As
unusual as it may sound, some people view the incarcerated as mere criminals
and nothing more. In some countries, prisoners are left on their own to
complete their sentences while allowing them no chance at redemption or
rehabilitation. For anyone who is not familiar with the concept of prisoner
rehabilitation, they may have never been imprisoned. Let's get some proper
insight into what prisoner rehabilitation is.
What is prisoner rehabilitation?
Rehabilitation is the act of restoring someone's health or state of mind to normal through consistent training and therapy. This provides individuals with a chance to earn their life back. In the case of prisoner rehabilitation, it is the same except for a few changes overall. Prisoners are offered multiple deals and chances at redemption by the State or through justice reforms. They engage in a variety of productive events such as being instated in the prison kitchen, helping in the prison industry or doing different chores at the correctional facility where they reside.
Prisoner Rehabilitation re-educates and retrains people who commit crimes to help them become better human beings and more presumptuously, better men or women.
Prisoner Rehabilitation may help people return to society as a changed individual. Apart from being viewed as a threat to society, prisoner rehabilitation affords prisoners the opportunity to practice being a viable asset to themselves and society.
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What is the connection and/or relationship between criminal justice reform and prisoner rehabilitation?
The connection or the common link between
prisoner rehabilitation and justice reform is public safety and society. Both these pillars
work side-by-side to ensure that every prisoner has
a chance at redemption. Furthermore, prisoner rehabilitation is intended to see
that prisoners are given a chance to prove to the judicial system, the state,
society, their loved ones, and themselves that they are willing to pay their
debt and resume their role as active and honest people.
Now, before anyone sucks their teeth and utters what
a crock of crap prisoner rehabilitation is for prisoners in the U.S., we
realize and agree that there is considerable room for improvement in prisoner
rehabilitation and the treatment of prisoners. We are also aware of the efforts
that have been implemented for criminal justice reform to help bring relief to
prisoners for injustices, harsh sentencing, and mass incarceration. We will
have to see what the outcomes and results are over a period of time for these initiatives
and if and/or how much they helped prisoners in conjunction with
rehabilitation.
Judicial reforms intend
to ensure the classification and processing of every individual according to
the degree and the nature of the crime they committed, and reforms are laid out
accordingly. The prisoner rehabilitation system aims for the rehabilitation of
individuals according to guidelines or specific details laid out by judicial
reforms.
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Types
of rehabilitation for prisoners
There are a variety of rehabilitation programs
available for the inmates and these are described as:
1. Educational
rehabilitation for inmates
2. Employment
rehabilitation for inmates
3. Counseling
rehabilitation for inmates
4. Wellness
rehabilitation for inmates
5. Community
rehabilitation for inmates
Benefits
of the prisoner rehabilitation
If someone is willing to throw a concise amount of
insight into the subject, then they can witness some of the benefits associated
with prisoner rehabilitation and its progress in working on changing inmates
for the better. Some of the benefits are:
1. Rehabilitation leads to progress: The act
of providing inmates with a chance to prove themselves and win the trust of the
State and society back may lead to effective and consistent progress.
2. Rehabilitation is good for changing
attitudes on both sides: Rehabilitation does change the attitude of
criminals and society toward each other and provides them with a better
understanding of how one can benefit the other.
3. Providing redemption: Rehabilitation
provides prisoners with the chance to consciously reflect, plan, and look
forward to a chance at redemption.
4. Improving the behavior of criminals towards each other and correctional facility staff
5. Retraining
inmates to cope with the pressures of society and helping them to grow as individuals
What
methods have been and are currently used to rehabilitate prisoners?
Various methods have been used and are still
currently being used to rehabilitate prisoners. These include offering
educational and employment counseling as well as community rehabilitation for
prisoners. These methods can help to bring fruitful results to prisoners such
as changing their behavior toward society and offering them a chance to fix
their lives.
How
effective have these methods been or not been? What percentage of prisoners are
rehabilitated?
These methods have some success in the case of
prisoner rehabilitation. Changes among behavior and their reaction towards
becoming a better individual for society have been witnessed. Reportedly,
almost 66-75% of the prisoners are rehabilitated yearly using all these
methods.
Are
there any proven and successful methods that have been or are used to
rehabilitate prisoners?
It can be said that the methods of providing
prisoners with educational reforms have proven to be the best yet. And the
chances of success are reportedly almost 93.74%.
What
are some successful methods used to help prisoners get rehabilitated?
The methods including educational and behavioral
reforms have proven to be the most effective and have a higher ratio of success
among the others.
What
hasn’t worked to rehabilitate prisoners?
Prisoner mistreatment and abuse do not help at
all. The moment prisoners think that they are being subjected to neglect, not
given proper care or their rights are violated, then they may not cooperate
with prison authorities. Mistreating and neglecting prisoners are methods that
do not work.
What
is recidivism?
Recidivism
refers to the act of released prisoners' re-committing crimes that caused them
to be convicted and re-incarcerated. Many criminals are rearrested for the same
crime they committed before their rehabilitation.
Does
prisoner rehabilitation reduce recidivism? If so, how?
Yes and No. Yes and in a way where
rehabilitation provides prisoners with all of the tools, therapies, elements of
choice, and dramatic positive changes in behavior, all of which they can use to
contribute towards their share in the betterment of society and refrain from
criminal acts they used to indulge in before rehabilitation. In this case,
prisoner rehabilitation reduces recidivism.
No, in a sense that no amount of rehabilitation is enough or is going to do any good to improve the progress of a prisoner to help them become a better individual. If a prisoner is not willing to fully change and live by all these pieces of training, which includes refraining from all the criminal acts they were a part of before rehabilitation, then prisoner rehabilitation may not reduce recidivism.
Conclusion
It
can be said that without rehabilitation, society nor the justice system are
doing any good to provide criminals a chance at redemption. But with the help
of prisoner rehabilitation, many convicts can have a chance to turn their lives
around and be of service to society, themselves, families, community, and
society.
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References
ConnectNetwork
(2016). 5 rewarding types of rehabilitation for inmates.
Retrieved from ConnectNetwork.
CorrectionsOne.com
(2015). What
are the most successful methods of
rehabilitating prisoners? Retrieved From C1.
Maxwell,
Eliese (2017). The benefits of prison art: providing rehabilitation
and positive implications. Retrieved from ResearchGate.
Solomon, Tamara (2015). The pros of rehabilitation on
the criminal justice system.
Retrieved from Prezi.
Read More About Prisoner Rehabilitation In These Books:
(Disclaimer: Affiliate Advertising. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)
The
Dedicated Ex-Prisoner's Guide for Getting Through the Halfway House: 10 Things
to Do to Make Your Rehabilitative Stay Short, Productive, & Profitable
by Richard Bovan
Prisoner Rehabilitation: Success Stories And Failures (Incarceration Issues: Punishment, Reform) Kindle Edition by Joan Esherick