During my internship working at the Coshocton-based Citizen Circle; I learnt a new concept, recidivism which is simply a model that focuses on repeating both the antisocial and criminal behaviour by an individual after being released from prison (Maruna & LeBel, 2002). In my understanding, recidivism is a tendency for offenders to relapse into a given previous condition or a mode of criminal behaviour (Cnaan et al., 2008). Apparently, lack of suitable re-entry program has seen the majority of the prisoners who have just been released to be re-arrested and send back to prison. Depending on the nature of a particular offence, the rates of recidivism tend to vary significantly. Throughout my entire period as an intern, corresponding with men and women who have been released from prison back into the community, I realized that there were very many inmates who were repeat offenders. This might be the case due to lack of proper re-entry programs to ensure that these former prisoners are well integrated back to the community.
At one time during my internship, three individuals who had just been released from prison into the community came to us, the group Citizen Circle for help with re-entry. Our primary duty was to assist them with every aspect of their lives to ensure that they quickly adjust and re-enter the community as reformed former inmates and further to prevent possibilities of recidivism (Cnaan et al., 2008). Through the period that I was at this institution, I was introduced to various re-entry strategies, and each of them was unique and specific to an individual. In using the re-entry programs, the former prisoners would be able to cope much easily and lead a normal life and at the same avoid the possibilities of engaging in a criminal activity that would send them back to prison. Therefore, it was much easier with the experience we had in this field to come up with a program that would enhance their re-entry into the society as productive members of the community.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The first step that we took was to understand the family history of these three individuals. It was the most important strategy towards an effective re-entry of the individuals (Maruna & LeBel, 2002). One of the common aspects among the three persons was the fact that they had a low-income family background. Before their arrest, the three of them were unemployment a major factor that could have pushed them into crime. We realized that we must address their unemployment issues to ensure that they re-enter the community positively and engage in a reliable source of income that would prevent possibilities of them experiencing recidivism (Cnaan et al., 2008).
To improve these individual employment skills, we saw the need to enroll them in college courses which is one of the programs that is meant for the inmates to enhance their re-entry into the community (Maruna & LeBel, 2002). I found out that this program has been available to all prisoners since early 19702. We accessed public funds to finance their educational program. The aim of such fund was to reduce the probability of criminal behaviour among the prisoners released from prison. The program was to run for 6 months, and it majorly entails introducing the former inmates into a course that is suitable to help them access an employment opportunity much quickly upon their release into the community. The most appropriate course for the three members was carpentry since they stated that they were much comfortable with woodworking since this would enable them to obtain employment much quickly. Through my research, I found out that according to opportunity theory, crime often originates from an individual’s lack of an opportunity for a legitimate economic advancement. Therefore, we saw college training as the best strategy to open up employment opportunity that would prevent the individual’s possibilities of recidivism. Evidently, college credit will avail numerous opportunities to the three former prisoners than they would otherwise
The second program that we deemed suitable for efficient re-entry of these people was counseling. We believe that while in prison, this individual was subjected to intense stress and torture that could have substantially damaged their mental state. With counseling, the former inmates would be helped to overcome their past ordeals and take life in a positive way. The counseling session that would assist them in would have to be intensive and should touch every aspect of their lives. The session would run for one month, and they were subjected to a three-hour of counseling session a day and four times every week. It was evident that counseling was a suitable tool for them since it would prepare them psychologically to take life in a positive way (Maruna & LeBel, 2002). It is evident that the community might not accept them easily; therefore, counseling would help improve their socialization skills and how to cope up with stress and other challenges in life.
The next step that we took was to visit the families of the three former inmates to evaluate the entire family setting and the adjacent environment and educate the members of the families that would live by the released prisoners. In most instances, there are cases where families might not welcome them or be willing to accept them after spending some years in prison especially in a situation where they committed a crime against the family that affected them significantly (Cnaan et al., 2008). Family education and counseling were therefore critically to assure the families that their members have been transformed into better family members who are ready to change further positively. I believe that it is important to place these members in a positive environment that would encourage them to change completely and only visit social sites that would help them. Further, we urged them to avoid social places where people engage in drugs and other criminal activities to prevent possible recidivism.
Lastly, we subjected the three individuals into an intensive drug treatment and counseling since we found out that two of them were cocaine addicts and the other one was a heavy nicotine smoker such that he often complained of chest problems and had a deep cough implying that smoking destroyed his breathing system. According to Cnaan et al., (2008), to ensure that they were reformed and treated properly, we introduced them into a rehabilitation centre where they would be attended by the specialist to address the drug addiction problem. The rehabilitation session was to take a period of three months where they would visit the centre thrice a week for two hours of counseling and one hour for treatment and checkup.
In conclusion, my experience with the three members who had just been released from prison greatly influenced my expertise in the re-entry program. Throughout my internship, I learned various strategies that an individual should adopt to help a former prisoner re-enter the community in the most positive way and at the same time prevent the possibilities of recidivism. When ex-convict experiences a positive re-entry into the community, they will be able to adjust much quickly and become responsible members of the community. The clients will need suitable and productive help and assistance to ensure that they become productive citizens.
References
Cnaan, R. A., Draine, J., Frazier, B., & Sinha, J. W. (2008). Ex-prisoners' re-entry: An emerging frontier and a social work challenge. Journal of Policy Practice , 7 (2-3), 178-198.
Maruna, S., & LeBel, T. P. (2002). Revisiting ex-prisoner re-entry: A buzzword in search of a narrative. Reform and punishment , 158-80.
