Essay About Kind Of Program And Group Counseling

The U.S. Penal System
The U.S. Penal System
Prison inmates, are some of the most “maladjusted” people in
society. Most of the inmates have had too little discipline or too
much, come from broken homes, and have no self-esteem. They are very
insecure and are “at war with themselves as well as with society”
(Szumski 20). Most inmates did not learn moral values or learn to
follow everyday norms. Also, when most lawbreakers are labeled
criminals they enter the phase of secondary deviance. They will admit
they are criminals or believe it when they enter the phase of
secondary deviance (Doob 171). Next, some believe that if we want to
rehabilitate criminals we must do more than just send them to prison.
For instance, we could give them a chance to acquire job skills; which
will improve the chances that inmates will become productive citizens
upon release. The programs must aim to change those who want to
change. Those who are taught to produce useful goods and to be
productive are “likely to develop the self-esteem essential to a
normal, integrated personality” (Szumski 21). This kind of program
would provide skills and habits and “replace the sense of
hopelessness” that many inmates have (Szumski 21).
Moreover, another technique used to rehabilitate criminals is
counseling. There is two types of counseling in general, individual
and group counseling. Individual counseling is much more costly than
group counseling. The aim of group counseling is to develop positive
peer pressure that will influence its members. One idea in many
sociology text is that group problem-solving has definite advantages
over individual problem-solving. The idea is that a wider variety of
solutions can be derived by drawing from the experience of several
people with different backgrounds. Also one individuals problem might
have already been solved by another group member and can be suggested.
Often if a peer proposes a solution it carries more weight than if the
counselor were to suggest it (Bennett 20-24).
Further, in sociology, one of the major theories of
delinquency is differential association (Cressey 1955). This means
some people learned their ways from “undesirable” people who they were
forced to be in association with and that this association “warps”
their thinking and social attitudes. “Group counseling, group
interaction, and other kinds of group activities can provide a
corrective, positive experience that might help to offset the earlier
delinquent association” (Bennett 25). However, it is said that group
counseling can do little to destroy the power of labeling (Bennett
26). The differential-association theory emphasizes that a person is
more likely to become a criminal if the people who have the greatest
influence upon them are criminals (Doob 169).
Most of todays correctional institutions lack the ability and
programs to rehabilitate the criminals of America. One can predict
that a prisoner held for two, four, eight or ten years, then released,
still with no educationling, there is disadvantages. For instance,
members of the group might not be as open or show emotion because they