The Pros And Cons Of Return To Prison

Many drug offenders are often forced into the drug business because of economic reasons, resulting from the increased difficulty of finding jobs after prison, due to the felony that is attached to their name. Employers are often discouraged from hiring a person that has committed a felony, because of the uncertainty in their behavior. A study done by the Urban Institute, found that only 45% of all Americans that had been to prison, had a job within a year of being released. It was even lower for drug offenders, as only 25% of all drug offenders in the United States were able to find a job once released (McVay). It’s hard enough finding a well paying job because of the current state of the economy in the United States. Drug offenders often spend most of their life in prison, and once they are released, they have no knowledge or skills pertaining to the real world.

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

Crime prevention is a key aim of the criminal justice system. Offenders are incarcerated in prisons in a expectation that they will feel punished enough to learn from their mistakes and not commit further crimes, this is called deterrence and is a main goal of prisons today (Daly, 2003). Prisons in their current form are often overcrowded, anxiety inducing, restrictive and have been found to exacerbate the mental health of offenders (Matthews, 2016). In saying this, research by Crank and Brezina (2012) suggests that some offenders find prison ‘easier than being on the street’. Crank and Brezina (2012) conducted a study where they surveyed a large group of inmates and questioned them on their views of being incarcerated. Many

Just imagine the city of Houston being populated with nothing but prisoners. This is how badly the prison system has gotten overcrowded since the 1980's, and it is only going to get worse. Overpopulation has affected the lives of prisoners inside and outside of prison with a plethora of reasons that cause more harm than good. The only way to solve these problems is to reform the programs inside prisons and to reform the laws in the justice system. Prison reform is needed in the current rehabilitation programs inside of prison since little effort is used to implement a correct recovery for the convicted. Prison reform outside of prison will edit the laws that have sentenced the convicted to unreasonable sentences so that the punished are seeking out a fair sentence or proper rehabilitation. With the problems in prisons, which specifically affect the prisoners?

Criminal justice professionals have noticed that more needs to be done with offenders if the habit of re-offending will be reduced. In fact, re-entry has become a popular word and become quite a trend in the criminal justice system. Prince William-Manassas Regional Adult Detention Center or ADC is one facility that has implemented a re-entry program that focuses on offenders getting released within forty-five days. Offenders are offered information and applications for several different organizations that are willing to help them upon release such as housing and shelters, substance abuse treatment and food stamps. They are also in the process of starting a re-entry dorm to specifically focus on the inmates that qualify and would like to participate. The re-entry dorm will be a specific unit within the jail with inmates who want a better life for themselves and qualify to attend. They will be working with interns and other volunteers that are willing to help them with the needs they have. Whether that would be getting information for a job, heath care information, vocational training, furthering their education and much

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

The main part of this research paper is the reforms for the conditions of prison and make prison a better place for prisoner and make an alternative for incarceration.

As a nation proud of the philosophies revolving around freedom, equality, etc. it is far-fetched and unseemingly to good to be true. In the “Deaf in Prison” documentary, “there are more than two people incarcerated” (Deaf in Prison, 2013). We shift our attention to issues that should not be started as an issue, mass incarceration for little crimes such as an individual sentenced ten years for holding very little marijuana, primarily targeting those who are a person of color, screams a lot about the system as a whole. There is a whole lot of fragments that need fixing within our unjust judicial system, and that is why we need to curb the efforts of providing the best resources possible for those convicted wrongfully and those who want a second

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,

Criminal legislation and incarceration have long been used as a means to control "powerless" and disadvantaged groups in America. These groups are socially and politically neglected and only receive attention when they are perceived to be a threat to the larger society and then the attention comes in the form of control and punishment (Page, 1993). The control generally manifests itself through crime legislation and the punishment through incarceration. By the end of 2005, there were more than 7 million people under some form of criminal justice supervision (Glaze & Bonczar 2006; Harrison & Beck, 2006a). With such a large and growing number of people under correctional control during a time in which crime rates had either fallen or were stabilizing raises important questions about the purpose and consequences of this institutional intervention. While "tough on crime" policies may be effective in incapacitating offenders, little consideration has been given to the impact this mass incarceration effort has had on offenders following their release from prison. Every year more than 600,000 people are released from jails and prisons to face the challenge of re-entering society in a productive capacity (Geiger, 2006; Travis, Solomon, & Waul, 2001). Due to the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction, reintegration is often met with a host of daunting and unnecessary barriers. Black Americans comprise a major segment of the neglected population and when they are released from prison the barriers to reintegration are often compounded by the stigma of their racial classification and the mark of a criminal

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

Finding a suitable place to live can be further complicated by not having gainful employment to sustain the offender’s cost of living. According to the research of Orrick and Vieraitis, (2015), there are some promising results found in evaluations of job assistance programs that combine pre, and post-release services coupled with agencies incentives for hiring ex-offenders. Notwithstanding income may meet short-term needs of ex-offenders, but Martin (2011) contends that financial literacy and asset ownership should cut down on recidivism. The biggest obstacle is the lack of education and work experience most especially for young offenders (Martin, 2011). The literature points to the lack of income and the inability to attain financial freedom legally as one of the primary variables that cause ex-offenders to reoffend. Martin (2011) writes that asset poverty should be combated at the micro-level and the macro-level, in doing so, reentry programs must target the ex-offender, community, and society. (p. 137). Reentry programs may focus on the bare necessities that ex-offenders may need to navigate in society and equip them with the knowledge and tools to enhance their life and overcome the tendency to commit future crimes. However, giving these ex-offenders a stake in society through asset ownership could give them a sense of inclusion in society, therefore, the desire to reoffend can decrease. Programs that focus of wealth accumulation is a great asset to include in reentry programs alongside the traditional educational and economic programs already offered (Marin,

As America got tough on crime and launched its war on drugs in the 1980s incarceration rates soared. People believed just locking criminals up for all crimes, even non-violent drug offenses was the best option for fighting crime. However, the rate of recidivism would say this ‘lock them up and they will learn their lesson’ philosophy is not working. A 2014 BJS report showed that 76.6% of offenders released from prison in 2005 were arrested for a new crime within five years. In that same time frame 76.9% of drug offenders released in 2005 were re-arrested. (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder, 2014, p.

According to the National Institute of Justice, “Recidivism refers to a person 's relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime,” (Recidivism). A study conducted in 2005 by the Bureau of Justice Statistics about recidivism revealed “about two-thirds (67.8%) of released prisoners were arrested for a new crime within 3 years” upon release (Cooper). These high rates are influenced by a number of factors both while in prison, and following release. For instance, drug offenders “underestimate their vulnerability post-incarceration,” especially because many often return to neighborhoods that are associated with pre-incarceration drug use. Not to mention, they need proper housing and employment to readjust into society, but they lack access because they are labeled in society (Chandler). Additionally, those who experience overcrowding and do not receive treatment are more likely to reoffend. Research has uncovered that carefully targeted programs significantly reduces recidivism