Corrections_Today_January_February_2024_Vol.86_No.1
et al., 2018). An examination of the Risk Need Respon sivity Model serving predominantly or solely female populations, is supported by the risk principle within both types of programs (Holliday, Heilbrun, Fretz, 2012). The Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole developed a reentry program which includes intensive supervision, and oversight for offenders who will be reentering society after being incarcerated. Criminal justice experts have realized most prisoners will not be incarcerated for the rest of their lives. This reentry program put a focus on offenders who have a substance abuse issue. It is estimated between 30% to 85% of the incarcerated population have a substance abuse issue. The program focused on prosocial behaviors. Offend ers who have struggled with substance abuse issues had beliefs about themselves that were tied to unlovability, along with feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness, and did not have to ability to cope with frustration (Zort man, et al., 2016). In postindustrial parole, the control or discipline over offenders has shifted from meaning ful reintegration into the community to supervision by parole officers. Supervision has varied from a clinical model that has emphasized deterrence; parole has been forfeited to a policing model of deterrence (Listwan, Cullen, Latessa, 2006). Post release programs may start too late in providing services to help ex-offenders deal effectively with the multiple challenges associated with employment, family relations, substance abuse and resumption of pre-imprisonment lifestyle.
intervention and reentry (Listwan, Cullen, Latessa, 2006). Like individuals that have served in the armed forces, when the incarcerated are released, they experience anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia and cognitive dysfunc tion which can hinder their reentry journey and damage familial relationships (Skinner-Osei & Stepteau-Watson, 2018). Post release programs may start too late in provid ing services to help ex-offenders deal effectively with the multiple challenges associated with employment, family relations, substance abuse and resumption of pre-impris onment lifestyle. As an example, in Wisconsin, prisoners who end up re-offending and re-entering prison within three years of their release, do so within the first five months following their release date, while one half end up re-offending within the first full year of being released from a facility (Cook et., 2015). In our society, there is a problem with reintegrating of fenders back into our communities. In a local jurisdiction, an offender returns to the county prison facility six times during their lifetime; this signals to me that the criminal justice system is not preparing offenders for release with the proper tools once entering society. The goal of our criminal justice system is to rehabilitate offenders and prepare them to reenter society with tools that will help them become productive members of society. The need for programs must be assessed, along with the current programs that are being used. Evidenced based programs need to be administrated in correctional facilities throughout the United States. Programs for life skills, job skills and education programs need to be incor porated into an offender release program. The economic theory of crime that Gary Becker put forth, assumed that individuals who were thinking of committing a criminal act look at the risk and reward of committing the act. If an offender is given the opportunity to succeed in the com munity through a non-criminal way, they will likely not reoffend. REFERENCES Behravan, H. (2011). Sociological Explanation of Prison Reentry. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences , 6 (1/2), 286–296. Bushway, S. D. (2006). The Problem of Prisoner (Re)Entry. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews , 35 (6), 562–565. Cook, P., Kang, S., Braga, A., Ludwig, J., & O, B. M. (2015). An Experimental Evaluation of a Comprehensive Employment-Oriented Prisoner Reentry Program. Journal of Quantitative Criminology , 31 (3), 355–382. →
There has been a growing recognition that it is irre sponsible to simply release tens of thousands of inmates from prison, and to place them into parole officers’ caseloads that are too high to allow for meaningful
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