The U.S Correctional System

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sanction is that they “are inherently inequitable” and are sometime unfair because

many offenders may have little or no money and are unlikely to ever be able to pay (Ruback, 2015).

Rehabilitation programs are largely base on the notion that criminal behavior in most suspect is

caused by some contributing factor such as history of violence, psychological or mental disorder.

The correctional system tries to treat the offender’s problems that interfere with his or her ability to

CASE STUDY 3

function in society. Some of these problems also include drugs and alcohol dependency whereby the

offender maybe incarcerated and placed in an alcohol or drug treatment facility. Others may include

programs such as high school completion programs, access to college education, vocational training and

may also include psychological counseling depending on the individual needs. The rehabilitation

programs in the prison system is not only geared on reducing the recurrence of criminal behavior but

also reducing the recidivism among probation and parolees as well.

When examining the two methods of reducing crime or criminal activity and dealing with the

offender, certain thing has to be taken into consideration and all sides of the equation must add up.

Punishment is one of the oldest and most widely used method from back in the days when the old

prison system was first introduced. Punishment was utilized as a means of reforming the offender and

deterring them from criminal behavior in an effort to protect society. The prison method of punishment

is not a permanent solution so offenders usually return to society and recidivism occurs(Carson

&Mulako-Wangota, 1989). Rehabilitation is more modern method of dealing with offenders. This

method is focused on helping the offender by altering their way of thinking so that they can reintegrate

into society and become more productive. The rehabilitation program is more designed to reform

offenders by offering them a reason to change by providing programs such as drug and substance abuse

programs, probation and parole options, job skills and training and high school and college classes.

Therefore rehabilitation in conjunction with community supervision is a more permanent fix in deterring

crime.

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