Recidivism In Texas Prisons

The overcrowding of prisons in California and the rest of America is the result of “manufactured crime”. These are crimes which have no victim yet are considered felonies and follow the three strike law. Many people do not know that there are more incarcerated people in America than any other country on earth. According to the American Civil Liberties Union “America contains 5% of the world 's human population while also containing 25% of the world’s prison population. Since 1970, our prison population has risen by some 700% - an increase far outpacing rates of population growth and crime1”. The reason America has so many incarcerated people is not because Americans commit more crimes or the police are just better at finding criminals,

The best way to reintegrate offenders into society is to ensure that each offender has at minimum a high school GED, and a trade that he or she can use to become a functional member of society. At Coffield we offer a number of programs that will help offenders become better members of society after they are released from prison. The biggest program we have is the education department which contains class and testing for the GED program, trade schooling such as welding, horticulture, auto mechanics and college courses provided by Trinity Valley Community College. I have met several inmates that have decided to leave the gang life behind them and better themselves in order to make something out of their lives other than being a criminal the rest of their live and these men have earned a college degree. As a correctional officer, it is a good feeling to look back on an inmate’s life and for him to tell you where he went wrong and for him to take steps in his life to change his future so he isn’t just another

When the American prison system began, it was believed that rehabilitation, the act of restoring one’s character, could be beneficial for criminals to start over. According to Tom Wicker, “The system…began as a reform impulse, the idea that if offenders were isolated, shielded from the public mockery that had accompanied hangings and the stocks, given time to repent, and worked hard, they could be turned away from crime and transformed into useful citizens” (xii). Criminals could become better citizens and have a positive outlook for a future if they worked hard and were secluded from the outside world. Although this idea seems more humane, it did not last long in the prison system because many people believed that any crime committed deserved

In America, 2.3 million people are in prison. American has the highest prison population in the world. This is due to “tough on crime laws” that have been enforced since the 1960’s. Although these laws do help keep crime off the street, they have done more harm than good for our country. Mass incarceration is a major issues in America, it leads to poverty, broken families, money wasted, and many other problems. Although everyone can recognize mass incarceration is a problem, they are different ways people think it should be dealt with.

Life after incarceration, here today gone tomorrow. 95% of adults sentenced to prison will return to our communities, and reentry will be their first step back into society. Imagine have a thousand questions flooding one’s mind all at once. Where will I live, how will I survive, and contribute to the family, while maintaining to the stipulations of one’s parole/ probation, without risking freedom. The number one goal for those newly released back into society by way of the reentry program is to never return to the inside of a prison cell. But reality tells of a different story. Eight out of ten ex-offender will return to prison within three years of being released, either on a minor violation or on new criminal charges. An ex-offender past limits their ability

Policing in today’s society has been impacted through a multitude of influences including social, political, and economical to name a few. One factor that has, in more recent years, left its imprint within policing is race. Race, brings up the subtopics of ethics, corruption, accountability, and public views on policing. The following paper will discuss these subtopics to help further understand why and how race plays such a significant role in current day society and policing.

Over the past 40 years U.S. incarceration has grown at an extraordinary rate, with the United States’ prison population increasing from 320,000 inmates in 1980 to nearly 2.3 million inmates in 2013. The growth in prison population is in part due to society’s shift toward tough on crime policies including determinate sentencing, truth-in-sentencing laws, and mandatory minimums. These tough on crime policies resulted in more individuals committing less serious crimes being sentenced to serve time and longer prison sentences.

In society individuals obey authority and follow laws, ultimately that were created to protect society. The community model of corrections main goal is to reintegrate the offenders in to the community. The needs of each individual offender may present some challenges. Reentry programs can contribute to offenders transition from prison to the community. A community model of corrections provides offenders with the necessary support to reintegrate successfully in to the community. Although some offenders are successful during reentry some become homeless, violate terms of their parole of re-offending out of desperation; financially they have no means or they’re looking for a faster way to obtain

The current system that incarcerates people over and over is unsustainable and does not lower the crime rate nor encourage prisoner reformation. When non-violent, first time offenders are incarcerated alongside violent repeat offenders, their chance of recidivating can be drastically altered by their experience in prison. Alternative sentencing for non-violent drug offenders could alleviate this problem, but many current laws hinder many possible solutions. Recently lawmakers have made attempts to lower the recidivism rates in America, for example the Second Chance Act helps aid prisoners returning into society after incarceration. The act allows states to appropriate money to communities to help provide services such as education, drug treatment programs, mental health programs, job corps services, and others to aid in offenders returning to society after incarceration (Conyers, 2013). The Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program is another attempt to provide better treatment for people who are convicted. The study showed that drug offenders who underwent a treatment program outside of prison had a 26 percent less rate of re-arrest after two years than a control group that was sent to prison (Justice Policy Institute, 2010). Rehabilitative programs like the Second Chance Act and the Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program has shown to growth and positive

Does it make sense to lock up 2.4 million people on any given day, giving the U.S the highest incarceration rate in the world. More people are going to jail, this implies that people are taken to prison everyday for many facilities and many go for no reason. People go to jail and get treated the worst way as possible. This is a reason why the prison system needs to be changed. Inmates need to be treated better. The government treats prisoners as if they are nothing in this world. The U.S prison system needs to be reformed by building new and better prisons and making it more humane and fair.

In his article, Removing the Stigma of Past Incarceration: Ban the Box, Bill Mosley explains it is “understandable that many employers may believe it is their best interest to avoid hiring ex-convicts. But it is also in the interest of society at large to reintegrate ex-convicts into society and to stop adding to the large underclass of former prisoners with minimal prospects of earning an honest living.” Mosley acknowledges the discomfort an employer may experience knowing one of their employees have a criminal history, however he supports his opinion by immediately explaining the most effective medium of reducing the number of former prisoners in society is to integrate them into the working force. His purport in this piece of text is to accentuate the importance society as a whole has in terms of eliminating criminal discrimination. In addition to Mosley’s argument, Daryl V. Atkinson and Kathleen Lockwood, in their article The Benefits of Ban the Box, claim that “hiring people with criminal records facilitates public safety by reducing recidivism rates.” Atkinson and Lockwood provide this statement in order to instill the idea that not only will previous convicts receive jobs, but the increase in jobs will lead to a decrease in recidivism rates, which will also heighten public

The high incarceration rate of Black Americans has pervasive and chronically negative stigmas regarding the social and economic vitality of the Black American community, such as a lack of democratic participation and violence within urban communities (Burris-Kitchen & Burris, 2011). According to Forman Jr. (2012), some of 5 the negative affects of systemic racism of Black Americans born into the hip-hop generation who have been convicted include the ineligibility of public assistance programs such as health care, food stamps, public housing, student loans, and some employment opportunities. Additionally, many of the individuals suffering from the stigma of incarceration come from backgrounds of disadvantage such as single parent homes, low

These can be challenging for the offender for they are returning to familiarity of the life before prison, which could contribute to recidivism if not handled proactively. Relationships with family or friends can be irretrievably forgotten, damaged, or destructive for either the family or the offender. Those released from prison tend to be persons with low human capital and high incidences of substance abuse and addiction. They are persons with limited formal employment histories. The bottom line is, to achieve independence, the offender must shed old roles and images and develop new ones as productive members of the

It can be difficult for past criminals to survive and make a living once they are out of jail (Alexander 2011). One of the first things a person is faced with is the amount of debt they have accrued while in jail. For example, current or former inmates are required to pay any program fees, restitution, child support, and any other fees in order to regain licenses or voting rights (Alexander 2011; Lobuglio and Piehl 2015). They are also forced to check the box indicating to employers that they have been convicted of a felony, making the application process stops there, regardless of what crime the person committed (Alexander 2011; Lobuglio and Piehl 2015). As if those set backs are not enough, former inmates are usually denied any government assistance including food stamps or government housing, forcing felons to stay with family members or desperately try to find somewhere they are allowed (Alexander 2011). This often leads them back into communities that attract police attention and ultimately back into the system (Lobuglio and Piehl 2015). The worst post-incarceration punishment is that their right to vote is taken away. This disenfranchisement can be extremely frustrating because these people are no longer able to have a say in laws that effect them

According to Phelps (2013), as from 1998 to 2007 states that had the greatest increases in incarceration rates failed to observe a corresponding drop in crime rates. On the other hands, states such as New York, Texas, New Jersey and North and South Carolina that lowered their incarceration rates in favor of community corrections programs experienced a drop in crime rates (p.53). Incarceration has also failed in correcting prisoners. Most of the prisoners always go back to committing crimes once released from prison. It has led to a rise in the recidivism rates of prisoners. Recidivism refers to the repetition of criminal behavior (James, 2011). According to the United States Bureau of Justice 2010 statistics report, three-quarters of released prisoners are constantly rearrested for new crimes and more than half of these go back to prison in a period of two to three years after their release. Ex- inmates account for an approximated 19 percent of all arrests (Phelps, 2013, p.55). Criminals who return to the community are also most of the times worse off after a period of confinement than when they entered. It is attributable to the fact that these inmates learn antisocial and criminal attitudes from other