Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation of offenders
Ghadeer Ali AL-sofi
62230057
1
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation, introduced in the 19th century, is a punishment theory that
focuses on providing treatment and training to offenders to enable their successful
reintegration into society. It was considered a more humane approach compared to
retribution and deterrence, although it did not necessarily result in lighter penalties.
Rehabilitation could involve probation or extended periods of custody for
treatment or training, with the length of detention determined by the offender's
progress in reforming while incarcerated.
What is the Rehabilitation of Offenders？
The term
Rehabilitation in this context refers to working with individual offenders to stop
them from continuing to commit crime.) Recent research conducted by Canadian
scholars Andrews, Gendreau, and Bonta indicates that effective rehabilitation
programs focus on addressing factors that can be changed and are directly linked to
criminal behavior. These factors include anti-social attitudes and emotions, self-
control, problem-solving skills, and substance abuse, which are collectively
referred to as "criminogenic needs." This approach highlights the importance of
targeting specific areas for intervention in order to reduce recidivism rates among
offenders. Accordingly, there has been an increase in the number of rehabilitation
programs for specific offending problems, such as sexual offending, violent
offending and drug and alcohol use.
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Rehabilitation
Theories in conflict
In the practical operation of a sentencing or penal system, theories of punishment
often come into conflict. A lenient sentence (such as probation) designed to
rehabilitate an offender may fail to express society’s rejection of the behavior or to
provide an effective deterrent to others; a sentence that requires the offender to
submit to a compulsory program of treatment or training for a long period may
conflict with the idea of retribution as a limiting principle (a constraint on
excessive or unfair punishment); a sentence of unusual severity, designed to make
an example of the offender as a warning to others, conflicts with the principles of
rehabilitation and proportionality; and a sentence whose object is incapacitation
may fail to satisfy those who favors rehabilitation and proportionality. The
operation of any sentencing system requires officials to choose between different
theories in different cases; no single theory provides a system suitable for all cases.
What are the different types of criminal rehabilitation?
There are three different types of rehabilitation programs: psychological,
occupational-based, and education-focused. Psychological rehabilitative programs
focus on the social and mental health of the offender. Occupational-based programs
seek to prepare offenders to re-enter the workforce by training them in jobs.
Education-focused programs seek to improve the well-being of offenders and
improve their ability to succeed upon release.
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Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation programs do not generally follow a common, well-defined
treatment protocol (Lipsey and Cullen 2007). Instead, interventions and services
may vary significantly by program. All programs address at least one of the risk
factors commonly associated with offending (such as mental health status,
substance use, education level, or employment status). For example, a drug court
program may provide a person who has been convicted of an offense with
treatment only to address substance abuse issues related to his or her offending.
More commonly, however, rehabilitation programs combine multiple services: for
example, a drug court program that provides an individual not only with substance
abuse treatment, but also with individual counseling and vocational training.
The general types of treatment services provided by rehabilitation programs
include group work (structured via protocol or psychoeducational content);
cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or CBT-like components (thinking skills,
relapse prevention, or anger management); counseling (group, individual,
mentoring); academic work (GED or college classes); employment-related (work-
release, job placement, vocational training); supportive residential (therapeutic
community, halfway house); drug court or other specialized court; multimodal,
mixed treatments (individual case management); intensive supervision (reduced
probation or parole); or restorative interventions (mediation, reparations,
community service, victim-offender conferencing).
Effective rehabilitation programs typically use treatment methods that
are based on behavioral and social learning theories of change. Behavioral theory
suggests that individuals are conditioned to behave in a certain way based on
experiences with reinforcement and punishment (Skinner 1965). In contrast, social
learning theory posits that people learn behaviors from one another, through
observation, imitation, and modeling (Bandura 1997). Therefore, rehabilitation
programs are designed to reduce criminal behaviors through the positive
reinforcement of conventional behaviors learned through observation or modeling
(Lipsey and Cullen 2007). For example, a program may help a participant learn
how to manage his or her anger by modeling appropriate responses instead.
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Rehabilitation
What methods can be used to rehabilitate offenders?
State Funds Various In‑Prison Rehabilitation Programs
• Academic Education. ...
• Career Technical Education (CTE). ...
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). ...
• Employment Preparation. ...
• Substance Use Disorder Treatment (SUDT). ...
• Arts‑in‑Corrections. ...
• Innovative Programming Grants.
The Importance of Prison Rehabilitation
For most Americans, prisons are a necessary but almost forgotten institution.
Without any interaction with the system, most of us have a vague understanding of
how they work, or at least how they’re supposed to.
In some sense, the justice system seems straightforward: these individuals broke
the law and must be punished for them. They forfeit certain rights because of their
infraction and then are released when they’ve been properly punished.
But for those who experience the prison system, and their families and loved ones,
the reality is slightly different. Often, former inmates find themselves in a world
very different from the one they left years before. Without a job, money, or
connections, it’s hard to imagine anyone truly succeeding in rebuilding their life.
This is why rehabilitation programs before and after release are so important.
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Rehabilitation
The United States has incredibly high incarceration rates. While 0.7% of the
population may not seem very high, this is about 1 out of 150 people. In raw
numbers, that’s almost 2.3 million people. And at the same time, many of these
individuals are released only to be arrested for another crime and return to the
prison system. According to a 2019 report, the recidivism rate for state prisoners
was 83% over a nine-year study period, that means that five out of six released
prisoners will be arrested for a new crime. These numbers were lower for federal
prisoners who had rates of 39.8% and 64% for nonviolent and violent prisoners,
respectively.
Part of our justice system should be preparing and helping former convicts reenter
society so they can live productive lives and avoid falling into former habits. Their
rehabilitation must start while they serve their sentences, giving these Americans
something to focus on and work for. By providing practical programs such as
vocational training, we make it possible for these individuals to leave prison with
marketable skills for good steady jobs.
Americans need to support these individuals who are trying to rebuild their lives.
The prison population shouldn’t be a forgotten portion of American life. We need
to ensure that prisoners are given the proper training and opportunities to improve
themselves and their prospects upon their release.
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Rehabilitation
References
• https://www.iwf.org/2020/06/29/the-importance-of-prison-
rehabilitation-programs-before-and-after-release/
• https://crimesolutions.ojp.gov/ratedpractices/101#eb
• https://moviecultists.com/for-rehabilitation-of-offenders
• https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/tandi112.pdf
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/punishment/Rehabilitation
• https://study.com/learn/lesson/prison-rehabilitation-
programs.html
