Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Reintegration of offenders
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Reintegration of offenders
Should convicted ex-convicts be given a second chance? This is a common topic talked about all around the world. There are many of people who’ve made mistakes, particularly when they’re young, and why this shouldn’t be in everyone interests to help them redeem themselves and then get on a straight path. Many who are being released from incarceration fear failure before release to society with only the basic minimum education allowed while incarcerated. According to Wheeler & Patterson (2008) “Problems when reentering communities, including substance abuse; mental illness; HIV and AIDS; lack of education; unemployment; homelessness; legal barriers to receiving public services, such as bans on obtaining public assistance; public housing restrictions and limited transitional housing options” (p.145). However, when ex-convicts are not given an equal chance in employment, to improve themselves, they will usually fall back into the cycle of crime and incarceration. Things like theft and drug abuse are caused as a result of the social, financial and physical effects of poverty or poor financial state.
In cases, the convicts have little to no money saved up but in other cases, the ex-convict is in a good state with money saved up but somehow ended up as a convict, will also end up in poor as they will soon deplete their money due to the lack of income. In either case, by not giving equal chance for ex-convicts in terms of employment, they will end up not having income to improve their financial status. This will force the ex-convicts to find other methods to survive and to support their families. Often, their old ways will lead to returning back into criminal activities as other doors are closed. No matter how tempting, tr...
... middle of paper ...
...ontributor to the community and society. Being giving a second chance to improve your past mistakes and wrong doing should be something to cherish with. It is a blessing because you have the chances to re-do everything in the right direction. Taking responsibility for your actions and changing for the better. People should take advantage of it just like Malcolm X did when he was giving the second chance. He educated himself in the prison to become a better person. For so many successfully personals they were giving a second chance and corrected their previous mistakes.
I have holes in my knowledge about subject and looking into more sources can widen my view of the subject. Instead of thinking opinionated I should use more fact and view of others in this topic. This will make my argument more efficient and effective to successfully get others to see my point.
Rehabilitation also involves programs in prisons that have the goal of helping offenders return back to society (Goff, 2014, p.20). Prisons have also put in place programs to assist inmates, “the goal of these release programs are to ease the transition of offenders from the institution into the community while simultaneously promoting stable employment after release” (Cullen & Jonson, 2011, p.309). If a person has been in an institution for a long period of time it is often hard to adjust to life outside, which is why these programs are important in the justice
Without these men getting to work and becoming productive members of society, they are barred from this opportunity and the economy suffers (Appelbaum, 2015). Devah Pager, who conducted the famous study “Mark of a Criminal Recod,” which unveiled apparent discrimination against ex-offenders in the job market, weighed in on the issue: “Prior to the prison boom, when convictions were restricted to a smaller fraction of the population, it wasn’t great for their rehab potential but it wasn’t having a huge impact… Now such a large fraction of the population is affected that is has really significant implication, not just for those people, but for the labor market as a whole (Appelbaum,
Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.
One of Rachels’s smaller arguments within his essay “Punishment and Desert” is that there is reason to doubt when it comes to rehabilitating criminals. By saying this, Rachels thought process is that if ex-offenders are reintegrated into the community, there may be some trouble in stake for them; the ex-offender may return to his or her negative habits, putting themselves or others in harm. In addition, Rachels may be contradicting himself by saying that there is reason to doubt and then saying that rehabilitating these individuals in the community is a good thing. Though this may be true, a problem with this is that it is not fully accurate, and one should not assume this sort of thought process for all ex-offenders. If prisons are no longer
Why are formerly incarcerated individuals still being treated as incarcerated individuals instead of normal everyday citizens? Two thirds of released prisoners end up returning to jail within a year to three years. Mainly because they weren’t given the tools or programs to return to society when they were released. They are constantly discriminated against when it comes to obtaining a job whether it be because of selection, transformation, or credentials. This leads to them returning to a life of crime, which they were living before. Not only that, but families have a difficult time when it comes to coping with the stress of supporting these ex-convicts. There should be prisoner reentry programs not only for the former convicts, but the families as well. They carry most of the burden that comes with a loved one returning home from prison. Communities should also be allowed to put programs in place to help out these families as well as those returning, especially considering prisoners are being released just as often as they are being booked. If everyone works together and forms a solid plan, and works to put these programs in place there is no reason that we should have former prisoners falling through the cracks and returning to the system that failed them in the first
It makes the individual's likelihood for prosperity extremely low. This is true of not only the workforce, but in their personal lives as well. They are placed back into fragmented populations, however, this time, it’s much worse. Their communities cannot sustain their emotional unravelling after the disturbing realities of serving time in prison. In the article “The Impact of Mass Incarceration on Poverty” written by Robert DeFina and Lance Hannon, they claim that the impoverished communities of color need the removal of imprisoned individuals for the improval of local economics. However, the article “The Effects of Mass Incarceration on Communities of Color” claims that it does nothing to help these communities. Interestingly, both make the claim that the U.S. pushes people of color who are impoverished together and lack the support they need for economic upturn. The removal of criminals in communities is great in theory, but only if the theory is based on the illusion that all criminals live in suburban environments, committing high levels of crime and different crime than all the other races. This can only be theorized if all people are being treated equally, an absolute delusion. Mass Incarceration on poor black men is a systematic cycle. Many decide to turn a blind eye, but nothing gets done when we all choose to believe that all crimes are equally justified without a
supporters say, early release based on earned time can give prisoners incentives to participate in educational or work programs, improving their chances of successfully reintegrating into society after prison and lowering recidivism rates”(Early Release For Prisoners). Although the early release of prisoners should only be granted if they in fact have been rehabilitated. Prisons need to focus on helping the prisoners change into productive members of society instead of punishing them. Overcrowding and rehabilitation seem to not work well together. It is impossible to ensure that all prisoners receive the help they need when there are so many of them.
Having a job and a flow of income are essential to easing back into the world after imprisonment. Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” has studies that found that finding employment after incarceration is more of a priorities to felons than finding or having access to housing. Most employers will have interviewers ask a job candidate about any past convictions, which then lessens the chances of a felon being able to receive that job. Even prior to the interview stage, many former felons may not even make it as far as to being interviewed, as most online and paper job applications ask for one’s criminal history. The inability to find employment after conviction and release can sometimes consequently lead to the felon falling back into a cycle of crime, perhaps in a means of illegally obtaining income, like through the drug
Even excluding to consider the civil ramifications of imprisonment, the current standpoint neglects other measures effects. These incorporate damaging, faculty of crime and the crimes within the prison. Prison is a school of crime in which criminals first learn and then improve their skills at criminal behavior and create connections with other criminals. This account implies that incarceration removes prisoners from social networks connected with employment and instead connects them to associate with criminal activity. Some scholars have argued that incarceration does not necessarily reduce crime but merely relocates it behind bars. Increasing incarceration while ignoring more effective approaches will impose a heavy burden upon curst, corrections and communities, while providing a marginal impact on
Sung, L. G.-e. (2011). Rethinking Corrections: Rehabilitation, Reentry, and Reintegration. Thousand Oaks : SAGE Publications.
There are many problems that exist when it comes to prisoner reentry. The first being the prison experience itself. Siegel (2017) writes, the psychological and economic problems that lead offenders to recidivism are rarely addressed by a stay in prison. Despite rehabilitation efforts, the typical ex-convict is still the same undereducated, unemployed, substance-abusing, lower-socioeconomic-status male he was when arrested. The point Siegel is trying to make is that the prison experience actually worsens the chances of an ex-inmates’ success during reentry. Another reason Siegel points out is the lack of supervision once a prisoner is released back into the community.
The correctional system is based on helping offenders become part of society and not commit any crimes. Many prisons begin the correcting criminals since they are inside the jails, but many prisons do not. Prisons provide prisoners with jobs inside the prison where they get very little pay close to nothing and many have programs that will help them advance their education or get their high school diploma. There are various programs prisons provide to prisoners to help them get a job or have a skill when they are released from prison. In contrast, prisons that do not provide programs or help to prisoners rehabilitate and enter society again will be more likely to commit another crime and go back to jail. The Shawshank Redemption prison did not
The opposing side contends that if society gives the low-skilled jobs to prisoners, they will be taking away possible job opportunities from the good people in the community. While this scenario may have some merit, in the long run, society as a whole will benefit financially from the prisoners working. By working, they will be reimbursing the taxpayers investment in them, as their labor will contribute to the overall community workforce. Studies have also shown that by allowing the prisoners to adjust to life outside of the penitentiary, there is a significant decrease in the number of inmates who will likely be incarnated once again, saving the general public money that would have been spent to keep returning inmates in prison for a second or third time around (Gilligan, 2012). More than four out of ten people are re-incarcerated, so additional money is being spent on the same person (Johnson, 2011). There is a greater chance of avoiding this outcome if the prisoner were trained to function in the real world, rather than being completely isolated in...
Many people would say that convicts deserve nothing more than basic existence because of the crime(s) that they have committed and although I agree I feel that they also deserve a chance to better themselves and attempt to legally rise above their pasts. I mean to a certain degree their debts to society have been paid and what better incentive to stop them from re-offending than giving them a true feeling of self-efficiency or somewhat of an equal chance as the rest of the nation’s population. Having said all of this, I think that convicts should receive social welfare because after being convicted in most states there are certain jobs that can’t be obtained, they become disenfranchised, and they shouldn’t be constantly reminded of their pasts because everyone makes mistakes, colossal or minute.
Some people blame it on the lack of education that most prisoners do not receive before or while in prison. Most prisoners do not have a college degree, causing it to be more difficult for them to land a job once out of jail. It can also be blamed on how long the prison sentence is. Many inmates are serving long sentence causing them to lose connection to the outside world. Also, many possible employers do not want to hire someone who has been in jail before due to their past reputation. These connections with the people who visit them can help them get a job or even could help them stay out of trouble once they are released. They can also have gang connections which would cause them to be back on the street once they are released. This is due to the fact that they do not know any life except the one in a gang.