Introduction
This rehabilitation program is designed for those who committed gun crimes and sentenced to term more than 5 years. The methodology of program development and realization is based on the individual approach to changing and reforming criminal behavior and deals with the implementation of individual stages of change. Each stage presupposes different facilitation mechanisms, activities, and tasks for the prisoners.
The realization of the program in the view of reforming those who committed gun crimes is charged with the prison’s administration including psychological services, staff, social penal workers, and various volunteers. The individual stages of gun offenders’ change include the following psychological rehabilitation, work activities, and improving normal social communication in case of different forms of sociopathy, engaging a person in amateur activities, cultural and moral development, and the preparation for social inclusion after the termination of imprisonment. All these stages should be realized coherently with the efforts of all stakeholders participating in the program realization. As it can be easily seen the individual stages of change are well-differentiated on a temporal basis and serves the goals that the penal system must pursue – improving and changing offenders if possible and making all necessary efforts to make them full-fledged members of society.
Psychological activities and rehabilitation
From the first days of gun offenders’ detention psychological services should take necessary steps to organize comprehensive psychological work with prisoners. The psychological specialists are required to design specialized programs addressing the issues connected with gun offenders. It is also necessary that they work with these people on an individual and permanent basis.
It is recommended that giving psychological services was a necessary activity for all gun offenders no less than 2 times a week following the first months of detention and on an individually tailored timetable in the course of imprisonment. The psychological specialists are required to detect and analyze the general characteristics of each offender’s personality and develop specific programs for each of them. Even though some offenders are not reluctant to participate in psychological training, it is a well-documented fact that the majority of them have a positive attitude to psychological services. It should be remembered that psychological work should be very accurate and careful not to hurt offenders psychologically and to pursue its goals gradually and avoiding banal moralizing.
Among the activities proposed for use in this stage of individual change are various psychological exercises aimed to define offenders’ inclinations and stereotypes, his temperament and other psychological variables, conversations on various remote topics, and thematically structured exercises. The psychological stage of individual change should also take into consideration the specifics of the crime committed and try to address indirectly psychological issues connected with this type of crime. It should be remembered though that the shaky frontier of traumatic effect shouldn’t be transgressed. It is important to note that the majority (30%) of gun crimes are violent offenses against people and thus, more attention should be paid to neutralization of violent inclinations of criminal’s personalities (U.S. Department of Justice, 2001). The use of firearms in violent offenses is more widespread thus the psychological connotations of this type of crime should be considered (U.S. Department of Justice, 2003).
Psychological rehabilitation should be in place at all stages of this program and different levels of intensity. In all senses, it should be regarded as necessary preconditions for successful implementation of other activities and practices stipulated by the rehabilitation program.
Socially useful work activities and improving normal social communication in case of different forms of sociopathy
Another stage of individual change of gun offenders is connected with psychological work but presupposes different activities directed at changing criminals’ live orientation and communicational climate between prisoners. Physical work is regarded as an effective instrument for rehabilitation for all criminals but especially for the category of gun offenders. Duly organized socially useful work changes the lifestyles of the people and makes them more responsible and psychologically stable. It is necessary to ensure that realizing working activities be awarded accordingly to inspire people to realize set tasks and responsibilities. If the process is duly prepared then the working hours spent by prisoners together improve their interpersonal communication and helps to avoid different forms of sociopathy and prison violence that are so widespread in penal establishments. It is difficult to completely avoid them but the interconnection between psychological services and socially useful work activities are regarded as the most effective means for realizing the purposes of this rehabilitation program.
Cultural activities and moral improvement
Without well-organized amateur activities, the goals of the rehabilitation program are hardly realized. Different forms of cultural activities such as literary readings, organizing theatricalized performances, and other cultural events are regarded as crucial stages of the individual stage. Cultural patterns chosen and realized as well as the participation of gun offenders in preparation of concerts and performance, making plays on moral and social thematic improve prisoner’s moral and interpersonal standards of behavior and create an atmosphere of friendship and closeness between people.
The preparation for social inclusion
The preparation for social inclusion after the termination of imprisonment is the final stage of the rehabilitation program and prepares gun offenders for their return to the free world. Psychological and social work in cooperation with state institutions is needed to install a person who committed a gun crime into society. It is necessary to provide him with all social guarantees and conditions for finding a coherent job and inspiring him for socially responsible behavior. These actions would help to avoid the formation of social anomy which may force a person to return to his criminal life.
The realization of this program should be systematic and regular. Only organic and joint efforts on the part of all stakeholders will guarantee the individual change and rehabilitation of gun offenders.
References
U.S. Department of Justice. (2001). Firearm use by offenders. U.S. Department of justice: Office of justice programs. 2007. Web.
U.S. Department of Justice (2003). Weapon use and violent crime. Department of justice: Office of justice programs. 2007. Web.