Rehabilitation for State Prisoners - Essay Example

Today, jails and prisons in the United States are characterized by heightened overpopulation and overcrowding. In light of this paramount concern, it becomes imperative for the federal government to consider rehabilitation of prisoners. Be that as it may, critics of rehabilitation remain skeptical about the effectiveness of this approach. In Australia, criminal justice systems have adopted an alternative approach that shifts the sole reliance on punishment and ultimately making the communities safer (Day, 2015). This approach has proven to be very useful in making the communities safer and reducing crime rates. Furthermore, prison sentences and jail terms have for decades now been associated with deterrence of criminal behavior and increased re-occurrence of crimes. Synonymously, Ted Lieu in an interview on the Local Edition emphasized on the need for rehabilitation for state prisoners (Pomerance, 2010). Consequently, it becomes apparent that rehabilitation can work and is an effective solution for solving the current problems faced by criminal justice systems in the United States prisons and jails.

Ideal punishment frameworks necessitate an array of conditions that may not always be present in any system. The absence of these ideal conditions, therefore, hinder the effectiveness of punishment and pave the way for a better approach that is the rehabilitation of prisoners. Here, systems of rehabilitation are geared towards the rehabilitation of offenders with the end goal of better prevention of crime and improve safety. Moreover, the history of rehabilitation emanated in the 1970s when psychologists endeavored to shift from punishment to rehabilitation approaches (Benson, 2003). Over the decades, extensive research has depicted the extensive significance of child abuse, destitution, early presentation to substance abuse and other triggers and factors for criminal conduct. These discoveries propose that individual-focused ways to deal with crime aversion should be supplemented by group based methodologies. Analysts have additionally discovered that the conventional perspective that legitimized reformatory jail strategies in the 1970s was exaggerated. At the point when legitimately actualized, work projects, instruction, and psychotherapy can facilitate detainees' advances to the free world. Additionally, research illustrates the power of the prison system to shape conduct, frequently to the hindrance of the prisoners.

Further research and case studies have also demonstrated that time spent in prison does not effectively restore most detainees, and the dominant part of offenders come back to an existence of crime very quickly (Benson, 2003). Many contend that most prisoners will learn new and better approaches to carry out misconducts while they are bolted up with their kindred convicts. They can likewise make associations and turn out to be all the more profoundly engaged with the criminal world. With an end goal to offer better rehabilitative administrations to the detainees, numerous jails have started furnishing therapists to help manage prisoners psychological and mental issues. Detainment facilities likewise provide classroom settings in which detainees can figure out how to peruse and instruct themselves. These techniques are demonstrated to affect the detainees positively and have helped many to defeat a foundation with almost no instruction. Upon their discharge, detainees who have stayed with these projects are given a superior chance to succeed and to turn their lives around.

Finally, rehabilitation of state prisoners is a rigorous and demanding process. Prisoners are isolated from the overall population and compelled to live in general public with individuals for whom wrongdoing is a lifestyle. For some, time spent in prison will push them further into existence of crime, while for others, the revulsions of jail life and the lessons they realize there are sufficient to stop them from carrying out violations. In light of this comprehension, it is plausible that punishment is not enough in the criminal justice systems and that rehabilitation works.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Benson, E. (2003). Rehabilitate or punish? Monitor on Psychology, 46.

Day, A. (2015, June 15). Crime and punishment and rehabilitation: a smarter approach. Retrieved from The Conversation: http://theconversation.com/crime-and-punishment-and-rehabilitation-a-smarter-approach-41960

Pomerance, B. (2010, April 19). Ted Lieu on the need for rehabilitation for state prisoners. (T. Lieu, Interviewer)