Criminal Rehabilitation

Introduction

The purpose of the research paper is to understand the impact of criminal rehabilitation and to conclude that in order to save the cost and time; prisoners should be locked up instead of rehabilitation.

Criminal rehabilitation refers to attempts to improve criminals morally or psychologically so that they do not commit more crimes (Belknap, 47). This rehabilitation may be carried out in prisons or, subsequent to their release, in so-called "halfway houses" or while they mingle with society at large (Belknap, 47).

Statistics state that on average 35 per cent of released prisoners do not return to jail. That means that over 60 per cent of released prisoners end up being repeat offenders. This is a danger to society as well as strain on the prison system. There seems to be a formula that works for some inmates that involves touching on the different levels of their personalities (Buzawa, 255).

Discussion

There are so many articles in favour of the criminal rehabilitation. But I would go against the criminal rehabilitation; the reason behind going against the rehabilitation is that for me, it is just a cost bearing activity. Criminals are to be considered as criminals (Buzawa, 255). They should not be treated like a common man, whereas rehabilitation gives them the right of living like a common man.

There are so many points through which I can prove that prisoners should be locked up simply instead of rehabilitation. One is that given the great expense rehabilitation programmes represent to the taxpayer, they are not effective enough in preventing repeat offences (Buzawa, 255). The other is that it is not fair that criminals receive expensive education programmes, and that, quite the opposite; they should be punished with long jail sentences instead.

As a condition of an interstate compact adopted pursuant to chapter 949, the department shall require each out-of-state probationer or parolee transferred to this state to contribute not less than $30 or more than the cost of supervision, certified by the Department of Corrections, per month to defray the cost incurred by this state as a result of providing supervision and rehabilitation during the period of supervision (Buzawa, 45).

By the late 1960s, however, the rehabilitative ideal had begun to lose favour as the primary underlying philosophy of the criminal offenders and rehabilitation. This development was due to a number of factors, including a rising crime rate, social unrest, and the backlash against what some view as the lenient treatment of criminals. Research on correctional policy published in the mid-1970s proclaiming that "nothing works" also hastened the end of the rehabilitative era. The stage was set for a pendulum swing in public opinion and thus correctional policy moved toward an offence-based, punishment-oriented legal system.

This disillusionment with rehabilitation and lifting the veil from the treatment model brought sentencing and corrections out of the courtroom and the institution and into the political spotlight in the 1970s (Buzawa, 45). The indeterminate sentencing model used for the past 50 years that allowed judges wide latitude in tailoring sentences ...