“One study found that more than two-thirds of released state prisoners are rearrested within 3 years.166 Nearly 80 percent are rearrested within 5 years. These statistics are discouraging to say the least.
Other key findings from the study include:
-Within 5 years of release, 82.1 percent of property offenders were arrested for a new crime, compared to 76.9 percent of drug offenders, 73.6 percent of public order offenders, and 71.3 percent of violent offenders.
-More than a third (36.8 percent) of all prisoners who were arrested within 5 years of release were arrested within the first 6 months after release, with more than half (56.7 percent) arrested by the end of the first year.
-A sixth (16.1 percent) of released prisoners were responsible for almost half (48.4 percent) of the nearly 1.2 million arrests that occurred in the 5-year follow-up period.’ (Siegel, Worrall 561)
With numbers like this, we are asking the wrong question about parole being effective. What leads up to parole and after parole are where the emphasis should be. Mandatory rehabilitation efforts, anger management, Cognitive behavioral therapy, and education should be in place while incarcerated and after release. Discretionary parole boards should cease and a standard parole system should be set in place, where mandatory requirements are met and prisoners are based on their performance and not the bias of a board of parole.
“To ensure that people are ready for parole at their initial parole hearing, corrections departments must assess people for risk of recidivism and criminogenic needs and prioritize risk-reduction programming and treatment for those who are at a high risk of reoffending and have the greatest needs. Further, corrections departments need to ensure availability of programs and timely placement of people into these programs. This allows people to complete programming milestones by their initial parole hearing and continue programming in the community as needed. Clear guidelines can also help corrections agencies coordinate with parole boards on case planning to prepare people for release. Corrections agencies and parole boards need to collaborate to identify risk-reduction requirements for parole and develop reentry plans that support timely release” (“Improve the efficiency and consistency of the parole decision-making process and preparation for release. – 50-State Report”, 2015)
Our system is failing. We owe it the community and society to start treating people that have made mistakes on how to make amends and better themselves, otherwise, the cycle will continue.
Improve the efficiency and consistency of the parole decision-making process and preparation for release. – 50-State Report. (2015). Retrieved 11 June 2020, from https://50statespublicsafety.us/part-3/strategy-2/action-item-3/
Worrall, L.J.S.J. L. (2018). Introduction to Criminal Justice. [Columbia College]. Retrieved from https://ccis.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780357088548/
2nd student PostDiscussion 10: T. Swift
Tanya
According to Worrall, “one study found that more then two-third of state prisoners were re-arrested within three years of their release. Within five years it went up to 80% (p561).” Inmates that serve a long time tend to become institutionalized. They adapt to prison life and do not have the skills to reenter society. Skills can vary from social skills and technology skills for jobs. In addition, they now have a record that will not allow them to apply for certain jobs and can only live in certain types of residences.
Those returning to some type of family stability seem to do better, than those without. However, one must take in consideration of the inmate’s frame of mind to be around people and children and the possibility of abuse that can occur, “We will likely witness a number of collateral consequences as a result—e.g., increases in child abuse, family violence, the spread of infectious diseases (Petersilia).”
If money was available for rehabilitation, I would like to see inmates complete a type of technical training and anger management for the last two to three years before being considered for parole. Once paroled a minimum of six months of living in a half-way house should be mandatory to reintegrate into society unless the inmate can provide proof of a stable home environment. During their time at the half-way house, their ability to hold a job and find housing must be mandated before leaving the facility.
It seems the obvious model is for UNICOR to provided their vocational training, and considering they profit $120 million per year (p,546), it will eliminate the taxpayer’s debt that everyone complains about paying.
Worrall, L.J.S.J. L. (2018). Introduction to Criminal Justice. [Columbia College]. Retrieved from https://ccis.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780357088548/
Petersilia, J. (2001). When Prisoners Return to the Community: Political, Economic, and Social Consequences. Corrections Management Quarterly, 5(3), 1–10.
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View profile card for Delesha Warren Delesha Warren
Wed at 11:40 AM
Tanya,
The lack of skills inmates have when re entering the society can cause them to feel as if they cant succeed. I agree when they have there families they tend to do better I believe because of motivation.
Discussion 11 Student 3 PostDiscussion 11
Nicholas
The Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), is a non-profit organization that provides community-based alternatives to incarceration and policy advocacy to lessen reliance on incarceration. They provide services to clients here in Syracuse, as well as New York City and Rochester. Each year CCA actively enrolls approximately 2,500 youth and adults in programs which divert incarceration. The Center for CCA also provides services to help transform our criminal justice system into a more humane and just institution. They have achieved success in convincing the New York State Legislature to adopt “reintegration” as a goal of sentencing and creating transformation in the system so that more youth are placed in programs in their communities instead of incarceration. One of their programs is called the Young Adult Job Initiative and its aim is to serve 18-24 year olds with criminal justice involvement. The program guides youth through aspects of work readiness including resume writing and interview skills building. In an average year CCA successfully saves 100 adults and 100 youths from expensive incarceration which ultimately saves New York State taxpayers millions of dollars. Their work also reduces many of the consequences of incarceration, helps strengthen families, and establishes safer communities.
My personal reaction upon learning about CCA was part amazement and part shame. Amazement that an organization like this exists in my community, and shame because it has been in my community since 1981 and I knew absolutely nothing about it. Recently, with all the protests for racial justice, organizations like CCA that represent and create positive change are more treasured than ever.
Another program in my area is the Second Chance Adoption Shelter whose mission is “saving the lives of humans and the lives of canines!” This organization pairs up inmates with shelter dogs to give a second chance to both the inmates and the dogs. The dogs are cared for and trained by the inmates and eventually put up for adoption. The inmates utilize the skills they have acquired in a productive way as they reenter back into the Central New York community. Since 2015, 140 inmates have completed the program resulting in 400 dogs being adopted.
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Student 4 PostDiscussion 11
Christopher
For this post I decided to do two different facilities one of which is near me and the other of which is where I am from. The first one I did was the King County Community Center for Alternatives Programs located in Seattle,WA. This program has many focuses such as there work education release and electronic home detention. What caught my eye the most about this facility would be there Helping Hands Program which is a “program assists persons, convicted in the King County Superior Court (for cases NOT supervised by the Washington State Department of Corrections), to find a site to complete their community service hours and monitors compliance for the court.” ( https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/jails/community-corrections/programs.aspx) The next facility I chose to do was the Reentry Coalition of New Jersey (RCNJ) located in Trenton,NJ. There goals are to promote,expand, develop, build and engage offender rehabilitation. There focus is “to promote evidence-based principles that reduce offender risk through collaboration with community and justice partners, advocacy, education and public policy development.” ( https://reentrycoalitionofnj.org/about/ ) They have over 8,000 people in the residential community release programs. The top statistic that stuck out to me about the facility was the fact that they stated that from between 1999-2009 due to community corrections NJ prison population has decreased by 19%.
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