The Justification Of Rehabilitation

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The Justification of Rehabilitation
The United States has the largest prison population in the world. As of 2011 2,266,800 adults in the United States were incarcerated, this includes federal and state prisons, as well as county jails. Additionally, 4,814,200 adults were on probation or on parole at the end of 2011. In total, 6,977,700 (2.9%) adults were under some type of correctional supervision in 2011. These numbers are not to be taken lightly. Almost 7 million Americans either in custody or on supervised release speaks to a problem. What is the solution, incarceration, rehabilitation? Is there a solid solution? You could ask 100 people how to solve this problem and get 100 different answers. The truth is there is not one answer that is going to work for everyone.
When a person commits a crime and goes to jail for the first time it’s a very uncomfortable and often times scary experience. However the more time an individual spends in jail the more acclimated they become. What once was terrifying is now accepted as a way of life. Individuals who go to jail are surrounded by people who are accustomed to and acclimated to a criminal lifestyle, in many ways that is all they know. A person who is weak minded and unsuspecting will often fall prey to the more experienced criminal mindset. This is one reason incarceration alone will never work.
According to an article from Alliance for Education 56 percent of federal inmates, 67 percent of inmates in state prisons, and 69 percent of inmates in local jails did not complete high school. These figures show that you aren’t dealing with highly educated people when it comes to criminal activity. If a person feels they have no options and no skill set to enter into the workforce their more...

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...ember of the community and not re-offending.
Recidivism directly impacts the safety of all American citizens. Through trials and tribulations we know what does not work. We know that simply locking up an offender for a period of time followed by releasing them to fend for themselves is ineffective. We can capitalize on their desire to change while they are incarcerated by supporting them and giving them the tools and skills they need to hold on to that desire. In 2009 it cost an average of $47,000 to incarcerate an inmate in California. That is money that can better be used elsewhere. By investing in life skill programs you reduce the amount of inmates who re-offend and clog up the system. You get help to those who really need and want the help. You lower the overcrowding of jails and prisons and you get the system back to what it was designed to do….rehabilitate.

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