make a person or society feel safer or a feeling of justice being served when a person is punished for the crime they committed. The con of retribution is during court proceedings the prosecution and the offender’s lawyer may come to a plea agreement which could give the offender a lesser sentence than what he or she would have gotten originally. (Stojkovic and Lovell 2013)
Rehabilitation is another objective of sentencing. Rehabilitation is different from incapacitation and deterrence in that it does not always involve getting put behind bars. An offender may receive a sentence of rehabilitation where they are released back into society to complete a community based sentence (Goff, 2014 p.296).
The sentencing process is created by some of the legislative parties, who use their control to decide on the type of criminal punishment. The sentencing guidelines for the judges to go by can be different depending on the jurisdiction and can include different sentencing requirements such as “diversionary programs, fines, probation, intermediate sanctions, confinement in jail, incarceration in a state or federal prison, and the death penalty” (Siegel & Bartollas, 2011, p. 40). In some jurisdictions, the death penalty is not included as one of the punishments. Being sentenced is step one of the correction process and is in place to discourage repeat offenders (Siegel & Bartollas, 2011, p. 40). Depending on the crime committed, the offender can be sentenced to a consecutive sentence or a concurrent sentence.
A common focus of rehabilitation states that “criminality is a disease that can be cured”. The theory states that many offenders who are let into rehabilitation are usually treated with medical or drug treatments. The rehabilitation sentencing theory is mainly only given to children and or first-time offenders and not repeat offenders because they obviously have not learned from their past mistakes and have no hope left. The mentality is to find people who are capable of being cured and are able to get another chance in life. Finally, restorative justice is the theory of rehabilitating the victims and not the offenders. While rehabilitation mainly focuses on the offender, restorative justice focuses on getting the offender and victim together to be able to change and address the damage that was done. The goal is to remove the harm done to the victim by having them work together in the hope of
The programs, whether in the prison or out, are effective in saving the nation a huge amount in providing public safety and taxes (Pollock, 2004). Thesis statement Rehabilitation programs aimed at reducing recidivism are beneficial to the individual and the government. Research question: What are the roles played by rehabilitation programs in helping reduce recidivism? Different programs have diverse impact in reducing the rates of recidivism. Effective programs that help in reducing the rates of recidivism concentrate on three main problems that affect offenders in prison and after their release.
Punishment has changed a lot in today’s world compared to the ancient and medieval times. Some might say that the punishment that is
Furthermore, it will be looking at whether punishment could be re-imagined, and if so, what would it entail? The use of prison as a form of punishment began to become popular in the early 19th century. This was because transportation to colonies had started to decrease; transportation was the removing of an individual, in this case an offender, from its country to another country; usually for a period of seven to ten years and in some cases for ever. During this time prison was now being used as a means for punishment, this was in response to the declining of transportation to colonies. Thus, instead of transporting offenders to other colonies, they were now being locked away behind high walls of the prison.
Throughout the decades of correction, there has been an argument between rehabilitation and retribution. Although people think of prison as a reformatory, a place where criminals who have committed crimes pay their debt to society and learn their lessons, in order to return to society. People think of prison as a place of punishment, where the loss of freedom, limited privileges and rights are undertaken to enforce a punishment on criminals and to protect society. The question is which of these beliefs, retribution or rehabilitation, is more effective or important.