The Relationship Between Rehabilitation and Recidivism (Essay Sample)

The Relationship between Rehabilitation and Recidivism.
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The Relationship between Rehabilitation and Recidivism.
Low education qualification is a major barrier to being employed, especially for released inmates. The chances of such people engaging in criminal activities once they return to their neighborhoods are very high. However, it cannot be the case if a prisoner undergoes a rehabilitation program, which may be in education, which equips them with basic skills and knowledge to gain entry into the labor market. It also gives the reformed inmate a sense of self-satisfaction. In this case, rehabilitation centers help in reshaping the lives of criminals, providing relevance to it. However, the aim of rehabilitation is only attained if the institution offering the service values the outcome of the prisoner. According to Auty et al. (2020), the determination of a prison's culture is key as it determines the development of the released inmates. If the criminal is not in good shape by the moment they are released, there are higher chances of going back to their former acts, which may land back in prison.
On top of the skills acquired while in prison, rehabilitation also aims to teach morality and offer support. The program should be structured so that the well-being of the prisoners after serving a term of imprisonment is considered to avoid relapse. Rehabilitation makes the inmates have a different perception of what they consider normal. These include drug and substance abuse-related offenses. A (Cheah et al., 2020) Apart from fighting to curb the abuse and sale of such substances, the offenders can receive great help from rehabilitation programs to see that they do not go back to the old ways. Drug abuse can lead an individual to commit several other crimes such as theft, especially when one is addicted and cannot manage to purchase them due to lack of funds, sexual harassment, or breaking of traffic laws. Rehabilitation of drug and substance abuse is the only key to this failure to which they would relapse and find themselves committing crimes again.
Recidivism can also result from homelessness. Formerly imprisoned people are likely to be homeless on their release, especially if it was a long sentence. Behavioral health support may not be of practical help if the inmate lacks a home immediately after they step out of prison. Being homeless is a barrier to finishing the required treatment. As a result, even the best product in behavioral health intervention can be of less value if the individual is not placed in stable housing. Failed programs offered in rehabilitation centers can also cause this. If the program is of no significant quality, the cases of recidivism remain high. It also partly depends on whether the inmate completes the program or not. Inmates who complete the programs are less likely to find themselves back behind bars than those who completely avoid or do not complete the program.