A correctional system also referred to as a penal system denotes a network of agencies that serve to administer community-based programs such as parole as well as probation boards and prisons. The system forms part of the broad criminal justice system that by extension includes prosecution, courts, and police. Punishment refers to the act of imposing a penalty as retribution for one’s offense whereas rehabilitation denotes the act of restoring someone to normal life through therapy and training after imprisonment. Overall, this synthesis seeks to analyze how correctional systems punish and rehabilitate offenders as well as assessing their effectiveness in reducing crime.
How Correctional Institutions Punish Offenders
Incapacitation
Notably, incapacitation refers to the act of preventing future crimes in society by physically removing criminals away from the larger society. Diamantis and Laufer (2018) state that incapacitation dates back to ancient times. Banishment was a familiar penalty in antiquity. The practice changed later on when European colonialists started shipping convicts and wayward individuals overseas. Currently, incarceration, house arrests, and death penalty act as forms of incapacitation. However, the method has proved to be very ineffective with findings attributed to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) indicating that 67.8 percent of inmates released back to the society faced arrests again for new offenses within three years of their release while 76.6 within five years.
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Losing Visitation Privileges
The correctional system also effects its punishment by denying the inmate visitation rights. Individuals stay for long without seeing their families or relatives, which haunts them psychologically. The Correctional system may also deprive one of water and at the same time reduce shower privileges ( Diamantis & Laufer, 2018). Broadly, denying one of the privileges stands as a form of punishment as they cause pain and discomfort to the person.
How Correctional System Rehabilitates Offenders
Rehabilitation in the American prison policy concentrates on assisting criminals as well as prisoners to overcome the factors that drove them to engage in criminal activities. Malsch and Duker (2016) aver that so me of the common rehabilitation approaches entail equipping the individuals with occupational skills such as critical thinking, good communication, self-motivation, team working, and time management among others. The objective of equipping prisoners with the said skills was to make them employable when they resume their lives in society. Most prisoners find it difficult to fit in society, especially in various jobs due to lack of the said skills.
Moreover, the correctional system equips individuals with practical skills in jobs such as carpentry, masonry, plumbing, painting, art among others with the objective of enabling the individuals to earn a living through legitimate means upon their release from prison. Lack of jobs amongst individuals often reduces their chances of generating income leaving them with limited options, which explains why most of them resort to criminal activities ( Malsch & Duker, 2016). Overall, practical skills provide ex-prisoners with a means of earning income through legal means and at the same time keeps individuals occupied, which reduces their chances of engaging in crime.
Rehabilitation also takes the form of resolving one’s psychological issues such as aggression and drug addiction. Individuals are taken through programs that enable them to break away from drugs dependence that forms the basis for many crimes in the society. Behavioral rehabilitation also comes in handy, especially among individuals with detestable characters ( Malsch & Duker, 2016). The correctional system provides incentives for individuals who demonstrate positive behavior changes and punishes those who show undesirable behaviors.
The Method that is Effective in Reducing Crime
Noteworthy, both rehabilitation and punishment offer methods of changing an individual’s behavior and make them fit to live in society. However, rehabilitation stands as the most effective way of changing individuals compared to punishment in many aspects in the sense that it prepares criminal for life outside. The primary objective of the justice and correctional system is to enable wayward individuals to fit back in society ( Neubauer & Fradella, 2018). Rehabilitation, unlike punishment, provides individuals with a means to earn a living when released to society. The process equips inmates with occupation skills and also practical life skills that enable them to perform various tasks.
Equally important, rehabilitation enables individuals to overcome individual challenges such as drug addiction and alcohol abuse that pushes most of them into crime. Neubauer and Fradella (2018) indicate that a ssisting inmates to overcome their addictions reduces chances of occurrence of crimes in society. Sometimes individuals commit crimes as a way of obtaining means of satisfying their addictions. For instance, drug addicts will commit robbery to acquire cash for buying drugs to quench the thirst of their cravings. In such circumstances, rehabilitating such individuals will go a long way in preventing the individuals from committing such crimes again when released from prison. Overall, rehabilitation stands out as the most effective method of reducing crime in the correctional institution as it achieves all the gains of punishments and additional advantages such as equipping individuals with life skills for their survival.
Method of Rehabilitating Offenders
In-Prison Rehabilitation Programs
Most prisons in the world offer programs that help inmates to adjust to conditions outside the jail upon their release. The programs aim at assisting inmates in overcoming substance abuse, acquiring job skills, and learning how to handle everyday challenges that they may encounter upon their release ( Neubauer & Fradella, 2018). Some of the programs offered include religious services, adult education courses, mental and physical health programs, language courses, job skills, and workshops. Ideally, those programs allow inmates to keep contact with business, individuals or organizations outside the confines of the prison, which makes reintegration a lot easier.
Recommendation on Improving In-Prison Rehabilitation Programs
I would recommend an extension to the in-prison rehabilitation programs and an award of certificates at the end of the programs. Extended training duration will allow the inmates to incorporate the skills for long-term use after their training. Moreover, I would recommend additions of courses offered under the programs, especially medical courses, which will enable individuals to understand the significance of keeping their health. The knowledge obtained from the classes will also allow them to keep off unhealthy practices such as drug abuse among others.
Conclusion
Both punishment and rehabilitation aim at changing the character of the inmates. Punishment serves to act as deterrence for individuals committing similar crimes in the future. The approach inflicts physical pain on the individuals while rehabilitation seeks to influence behavioral change in the inmates and make them fit to live in society once again. Overall, rehabilitation provides inmates with a means of earning income to sustain their after-prison lives.
References
Diamantis, M., & Laufer, W. S. (2018). Prosecution and Punishment of Corporate Criminality. Mihailis E. Diamantis & William S. Laufer , 15 .
Malsch, M., & Duker, M. (Eds.). (2016). Incapacitation: Trends and new perspectives . Routledge.
Neubauer, D. W., & Fradella, H. F. (2018). America's courts and the criminal justice system . Cengage Learning.
