Punishments and the Effects They Have on the Reentry Process

Punishments Programs and the Effects They Have on the Reentry Process

Tammy AAsum

Commentary # 4

Punishments and the Effects They Have on the Reentry Process Introduction

Individuals convicted of committing felony offenses experience a high level of intense public condemnation.  There is a great degree of forfeiture of their civil rights and liberties.  Offenders no longer have normal lives after conviction of a felony crime.  One would think this is acceptable since society is seeking retribution.  However, there are invisible punishments given to them that follow felons throughout the remainder of their lives even after they have completed the sentence for their crime.  With the types of punishments, I am going to outline later in the paper, how are felons ever going to have that normal way of life needed for desistance from crime.  There are programs already in place within prison walls to help rehabilitate these such people.  In addition, there are programs in place to continue the rehabilitation process after the incarceration period.

The goal of this paper is to describe such programs and layout the invisible punishments that affect not only the offender, their families, communities, and the criminal justice system as a whole.  Describing how invisible punishments keep offenders from ever having the “normal” things others have.  To show how reforming the felony disenfranchisement and invisible punishments could assist in lowering recidivism.  In When Prisoners Come Home it is stated by a study done by the United States Bureau of Justice the same things that bring felons to prison are the same things they are still denied of having upon release (Petersilia 2003).  If invisible punishments were reformed, would the reentry process improve the livelihood of the offender and all involved? I will first discuss the general background information on mass incarceration in the U.S. and general information on invisible punishment. To the end I will show what programs work to better sustain an offender from recommitting crime while also describing the reasons the programs in place do not help.  

Background and Program Phases of Reentry of Offenders The

        Before the prison boom, incarceration of any offender was the backstop of the criminal justice system. Nearly all prisoners serve at least one year in prison, but most serve much longer sentences.  The great scale of the penal system started in the 2000’s. “On any one day for fifty years from 1925 to 1975, about a hundred Americans out of a hundred thousand just one-tenth of 1 percent of the U.S. population were in prison (Western 2006 pg. 13)”. Today the amount of offenders in prison is overwhelming and imprisonment is the highest it has ever been. Those imprisoned include those that have recidivated due to invisible punishment or lack of proper help from the corrections system.

In the future 95% of today’s total prison population will reintegrate back into society.  Each year approximately 650,000 offenders within the United States prison population reenter back into the community.  The Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates over two-thirds of offenders released commit new offenses within three years of their release (BOJ 1999). Many studies have shown reentry initiatives that combine education and work training and placement along with mental health and or drug rehabilitation counseling as well as housing assistance can reduce recidivism rates and create a successful reentry process.

Generally programs or activities offered to an offender from the time of admittance into the criminal justice system help prepare them for successful reintegration back into society.  The most successful reentry programs usually entail three phases (Petersilia 2003).  There are programs during the time spent incarcerated such as drug rehabilitation, education, and vocation or job training that are the foundation of the first phase.  The second phase of programs are connecting them immediately after release with community services.  The third and final phase provides them with long-term support and or supervision as they settle into their communities permanently.  

In order to grasp the issue of offender reentry we must first understand the nations climbing incarceration rates.  Although, crime rates have declined the overall prison population has steadily risen in the past few decades.  By 2005, there were approximately 2.2 million incarcerated individuals.   Because of the “Get Tough on Crime” era and the “War on Drugs,” the United States has managed to create an overpopulated prison system.  Stiffening the penalties for offenses has created lengthier prison sentences (Russell 2009).  However, the prison population rates directly affect the reentry process.  The cost of housings prisoner in conjunction with low funding for programs has created a boomerang effect.  The offenders generally have low education, very few job skills, usually have drug addiction or mental health issues, and do not have anything to help them change the issues of the environment they came from.  The high number of offenders needing programs verses the limited funding for programs causes offenders released back into society with the same issues they entered the criminal justice system.  This sets them up for failure of the reentry process creating a larger likelihood of recidivism.

As the incarcerated population rises, the release of offenders needing supervision appears to be on the rise as well.  Some of the offenders never serve prison time rather placed on probation immediately following sentencing.  Some offenders only serve partial sentences and released to community supervision for the remainder of their sentence.  These offenders are required to follow certain case plans and check in regularly.  If they fail to meet, any of the stipulations placed on them, it is a violation of probation, and they return to prison.  Once a prison sentence has been complete, two thirds of the ex-offenders will recidivate within 3 years.  

The majority of the prison population detained right now, will at some point to return to society in the future.  Offender reentry touches a wide variety of social environments and governmental entities.  Offender reentry programs vary from state to state and community to community.  Governmental policies and programs available in and out of prison have a great impact on the reentry process (Petersilia).  Which in turn greatly effects society as a whole.  There are many things can affect offender reentry: