Classification Of Offenders

How do we deal with people who have committed crimes? Should everyone just be locked up and we throw away the key or should we try and rehabilitate the offenders to put them back into society? Should all offenders be considered in a category together or should we categorize them based on their past and the offense for which they are incarcerated. This paper will cover the types of offenders and their problems and the possible causes as to why they commit the crimes for which they are incarcerated and how they are dealt with when incarcerated. Types of offenders included will be the situational offender, the career criminal, the sex offender (rapists, child molesters, prostitutes,), the substance abuser (drug and alcohol), the mentally ill offender,

“Most people convicted of a felony are not arrested again. Some studies estimate that this is true for 80 percent of first time offenders. The person entering the corrections system and having committed what appears to be a first time offense is called a situational offender” (Clear 2011, pg 137). I feel that the situational offender is probably the most common offender in our criminal justice system today. These offenders are just like you and me and may have just made a mistake or got caught up in a heated moment and committed a crime. They are usually locked up for a long time and thus present a big problem for corrections and they have usually committed a violent crime such as murder or aggravated assault. They also usually have the greatest chance for early release on parole because officials feel these offenders present the least danger to society (Clear 2011, pg

According to Clear, Cole, and Reisig in the ninth edition of American Corrections there are five specific attributes to a career criminal. They are as follows: crime as a way of earning a living or a main occupation, technical skills developed useful to the commission of the crimes, subject started as a delinquent child and progressed toward criminality, the subject expects to do some time in prison as a “cost” of doing this type of work, and psychologically they are normal. Corrections seek to keep these criminals incarcerated for longer because of the danger they pose to society.

Next is the sex offender. This includes rapists, child molesters and prostitutes. According to the ninth edition of American Corrections in a recent study of 10,000 sex offenders released from prison, they are four times more likely than other offenders to be rearrested for a sex offense within three years of their release. Corrections with sex offenders is a slippery slope. Is there really rehabilitation for these people. The urges these people have cannot be controlled by simple incarceration. They need treatment that cannot necessarily be provided in prison thus creating a big problem for