About Recidivism

Most countries employ prisons to rehabilitate people who have committed criminal acts when all other measures of rehabilitation have failed or there are insufficient facilities to rehabilitate such people. Retribution, incapacity, deterrence, restoration, and restoration are the five purposes of criminal imprisonment (CSG Justice Center, 2015). However, in the United States, jails are used to punish all types of criminals, including minor offenders. While the United States houses only 5% of the world’s population, it houses 25% of the world’s convicts. This means that the incarceration rate in the United States is four times greater than the global average (Christopher, 2006). The US has the highest rate of recidivism. The people serving jail terns in the US, have a very high probability of ending up back in prison within five years because of poor follow up policies for ex-convicts and lack of job opportunities .however this can be reversed by setting up effective programs to reduce recidivism.

In comparison with other countries, the justice system in the US imprisons very many people Whereas other countries such as Germany, use prisons as a means to enable prisoners to lead a life of social responsibility free of crime upon release (NY Times, 2013, Nov), the US uses prisons solely to punish offenders. Unlike the US, inmates in Norway are taught vocational programs which highly reduces the chances of recidivism to 20% as compared to that of 76% in the US. Again, in Norway the sole punishment criminals face is loss of freedom (Sterbenz, 2014) .On the contrary, US offender face harsh conditions while in prison with few or no visitation from family.

The US often imprisons people who could have been held accountable in the society. For instance there are many people with mental illness who find themselves behind bars.as a result of poverty such people cannot access mental hospitals .these people end up behind bars because of offenses related to their illness (Justice Policy Institute, 2010).

In addition, the correction system is racist in design since most of the prisoners are male blacks. There is mass incarceration in the Black community.as a matter of fact, Africans Americans are over six times more likely to be jailed as compared to their white counterparts and twice more likely as compared to people of Hispanic origin (Christopher, 2006) as a result of drug abuse and gang involvement, many male blacks find themselves behind bars instead of rehabilitation centers.

Moreover, the highest number of women behind bars is found in the US. These women are punished for sex offences .As such, they are separated from their children who are given for adoption if they are under eighteen years (Cnaan, Draine, Frazier & Sinha, 2008).

Another problem contributing to high numbers of people in prison and high rates of recidivism is the failure of parole boards to grant parole to all the eligible people.in fear of public scrutiny, the boards are extremely strict in deciding who to release under community supervision. Again the parole officers often sent ex-prisoners back to prison when they break parole rules even when they do not commit new crimes (Justice Policy Institute, 2010).

As a result of overpopulated jails, the living conditions are very poor with no privacy. Prisoners face numerous challenges in jail which make them angry and vulnerable to going back to crime upon release which increases the rate of recidivism.

People who were once in prison or jail face many problems after their release. For instance, in some states such as Florida and Virginia permanently bar to ex-prisoners vote in elections .in other states, they are restricted from voting for a number of years after release. In a similar manner, many states and local authorities permanently prohibit ex-prisoners from running for office. Different from the US, countries like Israel and Belgium allow all their citizens to participate in elections without discriminating against inmates and ex-prisoners (Cnaan, Draine, Frazier & Sinha, 2008).

Again, ex-inmates normally face rejection after release from their families.as a result of imprisonment, inmates lose contact with their families, especially those who are serving long terms. Since most come from poor families, relatives cannot afford to visit them if they are in prisons far from home.in cases where women are jailed their children who are under eighteen are given up for adoption if they have no other relatives (Cnaan, Draine, Frazier & Sinha, 2008). Upon release, inmates who try to restore their families are often frustrated since their relatives have formed ties with other people during the time they were in prison. Consequentially, they feel neglected and are very likely to turn to crime. In contrast, Israel allows prisoners to go home on vacation and also allow conjugal visits which are not given in the US. Upon release, these inmates have intact families to go home to.

Additionally, people with past convictions are barred from many employment opportunities in many fields. For example, ex-prisoners face restrictions from choosing carriers in law, medicine and nursing. Likewise, ex-inmates are barred from working in money based organizations such as banks or security-related jobs in some states. In a similar manner, some employers completely shun from employing people who were once convicted. While in prison, inmates are ill equipped with skills that would help them secure good jobs after release (Cnaan, Draine, Frazier & Sinha, 2008). As such, they can only take up low paying casual jobs. In this case, imprisonment in the US significantly lowers a person’s capacity to make a decent living. On the other hand, Norway equips its prisoners are taught vocational programs such as woodworking assembly workshops, recording studio which enable them to find decent jobs after release (Sterbenz, 2014).

Similarly, ex-convicts face discrimination when seeking to advance their studies. Many universities and higher institutions of learning do not admit ex-prisoners so as to preserve their public image. Universities require students to disclose information about former convictions in their admission forms and normally leave out those with criminal records. For example, in Virginia ,there is a law that requires institutions of higher learning to forward information about admitted students to police for comparison with the state’s criminal information network and sex offenders registry(Redden,2007).For this reason, ex-convicts are discouraged from developing themselves which minimizes their chances of getting dignified jobs. Henceforth, many ex-prisoners engage in illegal practices to get money and which cause them to be sent back to prison.

Whereas some prisoners are released unconditionally, some are placed under correctional supervision. This is normally ordered by the court with the prisoners being placed under parole officers. However there is a breakdown in the parole system. Most parole officers are insensible and often send ex-prisoners back to prison for breaking rules of parole even when they don’t commit new crimes (Justice Policy Institute, 2010).

On the contrary, ex-prisoners in Germany and Netherlands do not face punitive consequences such as restrictions on employment, voting bans. They are also provided with housing and public assistance. With such assistance, these prisoners have lower chances of recidivism (NY Times, 2013, Nov).

Despite all these challenges, the US Justice System has a chance to come up with and implement an effective program to reduce recidivism. First, there should be a revision of local and state policies of the justice system (National Reentry Research Center, 2014). It should be reorganized in a manner to minimize the number of people who are in jail. With depopulation of jails, living conditions will improve making jail a better place reducing the number of angry inmates who go back to prison after release. On the same note, jailed people should not be completely segregated from their families and upon release they will not face rejection and go back to crime.

Similarly, while in jail inmates should be taught using cognitive behavioral programs.in such programs, focus is on treatment of criminal thinking or attitudes (CSG Justice Center, 2015) .In addition, the inmates should be subjected to learning of new skills relevant to the job market so as to help them in getting jobs after leaving prison. Notably there should proper identification of the right people for this program. These are the people with high probability if reoffending. Since prisoners will eventually be released back to the society, rehabilitative programs and treatment should be used to prepare them for their release (Oppaga ,2007)

Significantly, the community based correction systems should be put to use in correcting offense, parole boards should give parole to all eligible candidates(Petersilia,2000).Furthermore, rehabilitation centers should be set up to address the problem of drug abuse instead of using prisons for this purpose.

In summary, the US has the highest rates of imprisonment in the world and also the highest rates of recidivism. Because of punish every offence with a jail term, the prisons are over populated with poor living conditions .Prisoners face harsh conditions and have no effective correction programs to enable prisoners get rehabilitated.in addition, after prison ,ex-prisoners face restrictions to employment, are denied voting rights or the right to run for office. In addition, they cannot access higher educational facilities to enhance their skills. For this reason, many of them go back to crime and are sent back to prison.

However with a restructuring of the justice system and a proper management of community based correction systems, there is an effective way of reducing recidivism. Programs should be set up to reabsorb ex-prisoners back to the society by educating them while in prison on relevant skills to enable them get jobs after prison and also addressing their criminal thinking and attitudes.

References

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Cnaan, R.A., Draine, J.N., Frazier, B., & Sinha. J.W. (2008).The Limits of Citizenship: Rights of Prisoners and Ex-prisoners in USA.

CSG Justice Center (2015).Three Core Elements of Programs That Reduce Recidivism: Who, What and How Well.

Harteny, C. (2006).US Rates of Incarceration: A Global Perspective. National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

Justice Policy Institute (2010).For Immediate Release: How to safely reduce prison populations and support people returning to their communities.

New York Times (2013, November 7): Lessons from European Prisons .Retried April 18, 2017 from: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2013/11/08.

Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (Oppaga) (2007). Corrections in Rehabilitative Programs Effective, But Only Serve a Portion of the Eligible Population.

Petersilia, J. (2000).When Prisoners Return to the Community: Political, Economic and Social Consequences.

Redden, E. (2007, February 14th).Criminal and Colleges on Capital. Insider Higher Ed. Retrieved April 18, 2017 from: htttp://www.insiderhighered.com/news/02/14/dc.

Sterbenz, C. (2014).Business Insider: Why Norway’s Prison System Is So Successful. Retrieved April 18, 2017 from: http: //www.businessinsider.com/.

The National reentry Research Center (2014). Reducing Recidivism.