Lack of Rehabilitation in Prisons

by Emily Suse

Provided by The Wall Street Journal

According to the National Institute of Justice, “[o]ver 75% of released inmates are re-incarcerated within five years of discharge from prison; this high re-offending rate is due to many U.S. prisons focusing on punishment, rather than on rehabilitation.” Proper rehabilitation would allow inmates to regain social skills that are vital, in order to foster active participation in their communities.

Although some people believe that imprisonment is a form of rehabilitation, studies have regularly discovered that the majority of criminals return to an unlawful lifestyle after their release. It can be argued that some inmates learn better ways to commit crimes and become more involved in criminal activity while they are surrounded by other convicts.

This unfortunate reality can be countered by implementing proper rehabilitation into the criminal justice system. Such rehabilitation would include, but is not limited to: drug and alcohol counseling, mental health counseling, financial classes, social skills classes, and anger management classes.

Studies indicate that most inmates who complete rehabilitation programs enter the real-world successfully and rarely return to a life of crime.

According to the American Psychological Association, the rate of mental health issues in US prisons is three times greater than the national average. Former prison psychologist, Thomas Fagan, states “[p]risons have really become, in many ways, the de facto mental health hospitals. But prisons weren't built to deal with mentally ill people; they were built to deal with criminals doing time.”

Although many prisons offer psychology services, the growing number of inmates is too fast to provide adequate care.

For the past 45 years, rehabilitation has been overshadowed by a “tough on crime” mentality. The Sentencing Project discovered that “[t]oday, there are more people behind bars for a drug offense than the number of people who were in prison or jail for any crime in 1980. The number of people sentenced to prison for property and violent crimes has also increased even during periods when crime rates have declined.” This “get tough” initiative, beginning in the 1970’s, has caused a decrease in rehabilitation services and an increase in prison populations.

Although rehabilitation does require an up-front cost, the programs pay for themselves by producing a lower recidivism rate. In the long run, rehabilitation contributes to a stronger economy and a safer society for all people.