“Do incarcerated criminals necessarily achieve adequate rehabilitation to re-enter society as fully functioning and contributing citizens of the national economy”
Placing individuals in a cell under lock-and-key to reflect on their malice can possibly allow some self-insight for a convict, but what happens following the release of these inmates who have forcibly spent their time in extreme social isolation? Leading up to and following the release of a convict, individual support and provided structure or mentorship can greatly reduce the rates of recidivism, and even more so when matched with an education or vocational program that can provide useful skills to utilize in the real world. Current treatment post-incarceration is minimal, and a mere means of tracking behavior rather than reforming it. Current reentry programs are the same used fifteen or more years ago, and they continue to lack adequate educational or vocational transitional aid. Expecting incarceration alone to be an effective means of corrections is unjust, as every person convicted and incarcerated deserves the same natural rights and liberties as those that remain so actively protected outside of prison walls.
According to The United Nations standard, minimal rules on the treatment of prisoners, (also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules,) “The purposes of a sentence of imprisonment or similar measures deprivative of a person’s liberty are primarily to protect society against crime and to reduce recidivism. Those purposes can be achieved only if the period of imprisonment is used to ensure, so far as possible, the reintegration of such persons into society upon release so that they can lead a law-abiding and self-supporting life.” This law is one of the many [Nelson Mandela Laws] enacted in order to ensure that the role of imprisonment is not to deprive someone of their freedom and liberty but to protect and further society, however this cannot be accomplished if the system spits out the same people it brings in. The laws as a whole clearly establish that the “willingness and ability of prisoners to lead a law-abiding and self-supporting life upon release, are crucial to reduce recidivism and to improve public safety” An unreformed formerly incarcerated criminal, with no changed focus or newly taught skillset, will often resort back to previous ways and end up back inside the prison system they have already given so much of their life to. “International law stipulates that imprisonment should…include opportunities for prisoners to obtain knowledge and skills that can assist them in their successful reintegration upon release, with a view to avoiding future offending.” (Allen 1)
In 2017, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime gathered in Vienna to address the status of inmate rehabilitation and developed “The Roadmap for the Development of Prison-Based Rehabilitation Programmes” in attempt to correct for previous methods of release and reentry as well as layout a path for prisons globally to adjust to these new standards. According to a 2013 study on part of the RAND Corporation and employed by the United States Department of Justice, states that “Inmates who participate in correctional educational programmes had 43 per cent lower odds of returning to prison than those who did not; employment after release was 13 per cent higher among prisoners who participated in either academic or vocational education programmes than those who did not; those who participated in vocational training were 28 per cent more likely to be employed after release from prison than those who did not receive such training,”(Rand 2013). This strong correlation proves that prisoners that are offered education and vocational training can not only improve their chances of post-incarceration employment but lower their chances of returning to prison. At an address to the Nebraska Bar Association Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger discussed the necessity for rehabilitation, declaring that “Prisoners confined for a period of years and then released without education, training, or marketable skill, will be vulnerable to returning to a life of crime. … What job opportunities are there for unskilled illiterates with criminal records?” (Burger 1981) The UN Special Reporter on the Right to Education equally supports these claims and even goes so far as to state that these means of rehabilitation “…minimize the negative impact of incarceration, and improve prospects of reintegration, self-esteem and morale.” (Muñoz 2009) While recidivism has fallen since the initialization of these programmes, many privately owned prisons remain frequently crowded and impersonal in their methods of prisoner rehabilitation.
Money is a large factor in these private prisons as the more convicts that remain in their system, filling cells, the more profit for their benefit.
Therein, the United Nations efforts have been just that, effort. The United States continually fails to ignore the roadmap provided to them and the privatization of prisons makes the enforcement of these statutes even harder. The costs of rehabilitation programs are constantly debated, along with the question of whether the state is required to pay for these services. While courts argue the Constitution does not entitle all Americans to an education, “as a general matter, courts recognize rehabilitation’s role in preventing recidivism.” (Whitney, V.a) Court circuits are aware of the effectiveness in rehabilitating a convict, and preventing recidivism, but federal funding and political goals stand in the way of these services being provided to inmates. Numerous politicians and educators clearly support the push for increased rehabilitation efforts prior to reentry. Not only do high level political figures disagree with the current reentry system, but prominent media figures such as podcast host and twitter user @JoshuaBHoe who supports said claims with his own belief that “The best way to ensure safety is to INVEST in people returning with hope for a better future and a PATH to actualizing that hope…”(@JoshuaBHoe, Mar. 16 2019)
Upon release most ex-convicts are placed on probation where they are actively managed in terms of drug use and illicit activity by a parole officer, similar to a police officer, that manages a large number of released former inmates. In response to the current and seemingly outdated probationary system, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner commented, “I think people instinctively believed too much supervision is not enough. But it turns out too much supervision is too much. … It does tremendous harm, and it costs a fortune.” (Melamed, Mar. 2019) Prison reform and justice groups carry this message on and fully support it via social media, quoting DA Krasner, condemning the current probation system, “It’s about time to end these probationary practices that damage community ties, prevent returning citizens from maintaining employment and contribute greatly to recidivism.” (@powerinterfaith, Mar. 2019)
In an Interview with Alison Ganem, an Attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative, the current climate of inmate’s rights was reviewed as well as an outlook on the future of prisoner rehabilitation. The Equal Justice Initiative is a non-profit group, “committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.” (EJI 2019) According to Ms. Ganem, “EJI is extremely, extremely, EXTREMELY opposed to the spread of private prisons for profit” where convicts are being brought in to meet status quotas and in turn produce revenue. Although some private prisons have education or vocational programs, “they tend to be more concerned with warehousing humans and filling beds, than the protection of individual liberty or due process.” The EJI offers a rehabilitation program of its own for clients of the legal collective, called the PREP Program. “Having a community and support network to facilitate transition is key because there are so many barriers faced by those facing reentry. The structure of a program can really help, especially in clients that have been in the system from a young age.” Prep provides life skills training, complete with teaching budgeting tools, driving school, and internet use instruction alongside traditional education and vocational programs. Many ex-cons emerge into a new world, the digital age, where technology has become essential to daily life, but many have never even owned an iPod before. EJI hopes to combat these barriers and provide equal opportunity to all formerly incarcerated and those currently facing reentry. (Ganem 2019)
The American correctional system remains today as a barbaric form of detainment stripping inmates of identity and self-worth and forcing them into a seemingly inescapable structure of life permanently marked as a criminal, even following their release. While probations officers should act as mentors they act more like watchdogs, and until there is a better-rounded system that not only addresses the use and transfer of illicit substances and items but actively aids in providing new tools former convicts can use to become functional in society and not regress to criminal behavior of the past The lives of the formerly incarcerated should not end with their convictions, they should begin with it.
Bibliography
Alison Ganem, Personal Interview, March 26, 2019, 5:19pm
Allen, Rob, et al. “Roadmap for the Development of Prison-Based Rehabilitation Programmes.” UNODC.org, UNODC, Jan. 2017, www.unodc.org/documents/justice-and-prison-reform/17-05452_ebook.pdf.
Burger, Warren E. Address to Lincoln, Nebraska Bar Association: More Warehouses, or Factories with Fences? (Dec. 16, 1981), in 8 NEW ENG. J. ON PRISON L. 111, 114(1982)
Equal Justice Initiative, “About the Equal Justice Initiative.” 2019, eji.org/about-eji.
@JoshuaBHoe (Joshua B. Hoe) “The best way to ensure safety is to INVEST in people returning with hope for a better future and a PATH to actualizing that hope….the current system mostly fails in every possible way, what we need to ask is not what it costs, but why we are paying BILLIONS for failure now” Twitter, 16 Mar. 2019 11:15 a.m.
Melamed, Samantha. “Philly DA Larry Krasner: We took on mass incarceration. Now we’re addressing mass supervision.” Philly.com, The Inquirer/Daily News, March 21, 2019. https://www.philly.com/news/da-larry-krasner-philly-probation-criminal-justice-reform-parole-20190321.html?fbclid=IwAR1UYJMmoPJ8xvFTopWP1y75xf1fPOMnLcb6QiW2FQnTSC3IvgqHj5IQdPY&__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
Muñoz, Vernor, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, “The right to education of persons in detention”, p 91(b), A/HRC/11/8 (2009).
@powerinterfaith (POWER) “It’s about time to end these probationary practices that damage community ties, prevent returning citizens from maintaining employment, and contribute greatly to recidivism! #LiveFree” Twitter, 21 Mar. 2019 6:00 a.m. https://twitter.com/powerinterfaith/status/1108714953723338752
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