Rehabilitation CaseRehabilitationIn the early 18th century, individuals convicted of a crime were commonly punished physically for his or her crimes. It wasnt until much later that reform minded individuals stepped forth and implemented the alternative method of imprisonment over physical punishment. It was at this point when it was suggested that helping criminals reform rather than physically punishing them might be a solution for some. Inmates were to perform hard labor and take part in Bible study as an early method of reform. These methods would develop over the next two hundred years into what is known as rehabilitation.
The word rehabilitation means to return someone to a prior state. For correctional purposes, rehabilitation is defined as “a programmed effort to alter attitudes and behaviors of inmates, which is focused on the elimination of their future criminal behaviors.” The common idea among prisoners, however, is that rehabilitation is a new starting point in his or her life that helps them with restraint. The primary goal of rehabilitation of prisoners is to help him or her return to society at some point and avoid any further criminal activity, also known as recidivism, which makes the idea of rehabilitation a proactive measure. The results of an inmates rehabilitation in prison are put to the test upon completion of ones sentence or if the inmate is released on parole (Seiter, 2011).
Prisoners often claim that they were given a new set of basic skills, but the true extent to which they were rehabilitated is unknown. For instance, inmates in a variety of prisons with inmates who are treated as being extremely rehabilitative do not report being more “successful” when they have worked hard, worked hard enough and were happy. However, when there is no improvement in inmates’ behavior toward the incarcerated population, the inmates will continue to be put to work. In other words, inmates may not be very efficient or have limited work opportunities, but they also may have spent time in an intensive correctional facility, or do a lot of other activities in the community, and may be less efficient in the short term.„ In addition, many prisoners become extremely motivated to work because of the benefits of the various mental health services provided by the institution. By giving back to society, the prisoners become more productive. Those that do not make a good first impression on their peers, for instance, will not be successful. They will be afraid of the prison, will need to hide behind a mask, will become much more prone to committing crimes, and will not be interested in getting out of a house (Humphreys and Sauter, 1999).[#7] Some prisons offer rehabilitation services that include drug testing, cognitive behavioral therapy, and behavioral therapy services. The effectiveness of rehabilitation on rehabilitation-related outcomes varies. If inmates receive a higher rating by prison authorities for taking drugs, treatment, or rehabilitation, they may be less likely or even unable to perform many more tasks or jobs at rehabilitation facilities. However, if inmates are not rehabilitated, then there can be no change in the quality of their lives. A number of factors affect rehabilitation that result in reduced long-term outcomes. In some types of correctional institutions, some or all of these factors could be considered as an incentive or cause for a change. For instance, rehabilitation of inmates with a history of violence has been shown to be beneficial in terms of reducing recidivism. However, rehabilitation of inmates could not be fully applied during a longer prison term. While the term in which a corrections officer will be out of commission, it is usually less than 2 to 3 years (Taylor, 2008). Prisoners that are very much rehabilitated may have less difficulty with school, work responsibilities, or with school for the rest of their lives. The following two tables illustrate how prisoners are rated by prison authorities on specific aspects of their education and behavior during the past ten years. All Table 1 compares correctional officers rating prisoners they have rehabilitated to rated police officers.
Table 1. Corrections Officers, Percentage of All Prisoners to Report for Correctional Visibly-Impressed
Rights (%
Citizens) (Percentage 1 –
2 –
3 –
% 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
% 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
% 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
% 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
This study has been funded from the National Institute for Justice’s (NIJ) grant, P.0110
ParoleThe term parole is of French origin for the word parol, which means “word of honor.” This term was initially used in the 1700s in reference to the release of prisoners of war and later evolved into referencing the conditional release of prison inmates before his or her sentence expired. The idea behind parole is that inmates may be rewarded for good behavior and industrious work with up to a 25% reduction in his or her sentence with what is referred to as “good time.” This is in contrast to a mandatory release of inmates, which requires that an inmate serve his or her full fixed sentence or mandatory minimum. These types of sentences are given under certain conditions and do not allow the possibility of parole and are also known as determinate sentences. Individuals who receive a sentence that does not exclude the opportunity for parole receive what is known as an indeterminate sentence. An individual with an indeterminate sentence eventually may be brought for review by the parole board. Upon the approval of the parole board, an inmate will be released from the correctional facility on parole and be required to check in with a parole officer on occasions so that there may be verification that the former inmate is meeting the conditions of his or her parole. This is not unlike the conditions of an individual whose prison sentence was suspended. An individual with a suspended jail or prison sentence are typically sentenced to