Rehabilitation Behind Prison Walls Research Paper

Goals For and Challenges to Rehabilitation behind Prison Walls

For a very long time incarceration was traditionally used as the punishment of choice, especially in regard to more serious or violent offenses. However by introducing non-traditional alternatives to extended periods of incarceration has saved millions of dollars that had been budgeted for the high cost of incarceration. It is the belief of many in this day and age that criminal behavior is caused by some determining factor. Depending upon the classification of the offender, their status can be used to both control and treat the offender by: determining the type of sentence that will be handed down, as well as the type of facility that will be used for housing. (Influences on…show more content…
With no rehabilitative plan in place for these criminals they become more alienated, frustrated, socially and psychologically deprived; which will almost always result in more criminal and antisocial behaviors and a high rate of recidivism (Prison Structure & Management, 2013) Conclusion Correctional leaders and thinkers back in 1870 knew there was a need for reform in the US prison system. They concluded with their own principles of effective intervention that “the supreme arm of prison discipline is the reformation of criminals, not the infliction of vindictive suffering” (Cullen & Grendreau, 2000). This need hasn’t changed in our modern day version of law and justice, and it needs to continue to be the focal point in every judgment made about our prison systems in the United…show more content…
and Cullen, F. (1990),
Does Correctional Treatment Work? A Clinically Relevant and Psychologically Informed Meta-Analysis. Criminology, 28: 369–404. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-9125.1990.tb01330.x. Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1990.tb01330.x/pdf
Cullen, F., & Grendreau, P. (2000). Assessing Correctional Rehabilitation: Policy, Practice, and Prospects. Policies, Processes, and Decisions of the Criminal Justice System.
Retrieved March 7, 2015, from https://www.ncjrs.gov/criminal_justice2000/vol_3/03d.pdf
Cullen, F., & Santana, S. (2002). Rehabilitation. Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice.
Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Rehabilitation.aspx#1
Glaze, L., & Kaeble, D. (2014, December). Correctional Populations in the United States, 2013. US Department of Justice Bulletin. Retrieved March 7, 2015, from http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cpus13.pdf
M.U.S.E. (2013). Prison Structure and Management. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
M.U.S.E. (2013). Purpose of Sentencing and Corrections. Retrieved March 7,