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CRJ303: Corrections: Prison Life and Strategies to Reduce Recidivism

This document analyzes prison life and discusses strategies for reducing recidivism rates.

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    Prison Life 1 Prison Life and Strategies to Reduce Recidivism Sandy Diaz (Echon) CRJ303: Corrections Instructor: Scott Axton July 26, 2012 Analyze the experiences of prison life and evaluate strategies to reduce recidivism within U.S. correctional systems. In your analysis, consider the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs, the impact of prison conditions, and policy implications. Support your arguments with relevant research and case studies. (Word Count: 1500 - 2000 words)

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    Prison Life 2 Prison Life and Strategies to Reduce Recidivism Introduction All societies in the world acknowledge the fundamental role that prisons and jails play in ensuring that law breakers receive the punishment they deserve. At the same time , prisons offer the offenders an opportunity to reform and become better people in the society. In the United States, an estimated two million inmates are housed in jails and prisons of the country. Statistics indicate that a large percentage of these prisoners are comprised of people who have been imprisoned in the past , as well as , those who have not been inmates in the past. The issue of prison conditions and the impacts they have on the future lives of inmates has attracted significant interest in the American society. One of the most important trends in the U.S justice system is that out of 600, 000 inmates that are released from prison each year, about two - thirds end up being re arrested after three years (Chen & Shapiro, 2007) . In this respect, the objective of this paper is to discuss pris on life and strategies that can be adopted in prisons to reduce recidivism. Analysis of the Purposes for Prisons in the U.S Justice System The correctional facilities in the U.S are principally meant to ensure that the sentences that have been prescribed by the Courts on offenders are implemented to the letter. Nevertheless, correctional administrators in the modern correctional facilities have been enlightened in that they recognize a broader responsibility and mission of prisons. Protectin g the society from criminal acts by offenders serves as the complete mission of corrections in the U.S justice system. In order to accomplish this mission, prisons have to use a com bination of strategies for surveillance and control of offenders, in addition to rehabilitative and treatment services. At the

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    Prison Life 3 same time, inmates need to be incapacitated during the time which they are serving their sentence s . In a nutshell, prisons serve five main purposes geared towards protecting the society; these are punishment, rehabilitation, deterrence, r estitution, and incapacitation (Wilson & Wilson, 2011 , p. 383 ) . It is worth noting that , from the mid - 1970s onwards, punishment became a highly regarded function of prisons in the U.S while rehabilitation started being viewed as less important (BENSON, 2003) . Nonetheless, prison administrators have recognized that punishment and rehabilitation must go together for levels of recidivism to go down. Moreover, punishment only considers the crime that has been committed without giving much attention on the circumstances or the factors that led an inmate to commit a particular crime. This is where rehabilitation comes in, as it considers the needs and circumstances that influenced an inmate to commit a crime, be they educational, psychological, economical, or sociological. Prisons also serve to deter inmates and other individuals in the society from committing crimes. Nonetheless, for deterrence to be achieved the punishment given must be visible and the public must be convinced that the law will act with no partiality once a person commits a crime (Smith, 2010) . For example, people will not be deterred if criminals who have committed serious crimes such as murder bu y their way out through bribes. Incapacitation comes in the form of restrictions that come about through incarceration. In other words, once offenders are imprisoned, their freedom of movement is curtailed and thus they have less or no contact with the outside world (Gleissner, 2010) . Consequently, the society is protected from any potential harm from the offenders. Restitution, on the other hand involves giving offenders an opportunity to correct their wrong deeds or repay ing their victims or society

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