Recidivism In The Therapeutic Community

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a federally funded, executive agency consisting of 39,683 employees and housing 193,070 inmates via 122 different institutional locations currently maintaining a thirty-four percent rate of recidivism (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2016, About tab). The Bureau is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and performs duties of care and custody, rehabilitation program and services, and provides services for the prevention of future crimes. The Bureau is also responsible for carrying out all legally mandated federal executions, with Terre Haute, Indiana being home for the lethal injection center. Facilities are broken down into different classifications based on security concerns, and house inmates accordingly by

Selective sampling is recommended for this research by choosing men and women within Texas prisons committed to the Prison Fellowship program. The gender variable is valuable to generalize the prison population and show any differences between the two. The sampling method is also significant, because it 's selective to first time offenders to maintain a non-bias study. Unlike the previous studies this particular study will focus on social aspects and mental health issues. By examining participants over the course of a two year time frame data will become more accurate. In this amount of time prisoners will have the ability to adjust to the prison atmosphere. If the study were to exceed over a certain time frame the possibility of demoralizing inmates can come into effect hindering the results. For example death row inmates will not suit this particular study, because they are less likely to participate in adjustment programs and dont have the same mindset as someone getting released. Requested samples are also required to be over the age of 25. This age range is significant due to the fact that studies have proven the brain to be fully development around the age of 25. This will provide valuable results eliminating those who are statically underdevelopment meaning they go through many psychological and social changes without prison

Changing criminal behavior, not pausing it while incarcerated is what is needed to keep the public safe, making offenders aware of the destruction they have caused to society, and making them accountable via treatment programs and discipline. Unfortunately, upon release an offender may have set backs, being in a structured, disciplined environment, followed by complete freedom may prove bad for some. Many halfway houses are located far away from an offender’s residence, therefore even if employment is secured during treatment when released they return home to no job, or support, and are put back in the same situation. Community support is imperative in the effectiveness of halfway houses, sadly, many communities refuse halfway houses in their communities, lack of education and fear have been a huge

The effectiveness of prisons and treatment centers vary. Many of the prisoners who participate in prison sponsored programs are more likely to return. The government and administrators believe prison is the best option to better rehabilitate them into the general public. Treatment centers and drug courts are the preferred way to rehabilitate for families, individuals and some of the government. Statistics show that low level drug criminals in treatment centers are less likely to commit crimes than those who were treated in

There are several different programs focused on offenders. These programs range from religious, educational, medical and job training related. The main goal in each program is to reduce the chances of them returning back to their old habit that originally placed them in jail or in other words reduce recidivism. Recidivism is a very important element in the criminal justice system, because reducing or increasing the number of re-offenses in the community could be beneficial or make the community flood with criminals and their behavior. Without a focus on recidivism, officers will be arresting the same offenders repeatedly and the individual will not be getting the help they need, which could be the difference of them being a productive member of society or not. With

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

This section’s goal is to show the effectiveness and efficiency of 4 studies on the previously outlined programs. To begin, Federal funds paid for a study named The Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation (MADCE), the study measures the effectiveness of adult drug courts. Since drug courts aim at keeping addicts away from drugs and out of jail, the purpose of the study was to “evaluate the effects of drug courts on substance use, crime, and other practices,” and to note when outcomes proved positive (Rossman, Rempel, Roman, Zweig, Lindquist, Green, Downey, Yahner, Bhati, Farole, Jr., 2011, p. 1). Authors of the report include Shelli B. Rossman, Michael Rempel, John K. Roman, Janine M. Zweig, Christine H.

The idea behind these program was to help treat the offenders for their substance abuse disorders while still holding them accountable for the crime that they had committed (Lutze & Wormer, 2013). Many studies have been conducted in order to assess the effectiveness of drug court programs across the country. In a qualitative study done by Gallagher 100 participants of the drug court program were examined. This study found that of the drug court participants, seventy-nine percent were not rearrested in the follow-up period. Twenty-one percent of those participants were rearrested (Gallagher, 2014). Similarly, Brown found that in a matched cohort study comparing traditional prison sentencing to drug court programs it was shown that there was significantly less recidivism in the drug court participants than in the offenders that were sentenced to jail or prison time. In this study 137 drug court participants were matched with offenders that had been sentenced traditionally. It was shown that the recidivism rate for drug court participants was only thirty percent, whereas the traditionally sentenced participants had a forty-seven percent recidivism rate. Brown also examined the time between program completion and participants committing a new crime. In the drug court participants, the mean time was 614 days, and in the traditionally sentenced participants the average time was 463 days (Brown,

Youth crime in Canada has decreased overall but that does not mean crime has disappeared as there are cases where youths. Studies have shown that the “typical” method of justice, through incarceration has not made a huge impact on juvenile offenders ( S.M. Tarolla et al. 127). Which makes this topic so important because if young offenders are not given the right help and treatment they could continue onto the adult criminal justice system. Furthermore, if there is a way to identify recidivism, and provide help for young offenders then we would be adhering to the goals of the criminal justice system which is to rehabilitate and put people back into society as productive peoples.

The residential drug abuse treatment program is designed to be the most intensive prison drug treatment that the Bureau has this program is about 9 months long. The inmates that are a part of this program live in a different part of the prison not mixed in with general population. They spend half the day in the program and the other half working or taking classes or other vocational activities. This program also uses Cognitive behavior therapy. It has been found that offenders that participated in this

This type of community-based option has proven to be quite effective in easing the reintegration process, but there are additional programs that offer an even more personal and interactive approach. Circles of Support and Accountability is a perfect example; COSA works with people who have committed crimes, specifically sex offenders, to reintegrate them into communities where they feel unwelcome and unwanted. The core members of the program learn how to, “carry out basic aspects of community life such as looking for work or accommodation and adjusting to life outside of prison. In addition, the volunteers hold the [offenders] to account for their own reintegration” (Clarke et al, p. 3). This is one of the main reasons the program has proven

Countless people are getting placed in the criminal justice system on meager charges. Then, the system offers them “Legal Misrepresentation,” even though Gideon v. Wainwright (Alexander, 2012, p. 85) stated that they are entitled to an attorney if they are accused of a serious crime and indigent. Yet, public defendant attorneys lack resources and are overburdened with a substantial caseload that they cannot give defendants suitable representation. Subsequently, these accused people are forced into a plea deal to offset spending the mandatory maximum sentences in prison.

In 2000, U.S. agencies surpassed the $100-billion-a-day barrier in spending to incarcerate individuals with serious addiction problems. Rehabilitating and managing offenders who misuse alcohol has proven to be extraordinarily difficult. Despite traditional sanctions and ever-increasing terms of incarceration, addiction drives many of these offenders to continue committing crimes, resulting in a revolving door.

When a person takes a drug the chemicals affect the brain by interfering with how the neurons send messages. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the structure of Marijuana and Heroin mimic a natural neurotransmitter which tricks the receptors into allowing the drug to activate neurons inside the brain which interferes with messages and leads to abnormalities of behavior. With other drugs such as cocaine there is an abnormally large amount of neurotransmitters released which disrupts communication channels. Drug abuse can rewire brain connections, decrease synapse activity and cause addiction. The American Psychiatric Association says that addiction is a complex condition, and a brain disease that is manifested by compulsive substance use despite harmful consequence. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) found that 21.5 million American adults (aged 12 and older) battled a substance use disorder in 2014. Addiction to drugs has been a growing issue in America, and is causing jails to become overcrowded. The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that more than half of federal prisoners were incarcerated for drug crimes in 2010. This leads to the question of whether the justice system is doing an adequate job of dealing with drug addiction. Instead of incarcerating people for drug abuse, an alternative is treating victims by rehab and treatment. This paper will exam why treatment is the superior option for