Abstract
Most prisoners have the opportunity to re-enter society after completing their sentence. However, many prisoners are faced with hardships due to the societal barriers to reintegration enforced by community members. This paper discusses some of the methods that can be used to counter these barriers and ensure the successful community reintegration of prisoners.
These methods include the provision of educational opportunities for inmates while they are serving their terms. Education leads to lower recidivism as it equips ex-offenders with the knowledge necessary to achieve employability once they rejoin society.
The second method is rehabilitation, which entails treating prisoners who suffer from substance abuse or mental disorders. Prison authorities can also engage in vocational training to increase the work skills of prisoners. By implementing these methods, lower recidivism rates will be witnessed, and the chances of the ex-offenders reintegrating into society increase.
Introduction
The prison system in the country plays an important role in the governance of society. Through these correctional facilities, the government can punish and rehabilitate the society members who break the law. Once the individual has served his/her term in a correctional facility, he is released into society.
A major goal of all prisons is to ensure that ex-inmates are successfully reintegrated into society, once they complete their sentences. Typically, reintegration is hampered by several factors.
To begin with, most ex-prisoners suffer from the stigma associated with incarceration. They find it hard to be accepted back into their former community or even experience outright rejection. The lack of community reintegration of prisoners leads to many negative, including high prisoner recidivism rates.
It is, therefore, important for the community to implement effective reintegration programs for the prisoner. This paper will review some of the methods that can be implemented to successfully reintegrate prisoners into society.
Ex-Offenders and the Society
After serving their sentences for the crimes committed, most prisoners are eventually released back into society. While the prisoner has ideally paid for his/her crimes against society by completing his/her sentence, the society might not be as welcoming. Attempts by ex-convicts to integrate themselves into the society are often frustrated by the other society members.
According to Fabelo (2002), the societal barriers to reintegration are enforced by community members with the aim of increasing public safety. There is a general impression that ex-convicts are likely to engage in further criminal activity after they have been released.
Therefore, society treats them with suspicion and demonstrates a reluctance to accepting them back into the community. Byron and Schehr (2004) confirm that offenders face a huge obstacle in their attempt to successfully reintegrate back into society upon their release from prison.
The successful reintegration of prisoners into society is crucial to the safety of society. If prisoners are not accepted back into society, they are likely to engage in criminal activity after their release. Methods to enhance reintegration success need to be considered and implemented by the government. The following methods can be used to increase the chances of successful re-entry into society by ex-convicts.
Methods for Successful Community Reintegration
Education Programs
Acquiring educational achievements can contribute to successful community reintegration. Fabelo (2002) investigates the impact that prison education might have on the reintegration of prisoners into the society, once they have completed their sentences. The study begins by noting that there is a general relationship between prisoner education and the recidivism rate. This relationship is evident in two unique ways.
To begin with, the prisoners who attain an educational level while in prison demonstrate lower recidivism than their counterparts who do not achieve education levels. Secondly, the level of education attained also has a bearing on the recidivism. The higher the educational level achieved by the prisoner, the lower the recidivism rate.
The impact of education on reintegration is greatest among prisoners who are initially functionally illiterate. Research demonstrates that when this non-reader group of prisoners achieves a reader level, their recidivism rate declines sharply (Fabelo, 2002). In some cases, the recidivism rate decreases by up to 55%. This demonstrates by acquiring literacy, ex-convicts can rejoin society and become gainfully employed.
The educational level achieved by an individual is strongly linked to his/her ability to become gainfully employed in society. This applies to prisoners as well, and those with some educational achievements stand a better chance of gaining employment after completing their sentence.
Fabelo (2002) confirms that the inmates with the highest educational achievement scores were more likely to be employed as soon as they rejoined society and earn higher than their counterparts with lower educational achievements.
In addition to the improvement in employment prospects, education also leads to the intellectual growth of the prisoner. Fabelo (2002) states that the intellectual and cognitive ability of the prisoner is strengthened through education. This leads to better preparation for the reintegration process after the term has been served.
The inmate can overcome the stigma attached to prison due to his strengthened intellectual ability and the life skills developed through prison education. Being able to cope with the initial rejection by the community is crucial for successful reintegration. An ex-convict who can survive the initial rejection has a chance for becoming a productive member of the community once the stigma attached to imprisonment has worn off.
Fabelo (2002) notes that in spite of the positive impact of education on prisoner reintegration prospects, most prison facilities do not have enough education resources. In Texas, the inadequacy of the resources made it impossible for prisoners to be educated for more than two or three years of their incarceration.
The study by Fabelo (2002) demonstrates that in spite of the resource shortages that cause restrictions on inmate’s participation in educational programs, the current prison education programs have a positive impact on prisoner reintegration into the society.
The knowledge and skills attained through prison education provide inmates with the tools necessary to obtain employment. This makes it possible for them to earn higher wages and therefore stay away from crime.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation efforts carried out in prison and immediately after release can assist in successful prison re-entry. The study by Lattimore and Steffey (2010), which focuses on prisoner reentry, considers the impact of service delivery to inmates on successful reintegration. The study begins by noting that a significant number of inmates (about 1,700) leave correctional facilities to rejoin society each day.
Rehabilitation programs have a significant impact on individuals who are imprisoned for substance abusing offenses. Lattimore and Steffey (2010) document that substance abusers who engage in rehabilitation programs while in prison are more likely to gain employment and avoid re-arrests after they leave prison.
Rehabilitation programs include treatment for prisoners who suffer from substance abuse. These treatment efforts lead to a reduction in drug use and criminal activity by the prisoners. Lattimore and Steffey (2010) reveal that there is a relationship between substance abuse and incarceration. Research findings indicated that over 90% of the inmates had used some illicit drug a few weeks before their current incarceration.
The inmate is, therefore, able to better integrate into society after serving his/her time in prison. Lattimore and Steffey (2010) note that for rehabilitation programs to be most effective, they should be combined with treatment services in the community. The ex-convict should be able to continue receiving treatment services even after being released from prison.
Lattimore and Steffey (2010) note that the provision of support services to recently released inmates aids in the reentry process. Typically, ex-prisoners have to struggle to meet their basic needs immediately after they have been released from prison. Byron and Schehr (2004) confirm that most ex-offenders face hardships as they seek legitimate work opportunities.
These hardships are made worse by the fact that the government bars ex-convicts from accessing some social services and public aid funds. Government agencies can increase social support by providing ex-convicts with housing during the early months after release. Through this support, the inmate can seek out employment without the pressure of being homeless.
The assistance is then withdrawn once the former inmate has acquired a means of livelihood and therefore become a productive member of the community. Specially designed re-entry programs for adult and juvenile offenders foster successful reintegration into society.
Through these programs, there is reduced recidivism, meaning that public safety is increased. The ex-convicts who have successfully gone through the program are considered less dangerous to society. The society is, therefore, more likely to lower its resistance to the ex-convict.
Rehabilitation also introduces the concept of mentoring. Mentoring provides the prisoner with a nonjudgmental listener who can help steer the prisoner from criminal activities. The mentor increases the chances of the prisoner resisting the temptation to return to damaging habits such as criminal activities and substance abuse, especially for the first days after release.
In spite of the positive impact that rehabilitation programs have on prisoner reintegration, few prisoners are given access to the necessary programs while incarcerated. As a result of this, the benefits of rehabilitation are limited to a few prisoners who manage to access the programs and services.
Conclusion
Prison facilities serve an important role in society. However, most of the inmates are released back into society after they have completed their sentences. Being able to successfully reintegrate these individuals back into society is of great importance. This paper set out to highlight some of the methods that can be implemented to enable prisoners to successfully rejoin society. It began by noting that ex-prisoners face many challenges when they leave prison.
Most have limited financial resources, and society is unwilling to accept them back due to the stigma attached to incarceration. Methods such as education and rehabilitation programs increase the chances for successful reentry into society by the prisoner.
These methods increase the employability of the prisoner and enhance his/her ability to cope with the initial stigma from the community. By implementing the methods outlined in this paper, the government can significantly lower recidivism rates and improve the chances of the ex-offender in society.
References
Byron, H., & Schehr, R.C. (2004). Offenders and Post-Release Jobs: Variables Influencing Success and Failure. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 39(3), 35-68.
Fabelo, T. (2002). The Impact of Prison Education on Community Reintegration of Inmates: The Texas case. JCE, 53(3), 106-110.
Lattimore, P.K., & Steffey, D.M. (2010). Prisoner Reentry in the First Decade of the Twenty-first Century. Victims and Offenders, 5(3), 253–267.