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Research on rehabilitation and recidivism
Research on rehabilitation and recidivism
Punishment versus rehabilitation
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2. Address the “pros & cons” of punishment and rehabilitation. How do this effect victims of crime and deter or not deter future criminal misconduct.
Punishment is seen as a way for the offender to pay for their crimes. The most common form of punishment is incarceration. It is believed that punishment acts as both a specific and a general deterrence, since the effects of the punishment are thought to be generalisable. The factor of incapacitation has the positive effect that it is thought to prevent recidivism and crime for at least the time of incarceration or in cases of the death penalty completely, since it separates the offender from society. Further, victims might see punishment as more appropriate for the offender, due to them getting
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The treatment and service provided should lead to a change in the behaviour of the offender allowing them to continue a crime free life after their release. A positive factor of rehabilitation is the lower re-offending rate, compared to incarceration without rehabilitation. Therefore, rehabilitation will be more likely to deter future misconduct since it provides the offenders with other alternatives to crime and further might help them change their attitudes and behaviours allowing them to reintegrate better into society. However a negative factor of rehabilitation could be the costs of implementing rehabilitation programs within the correctional institutions. Many institutions can not afford to offer these programs (Allen, et al., 2015). Further, rehabilitation might be perceived by the victim of the crime as too lenient. Victims might not think that the offenders should receive this treatment if they have not made restitution for their offence against …show more content…
Restorative justice includes things such as victim- offender mediation, victim- offender panels or community sentencing. However, this movement needs support from the local community and it is important that the restitution helps the victim recover from the trauma the crime might have caused. Further restorative justice can not be applied to some crimes, such as rape (Allen, et al., 2015).
Currently restorative justice is mostly used within the juvenile justice system, mostly due to the believe that juveniles have to be treated differently than adults when it comes to punishment for an offence. Restorative justice is often prefered to the traditional system, since the offenders are more likely to comply with the required restitutions and it helps incorporate them back into their communities (Hines, 2008). At the moment there are many efforts made to move more towards a restorative justice model. These efforts include for example gaining more support from the communities. Communities are an important aspect for restorative justice, since it aims to improve community bonds and through this reduce crime. Therefore, the support of the community is vital. Efforts in this direction have been made by involving community members in the restorative justice process and the response to offences (Pranis,1995). Other
The Youth Criminal Justice Act has many concerns creating inequalities in the restorative justice approach. For instance, juvenile delinquents who develop from a background that is impoverished may lack the ability to satisfy the reparative objectives of punishment and may not be ready to be reintegrated back into socie...
Final Exam Kristina McLaughlin Saint Joseph’s University CRJ 565 Question 1: Word Count The judicial system is based on the norms and values that individuals are held to within society. When a person is found guilty of committing a criminal act, there must be a model that serves as the basis of what appropriate punishment should be applied. These models of punishment are often based off of ethical theories and include retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation, and restoration. The retribution model of punishment views the offender as responsible for their actions and as such, the punishment should fit the crime (Mackie, 1982).
A growing number of probation officers, judges, prosecutors as well as other juvenile professionals are advocating for a juvenile justice system which is greatly based on restorative justice. These groups of people have been frustrated by the policy uncertainty between retribution and treatment as well as unrealistic and unclear public expectations. As a primary mission, the balanced approach or policy allows juvenile justice systems together with its agencies to improve in their capacity of protecting the community and ensuring accountability of the system and the offenders . It enables the youths to become productive and competent citizens. This guiding philosophical framework for this policy is restorative justice as it promotes the maximum involvement of the community, victim, and the offender in the justice process. Restorative justice also presents a viable alternative to sanctions as well as interventions that are based on traditional or retributive treatment assumptions. In the policy proposal for restorative justice, the balanced approach mission assists juvenile justice system in becoming more responsive to the needs of the community, victims, and the offenders . Therefore, this paper considers how restorative justice reduces referrals of juveniles to criminal and juvenile justice systems and gives a proposal on the implementation of restorative justice in the community together with a number of recommendations. For instance, preliminary research reveals that application of restorative justice in schools significantly reduces school expulsions, suspensions, and referrals to the criminal justice systems. Restorative justice programs are an alternative for zero-tolerance policies for juveniles or youths .
This voluntary alternative gives the offender the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions and identify the impact they have had on their victim, while also giving the victim the chance to confront the offender and take steps to repair the harm done. The victim can ask the offender questions about the crime and the offender may apologise or make amends for their actions. Restorative justice is confrontational and can be difficult for both parties but is proven to help both the offender and victim. While it is confrontational for the victim, for some it can be better than testifying in court. Data shows that restorative justice greatly helps victims in their recovery from the offence. Although the benefits of restorative justice in adult offenders is unclear, it significantly reduces the number of reoffenders in youth. For this reason, restorative justice is mostly used for minor infringements and within the youth justice system.
The benefits of corrections include deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation or reform. Mrs. Prescott explained to me that she would “like to think there’s a link” between crime rates and the effectiveness of prisons. As part of the rehabilitation process, prisons like
Wormith, J. S., Althouse, R., Simpson, M., Reitzel, L. R., Fagan, T. J., & Morgan, R. D. (2007). The rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders: The current landscape and some future directions for correctional psychology. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34(7), 879-892.
Throughout the country there are approximately 2 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons. California has the highest incarceration. So what will we do to reduce this rate? This is where society looks into rehabilitation for these inmates, hoping to free some space within the prison systems. The advantage and disadvantage of rehabilitation in the community compare to incarceration.
“Restorative justice is an approach to crime and other wrongdoings that focuses on repairing harm and encouraging responsibility and involvement of the parties impacted by the wrong.” This quote comes from a leading restorative justice scholar named Howard Zehr. The process of restorative justice necessitates a shift in responsibility for addressing crime. In a restorative justice process, the citizens who have been affected by a crime must take an active role in addressing that crime. Although law professionals may have secondary roles in facilitating the restorative justice process, it is the citizens who must take up the majority of the responsibility in healing the pains caused by crime. Restorative justice is a very broad subject and has many other topics inside of it. The main goal of the restorative justice system is to focus on the needs of the victims, the offenders, and the community, and focus
punishment is an asset to society: it is the only punishment that fits the crime, it deters potential criminals
Restorative justice is defined as “using humanistic, no punitive strategies to right wrongs and restore social harmony” (Siegel, 2008, p. 189). Instead of imposing harsh penalties on offenders like long prison sentences or even the death penalty, restorative justice calls for a more rehabilitative approach, such as reconciliation and offender assistance.
Restorative justice is an alternative community based program for juvenile offenders. Instead of sending juvenile offenders to jail or punishing them, they are taught
...hrough a long and complicated process of development. The goal of community service has not always been clear. However, due to increasing in the prison population, community-based corrections is now seen as a good alternative to incarceration due to its rehabilitative nature and cost savings. Communities also support non-incarceration measures for offenders who commit minor offenses. Community-based sanctions are more humane and even more effective in reducing the problem of recidivism. The biggest problem to reforming the system is the perception that offenders are inherently bad, and they cannot be reformed. Evidence from research suggests that rehabilitative programs aimed at restorative justice as opposed to retributive justice are good for all the parties. Importantly, it addresses the criminal tendencies that led to the commission of crime in the first place.
Agreeing on a definition of restorative justice has proved difficult. One definition is a theory of justice that focuses mostly on repairing the harm caused by criminal behaviour. The reparation is done through a cooperative process that includes all the stakeholders. Restorative justice can also be explained as an approach of justice that aims to satisfy the needs of the victims and offenders, as well as the entire community. The most broadly accepted definition for restorative justice, however, is a process whereby all the parties that have a stake in a specific offence collectively resolve on how to deal with the aftermath. This process is largely focused around reparation, reintegration and participation of victims. That is to say, it is a victim-centred approach to criminal justice, and it perceives crime differently than the adversarial system of justice.
The answer is complex and that it depends. There are numerous factors that must come together for restorative justice to truly be rehabilitative. First, the victimizer must actually be genuinely remorseful for their crime and mean their apology (Cullen & Jonson, 2017). Second, the victim must truly forgive their victimizer in the process (Cullen & Jonson, 2017). Lastly, the offender must be successfully returned to the community (Cullen & Jonson, 2017). Hence, it requires numerous factors to be present to be truly “rehabilitative”.
As the purpose of restorative justice is to mend the very relationship between the victim, offender, and society, communities that embrace restorative justice foster an awareness on how the act has harmed others. Braithwaite (1989) notes that by rejecting only the criminal act and not the offender, restorative justice allows for a closer empathetic relationship between the offender, victims, and community. By acknowledging the intrinsic worth of the offender and their ability to contribute back to the community, restorative justice shows how all individuals are capable of being useful despite criminal acts previous. This encourages offenders to safely reintegrate into society, as they are encouraged to rejoin and find rapport with the community through their emotions and