Prisons re-entry and rehabilitation programs

In America, the prison system has undergone significant reforms, with the goal of providing more care to inmates. The primary purpose of detention is to include corrective measures to prisoners in order to assist them in improving their conduct and character. The inclusion of re-entry and recovery services for inmates has given them an advantage of transforming their lives and giving them a sense of direction. These services provide male and female inmates with the required resources and assist them in taking responsibility for their lives. For example, Lionheart’s prison program is a life-changing program in the United States that provides re-entry and rehabilitation support to prisoners. This program has been effective and has given them a sense of direction. The provision of these programs provides the necessary support to the male and female prisoners and helps them take responsibility for their lives. For example, Lionheart’s prison program is a life changing program in the United States that provides re-entry and rehabilitation support to prisoners. This program has been effectual and has helped the prisoners to change their life-long patterns of bad behavior to productive lives (Jacobson, 120). Therefore, it is evident that the provision of re-entry and rehabilitation programs in prison has helped the individuals to stay out of prison as well as helping them start over when they are released.

The fact of the matter is that most prisoners, especially those that have spent years in prisons, experience a challenge when they are leaving prison. This is because the change in the environment provides a mixture of anxiety and confusion to them since they do not know how to start over again (Gendreau, 52). The need for a job to enable the prisoners to sustain their lives may be a challenge, and thus, many of them may end up back in prison before long. For instance, the basic tasks in the community, such as using a metro card instead of using token when using the subway may be insurmountable (Schlosser, 83). For this reason, the need for re-entry and rehabilitation programs is critical to the prisoners.

The re-entry programs help the inmates re-enter the society in a positive way and equips them with the necessary skills required for them to blend well with other citizens (Gouldby and Pham, 30). A successful re-entry program begins when the prisoner has been incarcerated, follows through until the few hours when an inmate is released and progresses to the point where they work to reposition their lives. In addition, the re-entry programs offer a life changing experience to the prisoners through teaching occupational skills such as plumbing, welding, and house management. Despite how petty these skills may seem, they help the prisoners to interact with others and cultivates a culture of hard work.

While re-entry programs help the prisoners to survive the out-of-prison life, the rehabilitation services also help them change their behaviors, thus keeping them out of prison. One of the main services provided during the rehabilitation programs include the college level education to the inmates, which reduces their recidivism rates. “According to the various analyses conducted, most inmates who completed the college-based education program stayed crime-free longer than those who did not participate in the program (Mosweunyane and Montsho, 112).”

Despite education programs, mental health services are also essential programs to the prisoners, who mostly suffer mental health problems. “The rate of mental illness in prisons is at least three times the national average, and therefore, the need to provide such rehabilitation programs is crucial (Gendreau, 62).” Rehabilitation in prisons also focuses on the minimization of drug abuse and teaches about the effects of drug abuse in prisons. It is evident that most prisoners are drug addicts and without providing them such rehabilitation services, the prisoners may end up back in jail after being released.

The need to focus on the psychological problems is a crucial aspect since most prisoners face psychological challenges such as aggression, anger, and violence. Rehabilitation and re-entry programs help such prisoners to change their behavior and convert them into reasonable individuals who can reintegrate into the society (Mosweunyane and Montsho, 115). Indeed, it is with no doubt that the transition from prison to the outside environment is not easy and many prisoners find it hard to cope with the change in environment (Gouldby and Pham, 35). The interaction with the society may be a hard thing for prisoners, and thus rehabilitation and re-entry programs play a huge role in modeling the prisoners in a way that they learn and acquire the skills to not only fit in the society but also resume their normal lives.

In contrast, arguments have risen that rehabilitation and re-entry programs have not been effective in some prisons. This is because the aspect of changing the behavior and character of a mature individual is not possible. Furthermore, counter arguments indicate that rehabilitation services cannot help the prisoners facing life imprisonment since they lack the hope and motivation (Schlosser, 96). This has proved to be the main challenge in conducting rehabilitation services and more effort is needed to make such programs fully effective.

In conclusion, the provision of rehabilitation and re-entry programs to prison inmates is an essential service, which helps the prisoners to change their lives and re-enter the society in a positive way. The fact is that the disparity between the two kinds of environments; the prison and the outside environment, is huge enough and poses to be a challenge to the prisoners. The provision of occupational skills, mental therapy, college-level education programs, and psychological therapy has proved to be essential in helping the inmates change their lives. Therefore, rehabilitation and re-entry programs are important services and should be used effectively in prisons.

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Works Cited

Gendreau, Paul. Offender Change: An Effective Alternative to Incarceration. Ministry of the Solicitor General of Canada, 2004, pp. 49-98.

Gouldby, C. S., and Stacie Pham. "Rehabilitation Programs for Psychological and Mentally Ill Offenders within Prisons." PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2013, pp. 23-45.

Jacobson, Michael. Downsizing Prisons: How to Reduce Crime and End Mass Incarceration. New York UP, 2005, pp. 112-157.

Mosweunyane, Dama, and Cheneso B. Montsho. "The Supervision of Programs in Prisons and Rehabilitation Department:." Cases on Leadership in Adult Education, 2014, pp. 99-116.

Schlosser, Jennifer A. Inmates' Narratives and Discursive Discipline in Prison: Rewriting Personal Histories Through Cognitive-Behavioural Programs. 2015, pp. 79-121.