Essay on Womens Prevention and Rehabilitation Programs

Modern prisons for women provide a wide range of both prevention and rehabilitation programs. Among the common prevention programs are substance abuse prevention and suicide prevention. Regarding substance abuse, women are trained on basics and effects of drug abuse and how they can prevent them using peer-led approach. Women are offered visits by government officials who counsel them concerning HIV prevention and risky behaviors such as substance abuse. Suicide prevention, on the other hand, entails giving physical and mental support to women to minimize cases of suicide inside and outside the prison facilities. Counseling is offered by trained correctional staff who monitor behavior of women prisoners and communicates to stressed inmates (CDCR ,2009)

Other than prevention programs, the prisons offer rehabilitation programs for female prisoners. Education and work programs are the primary rehabilitation programs that aim at giving them skills and expertise in various jobs. Women are employed in prison industries to enable them to develop work habits and skills that will help them acquire job opportunities after finishing the jail term. Moreover, female inmates are offered educational courses and vocational training that enable them to acquire certificates, licenses, or knowledge such as computer skills (Bartollas & Siegel, 1983). These will ultimately help them after being released from the correctional facility.

Psychological programs are also offered to women to ensure they receive appropriate clinical care and mental treatment. Managing their psychology helps in minimizing their criminality and reduces cases of suicidal ideation among women. Lastly, the prisons offer contemplative programs such as classes for yoga, meditation and contemplative prayer to ensure women inmates reduce their stress and aggression and develop acceptable behavior. In addition to that, it helps in increasing their self-awareness and reducing the rate of hopelessness. These rehabilitation and prevention programs are however not enough because prisoners may still engage in criminal activities after they leave prison. Many prisons need follow-up programs to ensure their inmates use the acquired skills effectively and to offer both physical and mental support (BCPublicService, 2011).

Women inmates should be treated differently from their male counterparts. This is because they are different from men and find prison harder in various ways. More women are likely to develop mental problems in prisons than men. Furthermore, they may experience sexual abuse by both warders and fellow inmates hence they require more special support than men.

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References

Bartollas, C., & Siegel, L. (1983). Corrections Today (4th ed.). Boston: Cengage Learning.

HYPERLINK "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWzAuFGrh8ufvf8bQP-67fg" BCPublicService (2011). BC Corrections - Women in Corrections (video file). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSRAErWYKfM

CDCR (2009). New Substance Abuse Program Helps Rehab Female Offenders (Video file). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-042I7NeD8