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gangs in today society
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Re-Integration
Reintegration is a form of adapting back to an environment you were once so very familiar with, to restore one’s self to a unified state. In questioning a former inmate I asked him, what was the culture like in prison vs. society? His response was, you know you will do and what you will not do as well as what you will do and will not do. You have to continuously watch your back. Sleep with one eye open, watch your back in the showers and find a way to protect yourself. Don’t fall in manipulation of the prisoners some have nothing to lose, while others are just trying to find a way out. You have guys who are on life sentences and have that sexual desire that will rape you I have seen it happen. You have lock downs. Where in society
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Bureau of Justice Statistics studies have found high rates of recidivism among released prisoners. One study tracked 404,638 prisoners in 30 states after their release from prison in 2005. The researchers found that: Within three years of release, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested. Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested. Of those prisoners who were rearrested, more than half (56.7 percent) were arrested by the end of the first year. Property offenders were the most likely to be rearrested, with 82.1 percent of released property offenders arrested for a new crime compared with 76.9 percent of drug offenders, 73.6 percent of public order offenders and 71.3 percent of violent offenders. (Durose, April 2014) After being released most ex-cons describe the world as a place where laws have to be followed but you have some extent of freedom. While others feel it is the same inside or outside of jail the only difference is that jail does offer 3 meals and a cot. Most of the time the ex-cons feel this way because after getting out they cannot find a job, place to stay or even get meals; and this results back to their criminal …show more content…
They struggle while in prison and t causes a significant change within themselves, while incarcerated and after being released. The majority of those incarcerated, will be released back into society and this means society needs to work together in order to help them restore and rehabilitate. Many inmates are released after serving only two thirds of their sentence. Many entered prison with little to no employment experience or education, addictions. They have a history of childhood abuse/neglect, and most come from an impoverished background/poverty, have mental health issues, negative peer influences. (change.org, 2015) The only reason most are involved in gangs in order to feel a sense of belonging and identity that are missing from their home life. Many are incarcerated hundreds of miles from their families with little opportunity to maintain relationships. After living in a negative, controlled and structured environment for up to many years, it is extremely challenging for inmates to re-enter society. Instead of learning how to reform their thinking/behavior and change their lifestyles, many offenders adopt dangerous behaviors in order to cope in a toxic prison culture of violence, gang activity and idleness. (change.org, 2015) This same behavior they adapt to in prison they bring outside once released. The criminals that are non-violent becomes violent
In America millions of offenders including men and women leave imprisonment in hope to return to their family and friends. On an article Prisoners and Reentry: Facts and Figures by The Annie E. Casey Foundation, in the year 2001 1.5 million children were reunited with their parents as they were released from prison. Also in 2005 the number of that passed prison gates were 698,499 and the number of prisoners that were released was approximated at about 9 million. Parole and Prison reentry has been a topic that really interests not only a lot of the communities around the world but is a topic that interest me. Recidivism is not only the topic that interests people but the offenders that get off on parole and how they cope with society after they
What is prisoner reentry? It is a term we use in society, to refer to the issues of transporting ex-offenders from incarceration to a community, while specifically involving the offender in programs that will promote them back into the communities and out of the criminal justice system. Upon reentering society, former offenders are likely to struggle with substance abuse, lack of adequate education, job skills, limited housing options, and mental health issues.
Policymakers on the national, state, and local levels are always finding ways to improve the nature of the reentry process. The reentry process starts in correctional facilities and helps inmates prepare themselves for release and proceeds with their transition back into society as law-abiding citizens. In comparison to the average American, ex-offenders tend to be less educated, less likely to gain employment, suffer from substance abuse, or have been diagnosed with a mental illness. All of these aspects discussed are shown to be risk factors for recidivism, which is the tendency that causes criminals to re-offend. Generally, the offender reintegration process needs to be improved by properly monitoring the outcomes for reentry programs in order to return prisoners back to society safely.
The book titled Beyond Bars: Rejoining Society After Prison offers invaluable lessons of how both men and women may successfully depart prison and return to society. The book was written by Jeffrey Ross and Stephen Richards, both of whom are college professors and criminal justice experts. The population of prisons across the United States has increased dramatically in recent decades despite overall crime rates decreasing during the same time period. Approximately seven million American people are in some form of correctional custody. Between the years1980 and 2000, America’s prison population increased by 500 percent. During the same time period, the number of prisons grew by 300 percent (Ross and Richards, xii). Close to 50 percent of people admitted to confinement have previously served time, exemplifying that the criminal justice system “recycles” inmates through the system again and again (Ross and Richards, xi). Unfortunately, many convicts simply do not remember how to or are ill-equipped to return to society once their sentence ends. Ross and Richards, through their valuable lessons within their book, seek to lessen the problems that ex-prisoners may face when released from prison.
Education has been proven to reduce recidivism rates and increase the success of an offender’s re-integration into society. In a study conducted in 1994 by the American Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly half of the 302,309 released offenders surveyed in fifteen different states were convicted of a new crime within three years of their release. This data shows that prison fails to properly rehabilitate offenders, since after prison ex-convicts continue to live in a way th...
Going to jail changes your life completely, during your sentence and after you get released. Prisoners who just get out of jail are dangerous and somewhat scary to the public, which could lead businesses/ companies not to hire people that have been in jail because of their lack of trust, causing ex-prisoners to be homeless. A study from 2007 shows the unemployment rates among ex-prisoners, “In 2007, the National Institute of Justice found that 60 percent of ex-felon offenders remain unemployed a year after their release. Other studies have shown that upward of 30 percent of released felons live in homeless shelters because they can't find housing; and those are the lucky ones. Many camp out on the streets.” (Unemployed ex-felons are ticking time
Prison gangs are criminal organizations that originate in the state or federal penal system. Although these types of gangs start in the penal system they can and often do become fully functioning street gangs once the gang originators are released. “Prison gangs are also self-perpetuating criminal entities that can continue their operations outside the confines of the penal system” (FBI 2013). Prison gangs will typically contain a smaller select group of members who establish a pecking order and are completely governed by a code of conduct. Prison gangs are a substantial player in the illegal drug game as they act as a middle man for many street gangs due to the networks developed in prison who share in the criminal activity. Prison gangs are more prevalent in the state penal system rather than the federal penal system (FBI 2013). Because of the criminal networks that prison gangs contain they are powerful, though the concentration of gangs in state prison rather than federal ones provides greater
Prison is a place where murders, rapists, and burglars, etc. end up after being proven guilty. What we tend to forget is that most of the crimes were made by gangs, either it was part of their initiation, or it was because their leader told them to. Now gang violence is a big issue because it causes family pain, it leads to death, and even puts the police officers and work staff in danger, they also challenge the authority. These gangs are like a disease, they spread until pain is felt, control is lost, and it will get to the point where it has complete control .
560). It is hard to imagine that a prisoner, who completes their maximum sentence, is released back into the community without any type of supervision. After being told what to do, how to do it, and when to do it for so long, a person is going to have difficulty transitioning back to an independent life. Personal and economic deficits add to the problems of prisoner reentry as well. Siegel (2017) mentions that young men and women with a long history of drug abuse and criminal behavior and who have an antisocial personality with childhood dysfunctions are more likely to fall back into their old criminal habits and end up reincarcerated. Along the same lines, those who are released from prison that do not have a stable family life, for example a good marriage, tend to have a harder time adapting back into the community. Economic problems persist with ex-inmates as well. Ex-inmates will have a harder time finding work because by law, ex-convicts are denied the right to work in certain occupations such as childcare, education, security, nursing, and home health care. More jobs are
As the current prison structures and sentencing process continues to neglect the issues that current offenders have no change will accrue to prevent recidivism. The issue with the current structure of the prison sentencing process is it does not deal with the “why” the individual is an social deviant but only looks at the punishment process to remove the deviant from society. This method does not allow an offender to return back to society without continuing where they left off. As an offender is punished they are sentenced (removal from society) they continue in an isolated environment (prison) after their punishment time is completed and are released back to society they are now an outsider to the rapidly changing social environment. These individuals are returned to society without any coping skills, job training, or transitional training which will prevent them from continuing down th...
The punishment of offenders happens in several different ways. The first and most obvious way is prison life in general. The offenders are away from their family and friends so the effect of this punishment is not always immediately evident to the inmate. Sometimes they are not in a frame of mind to realize how having a family member in prison can damage the relationships of the entire family unit. Once incarcerated, the institution now controls all aspects of the inmate’s life. Institutional rules dictate when inmates can work out, eat, shower, what they can buy, who can visit them and when they have to go to bed. Some states still have hard labor that inmates must perform while incarcerated; the term chain gang may be familiar to may people and often paints the picture of inmates doing manual labor while connected together by chains and shackles (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. September 2013). Many states have moved away from this form of punishment, while in other states it is still widely used (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. September 2013). Some states are now having offenders, who have been classified as low risk, go into the private sector and work regular jobs even while incarcerated. The offenders are able to ease themselves back into society by having a job where they can learn a trade but then return to the prison after their work day is done. Offenders also are able to keep this job after they leave the prison, which helps them to stay grounded as they start a new chapter in life.
More than 600,000 prisoners are released into the main population of the United States every year. Of that 600,000, 30 percent end up back behind bars within six months of their release, and 70 percent end up returning to jail within three years (Reisig, 409). Upon release, many criminals find that life on the outside is harder on them than it was when they were convicted, sentenced, and locked away. People who know them may become just as prejudiced as the interviewers and landlords who deny them the chance to earn a living or a place to stay. Through the continued use of labels like criminal, thug, crook, and felon, many released offenders feel ostracized and isolated. Their friends and families may turn their backs on them, taking away the few things they have left...
Offenders that are incarcerated within the prison quickly find a group of people commonly associated with their ethnic groups to establish a rapport with. They do this to ensure that they reduce the chances of becoming a victim within the confines of prison. The problem is that once they gain reliance with a group of people, they commonly find themselves in a gang. So instead of learning a trade to ensure that they are successful when they are introduced back into society, they more often become educated on the benefits of gang life.
Recidivism refers to the tendency of reversion to criminal activities of the released inmates. It is measured by the frequency with which released offenders return to incarceration for new crimes. The rates reflect on the effectiveness of instituted programs that focus on integrating the released offenders into the society (Schmalleger, 2007). When the rates are healthy, it means that the programs in place are doing well in helping the offender restrain from criminal activities. The importance of correctional programs cannot be downplayed for any reason. The programs whether in the prison or out are effective in saving the nation a huge amount in providing public safety and taxes (Pollock, 2004).
This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of ex-offender reentry. Factors contributing to recidivism include law enforcement officers mistrust for reentry prisoners; lack of familial and community support; difficulties gaining employment due to criminal background, obstacles pertaining to housing. Factors that may reduce recidivism, increase public safety and facilitate ex-offender reintegration transitions, as well as detrimental factors of recidivism are examined. Lastly, the important role of parole officers for ex-offenders and the level of supervision ex-offenders receive are also explored in this paper.