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Andres Rivera

Mr. Powers

English 1302

October 12, 2023

Should Societies Invest in Rehabilitation in Prisons?

Introduction

Rehabilitation in Prisons has always been a controversial topic that many people argue

about. There happen to be two sides that debate over Rehabilitation in prisons and whether a

community should have to pay for people who committed crimes to help them try and live a

successful crime-free life post-prison time. People argue about whether rehabilitation programs

should be funded, which programs are essential, and which should be cut off, how much money

should be invested into these programs, how these programs affect our society, whether these

programs affect re-imprisonment rates, is rehabilitation a right to a person, whether rehabilitation

should be limited to only certain offenders, if there is a correlation between an inmate receiving

rehabilitation with post-prison crime-free lives, and if rehabilitation is ever too late. Within this

analysis although the articles cover if digital rehabilitation is important, if vocational training

helps benefit ex-offenders, if Rehabilitation Changes Offenders, if Rehabilitation is worth the

money being invested, how mental health affects rehabilitation, Rehabilitation within mentally ill

people, key factors that contribute to a successful rehabilitation, should rehabilitation be a right

to a person, and Youth rehabilitation. There has been much research within these debates to help

get to a certain standpoint, but there is still more room for research in fields of the mentally ill,

what programs are successful, and in general more studies within programs. In today’s society, it
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is important to be aware of what is occurring within our society. These changes affect people,

from taking their tax money to possibly affecting a loved one from our community. Helping

offenders is an important discussion currently because of how it affects society yet also dictates

the future of offenders’ lives. Many researchers have concluded that Rehabilitation in Prisons

does help inmates lead a more positive lifestyle and has been seen to work among certain

individuals.

Does Digital Media Rehabilitation in Prisons Matter?

Zivanai, Eugenia, and Gilbert Mahlangu have researched how digital media is crucial to

offenders who have gone through their prison time and now are being released. Our modern-day

society is heavily impacted by digital media nowadays. The authors explain that people use

digital media to interact with family and friends, apply for jobs, most jobs require a form of

technology, and most jobs use technology that these ex-offenders may not know how to use. So,

the authors argue that digital media is an important step in helping convicts lead crime-free lives

and be able to be successful in life. The authors use credibility from examples such as mentioned

how “Scholars” can agree that technology is essential to social conduct, job seeking, health and

business (7). The authors also had a key factor showing a chart that had correlation of digital

technology with post prison life (8). Which then provides statistical evidence to show that

correlation. The author also showed a cycle effect that shows that after offenders receive digital

technology rehabilitation throughout the cycle, they have a better re-entry into society and have

an enhanced post-prison life (9). Overall, the authors presented a great argument that has been

credited with concrete evidence and has left a great remark on our rehabilitation programs.

Does Vocational Rehabilitation Help Lead a Successful Post Prison Life?

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McNeill and Katie-Marie have taken a great step forward towards our inmates and their

occupational practice during their time in prison. McNeill and Katie-Marie argue that Vocational

Training in prison is a necessary step towards helping ex-offenders lead a productive crime-free

life. The authors talk about the reformatory system in Canadian prisons and explain how re-entry

into society for ex-offenders is smoother and they now have a skill that could get them

somewhere. They speak on how offenders manage to earn their degrees while in prison and has

been seen to be a successful system that has helped many offenders look forward to a form of

being able to make money so they will not have to use illegal forms of obtaining money. They

speak about the history of the workforce in prisons. They explain how successful it has been and

the process throughout the years. Overall, they explained how successful vocational training has

been towards ex-offenders.

Does Rehabilitation Change Offenders?

Researchers like Tina Bloom and G. A. Bradshaw believe that rehabilitation is impossible

when being in such a negative place as prison. They argue that when criminals commit crimes

and wind up in jail or prison it becomes a cycle of constant crime and due to the setting, they

cannot become better. Now it is important to keep in mind that this is based upon a philosophical

theory and not studies. Overall although the authors created a great take on the debate on

whether rehabilitation in prisons is helpful.

Is Rehabilitation worth the money being invested?

Andrew Day writes about how rehabilitation is at a debate on whether taxpayers should

be getting taxed more to introduce more rehabilitation and if our money towards these programs

impacts the re-imprisonment rates in Australia. The author speaks on the statistics, the amount of
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money being invested, the physiological needs of prisoners, the outreach to support these people,

the way prison life is for inmates, and the rehabilitation methods to introduce ex-offenders back

into society. Day speaks on how there exists a correlation between the amount of money being

invested with the number of successful cases that prove that rehabilitation helps keep crime off

the streets. Nevertheless, the article basically is an insight into whether or not more tax money

should be invested into rehabilitation programs and to inform people how it impacts the re-

imprisonment rates.

Should rehabilitation be a right of a person?

Many authors like Seigafo Sheldon believe that Rehabilitation is a person's right. Sheldon

is a researcher who firmly believes that a correlation between imprisonment and re-imprisonment

has a correlation with our rehabilitation system. Sheldon begins his argument by saying that “as a

correctional focus, is noteworthy because studies have discovered that rehabilitating inmates is

significantly linked to lower recidivism rates (186).” Sheldon fights the argument that showing

how studies have proved that criminals who receive rehabilitation can adapt to crime-free lives,

it is crucial that they receive this help to reduce crime (186). Sheldon argues that the reason

behind imprisonment is to stop them from committing crimes but how does locking them up in a

hostile environment help these people from wanting to deter from a life of crime (184). Overall,

Sheldon creates a concrete argument by having sources in which he correlated lower recidivism

rates with rehabilitation programs.

Does Mental Health Matter in Rehabilitation?

Jaime Munoz and the other authors write about how therapists help inmates in prison get

mentally better and the process in which they go through. Throughout the article, they give facts,
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statistics, and details on how these effects impact prisoners. The point that this article tries to get

across is that therapy in prisons is crucial and being that we are in a modern era we should see

how important mental awareness is for our offenders and society trying to forget about them is

wrong. Overall, I agree with the authors, that there should be more awareness for our inmates

and the overall effect of their prison experience really affects their entire lives.

The Mentally ill Prison Rehabilitation

In this article, Tomer Einat writes specifically about Magen Prison. A prison that houses

mentally ill inmates. The prison is based on mental and self-rehabilitation which the prison

provides for these inmates. They get counseling and programs that help them “renunciate their

life of crime” (205). The author provides data and history to help show how effective these

rehabilitation programs are and expresses his findings and the different opinions and responses

people bring up. This article overall helps correlate rehabilitation with people with mental

illnesses, and mental problems in general.

Key Factors to Being Successfully Rehabilitated

In this article, O’Brien Patricia writes about how 18 women were interviewed and

described how they were able to have a successful re-entry into society and what factors led them

to get there. They speak on how important self-preservation is inside prison and what advantages

they used to come over disadvantages. The authors provided data on what crimes were more

prominent at the time of a certain era. The article contains data that provides the questions asked

to the ex-offenders and gives us a look at how their responses truly impacted their successful re-

entry into society.

Youth Rehabilitation Programs

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Helmut Kury, Slawomir Redo, and Evelyn Shea have researched how societies can help promote

a better upbringing for our generations. They cover youth programs that promote sports, games,

reading, and early vocational training. The authors cover what previous offenders who have now

led successful crime-free lives had to do to become successful in doing so. They give examples

such as how offenders would keep themselves busy with work, be in touch with loved ones, have

healthy hobbies, and always look forward (486). Overall, they explain the importance of our

youth and building the future for our people.

Conclusion

Furthermore, there are many types of rehabilitation that allow offenders to be able to live

crime-free lives. These programs have been differentiated between different types of people and

have been specified for everyone. These programs help reduce crime, help people live successful

lives, and overall change people for the better, which is what makes this program so important.

The only withdrawal along with providing rehabilitation is money, but it’s always important to

remember that the impact that it has on our daily lives is worth everyone’s contribution. With

more research, rehabilitation can be a great tactic for promoting more funding for rehabilitation

which is why these articles change future generations and societies. At the end of the day, people

want a safe place where they can live without a high chance of being victimized by a crime

where an individual found no choice but to be a criminal. Communities also should strive for a

place where everyone gets a chance to be successful and help offenders change to help them be

successful to not live a life full of crime.

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Works Cited

Zivanai, Eugenia, and Gilbert Mahlangu. "Digital Prison Rehabilitation and Successful

Re-Entry into a Digital Society: A Systematic Literature Review on the New Reality on Prison

Rehabilitation." Cogent Social Sciences, vol. 8, no. 1, 2022.

McNeill, Katie-Marie. "A Re-Education on how to Work: Vocational Programs in

Kingston-Area Prisons.” Scholarly Journal, No. 89, 2022.

Tina Bloom and G. A. Bradshaw. “Inside of a Prison: How a Culture of Punishment

Prevents Rehabilitation.” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Vol. 28, No. 1,

2022, PP. 140-143.

Day, Andrew. “At a Crossroads? Offender rehabilitation in Australian Prisons.”

Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, Vol 27, No. 6, 2020.

Seigafo, Sheldon. "Inmate’s Right to Rehabilitation during Incarceration: A Critical

Analysis of the United States Correctional System." International Journal of Criminal Justice

Sciences, vol. 12, no. 2, 2017.

Tomer, Einat. “The wounded healer: self-rehabilitation of prisoners through providing

care and support to physically and mentally challenged inmates.” Journal of Crime and Justice,

Vol. 40, No. 2, 2017, PP 204-221.

Helmut Kury, Slawomir Redo, and Evelyn Shea. “Women and Children As Victims and

Offenders: Background, Prevention, Reintegration: Suggestions for Succeeding Generations.”