Reintegration of Offenders into Society
Programs for crime prevention involve effective measures that help offenders not to repeat the same crime in the future. When imprisoned offenders are released from prison, they face challenges that make them unable to be law-abiding especially the offenders who have lengthy records of committing a crime and are a great security threat to society. Social reintegration is very important for ex-prisoners and interventions need to be developed for reducing recidivism.
The interventions include efforts by the justice system together with organizations and community agencies where reintegration programs for offenders deal with challenges encountered by offenders such as substance abuse, lack of employment, and sex offenders. These reintegration programs are surveillance programs and care programs. (Altschuler, 1994 pp56-57)
There are evaluations to facilitate the identification of practices for efficiency where intervention features assist offenders to be reintegrated into society. Proper assistance is provided from the stage of incarceration up to the release stage through the collaboration of social service, the justice system, the family of the offenders, and social organizations. These interventions facilities help offenders to be socially reintegrated and ensure there are no chances of reoffending again. Practitioners have programs for designing measures to be used through practical consideration that help to plan interventions in the future. (Altschuler, 1994 pp58)
Factors that lead to crimes should be addressed so that offenders can be successfully reintegrated into society and ensure they change and become law-abiding citizens. At the time of their release from prison, they should be provided with social, material, and psychological support so that they can find it easy to adapt to change after their release from prison.
Programs for reentry of offenders in the society are important for them to feel that they are acceptable and have a sense of belonging in the society without being discriminated and this will help them never to repeat the same offense. Policymakers should focus on strategies for reintegrating prisoners back to society and encourage them to change their behavior so that they may not commit offenses again in the future and how they can be productive members of society all the time. (Bonta, 2003 pp45-47)
Successive reintegration outcome is achieved through understanding the reasons why criminals engage in criminal activities and supporting the social needs of offenders when they are in prison and after their release from prison. There is a complex task in the effort to reintegrate offenders and it is not easy to measure the result of specific interventions because; prevention goal can be measured using recidivism of the offender which can be difficult due to the influence of different times when offender face criminal justice system. (Bonta, 2003 pp48-50)
Reintegration Services for Offenders
Reintegration should aim at supporting offenders to reenter society after their release from prison. It is important to have interventions that help to divert released offenders away from their life in prison through suitable treatment using society-based sanctions to remove harmful effects suffered in the course of imprisonment. The prison should have correctional programs to mold the behavior of offenders and after-care interventions which are useful for offenders who are involved in drug and substance abuse so that they can be helped to prevent themselves from the addiction. Transitional care and resettlement help criminals to adjust to life out of prison after their post-release and be able to live together with the rest of the members of the society without becoming a threat to their security again. (Baldry, 2002 pp13-14)
Reentry programs are based on a management approach where offenders are helped to acquire skills that help them be successful in society so that through the use of skills they can engage in daily activities that help them to generate income and cater for their basic needs and support themselves financially. Personal challenges related to criminal behavior are easy to deal with through having necessary contacts and good relationships with family members. This is enhanced through proper supervision to advising people who are released from prison so that they can have a positive attitude to challenges and look for effective solutions to their problems. (Baldry, 2002 pp15-17)
Offenders need to be given mental health care so that they can get the necessary medical attention to came back to the normal state of health and fitness in society. This medication can be given free of charge by health care providers or at a reduced cost that is catered for by organizations in the society or family members. Counseling is very important where qualified counselors take their time to talk with the offenders, listen to their problems and give them advice on how they can face different situations in their daily life without engaging themselves in criminal activities that affect their daily life once they commit crimes and they are convicted in the court of law and after they are found guilty they end up spending most of their life in prison.
The counselors advise that the time that could have been spent in prison can be put into effective use and be of benefit to the offenders and entire society once they avoid the crime and engage in profitable activities. (Banks, 2003 pp11-13)
Identifying and discussing the role of correctional psychology
The primary role of correctional psychology is to help in rehabilitating and reintegrating offenders. It ensures that the safety of members of staff and the inmates is enhanced through a healthy institutional environment. Corrections are very common in psychology and are involved in conflicts and ethical dilemmas but correctional psychologists have a primary role in ensuring there are treatment issues, disciplinary roles, and confidentiality in the manner in which ethical issues are treated. (Weinberger, 1994 pp163-164)
Correctional psychology ensures that individual offenders who have mental illness are not given the same punishment as common offenders. They need to be separated from normal prisoners so that they can be given special care when disciplining them and using psychiatrists who can learn their behavior and advise on the effective preventive measures in dealing with their situation. Correctional psychologists deal with security at large in society and institutions to put in place regulations regarding ethical issues. (Weinberger, 1994 pp165-166)
Correctional psychology has a dual role of being a therapist and at the same time an evaluator. The therapeutic relationship aims at establishing a relationship between therapist and offender to be able to change unacceptable behavior for society to have reintegration. Adequate treatment is given to all suspects and information is required for intervention to be carried out effectively. Defense mechanisms are provided to ensure that no crucial information is released for accurate evaluation and effective treatment of the offenders.
Assessing whether rehabilitation helps to reintegrate offenders back into society
The rehabilitation process helps offenders to feel that they are still valued in society and have the potential of being productive members who can be relied upon. The offenders are allowed to be successful in all the activities they engage in and express their leadership roles which are very important for them to see that they have a society where they belong and have a part to play in ensuring that the society can move forward and their contribution is highly appreciated and of great significance. The main objective of this approach is to change ex-prisoner from relying on other people to be assisted and become a person who can assist and this helps him not to be stigmatized by society because society will be aware that the offender has something he can offer to the society. (Banks, 2003 pp14-16)
According to the empirical evidence, programs for intensive supervision do not make offenders not to re-offend again. This is because, the program targets offenders who commit minor crimes and this is against the suggestion that, high-risk offenders are the ones who are supposed to benefit from intensive supervision programs. Supervisory orientation by probation officers who cover offender recidivism and regression analysis shows relationships that exist between styles used for supervision and recidivism. It was noted that probation officers should balance their orientation to have less recidivism of offenders compared to the use of strict means of enforcing the law. (Rugge, 2006 pp110-112)
Programs for learning resources help probationers to offer counseling skills to offenders at the individual level and as a group. This uses an experimental design where participants get treatment for cognitive behavior while they are monitored to get intensive treatment and rates of offenses are reduced and proper treatment is given as a means of rehabilitation.
The intensive treatment was of great benefit to high-risk offenders because it helped them accept themselves and feel free to be back to the society where they belong and continue with their normal life where members of society have already developed positive attitudes about them regardless of the offenses they committed before. Rehabilitation services are very important because they deal with how offenders are treated through proper supervision and treatment where the rate of recidivism is reduced. (Rugge, 2006 pp113-116)
The principle of risk is supported and the use of good services for offering care to offenders to manage the risks imposed by offenders if they continue with their criminal activities. Offenders with mental illness have problems once they are out of prison and are back to society due to social isolation and need to engage in substance abuse. They may lack suitable accommodation and proper employment. These offenders will require special rehabilitation to be provided with financial assistance, therapeutic services, and proper medical attention. If these rehabilitation services are provided, the offenders will be happy about being reintegrated back to society and never be at risk to themselves and other members of society. (Hanson, 1998 pp34-38)
Offenders who have mental illness feel challenged after release and a treatment model is very important to them where continued care is offered to address their risks and vulnerabilities. Community-based models that offer treatment to them reduce the public risk for individual offenders and the correctional system that the individuals may be involved in. Continued care to treat mental health is essential for mentally ill people who get involved in the criminal justice system which includes offering psychiatric treatment and disability benefits. (Makkai, 2007 pp11-13)
References
Weinberger L. (1994): Ethical and professional conflicts in correctional psychology: Professional psychology, pp. 163-166.
Altschuler D. (1994): Intensive aftercare for high risk Juveniles: A community care model, pp. 56-58.
Bonta J. (2003): The psychology for criminal conduct, Cincinnati: Anderson, pp. 45-50.
Baldry E. (2002): Ex-prisoners and accommodation: Institute of technology, pp. 13-17.
Banks D. (2003): Effects of drug treatment and supervision: Journal of drug issues, pp. 11-16.
Rugge T. (2006): Restorative Justice and Recidivism, New York: Rout ledge, pp. 110-114.
Hanson R. (1998): The prediction of criminal and violent Recidivism: Psychological Bulletin, pp. 34-38.
Makkai T (2007): Prisoner reintegration post release, Canberra: Institute of criminology, pp. 11-13.