Rehabilitation, Parole, and Probation

Does rehabilitation actually work? Logically, it makes more sense than all the other forms of justice purposes, i.e. deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution. Rehabilitation is the only one out of all of them that focuses more on changing offender, versus just getting them out of society. They all have the same main goal which is to prevent and stop crime, and to decrease recidivism. Many argue that rehabilitation does not work, when in reality it has been the only form of justice that has the most results.

               In more recent years, more criminologists have studied the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs. The studies have provided substantial evidence that proves that rehabilitation works.  A meta- analysis, which is a way of measuring statistics, concluded that rehabilitation programs reduce recidivism by 10 percent, which is more than deterrence, retribution, or incapacitation have produced. The meta- analysis also narrowed down which should be the primary focuses for the programs. A few of them being to provide treatment intervention for high- risk offenders, use cognitive- behavioral treatment to eradicate criminal behavior, take into account the different characteristics of the offenders, and so on. Using the primary focuses can make a real difference in the minds of the offender and allow for better results. Does this mean that the future of rehabilitation programs in correctional facilities will increase?

               Many surveys have proved that more and more people are coming around to the idea of rehabilitation programs for inmates. A decent amount of the population, claim to believe that it is important to treat offenders. They believe this for the sake of society, the better offenders are treated the less likely they are to reoffend. All of the justice purposes are set up to protect society from the harm that criminal can cause. Probation and parole are another form of punishment. However, they fall mostly under incapacitation, but can also be considered a rehabilitative punishment. Most people think that incapacitation only means getting put behind bars, but it is any form of take away an individual’s freedom in order to ensure the safety of the community.

               Probation and parole are technically two different things. Probation is a form of punishment given to an offender prior to actually going to jail. Probation allows the offender to rehabilitate themselves, in effort to not go to jail. The offender will either not get a sentence or have their sentence suspended while on probation. If the offender violates probation they either serve the sentence that was originally given, or the judge then gives them a sentence to serve. While on probation, the offender will be required to complete certain tasks, and adhere to certain rules. For example, they will most likely have a curfew of some sort, they will be required to participate in a rehab program, frequent drug testing, etc. The length that a person can be on probation varies from crime to crime, and state to state. Being that probation frequently requires the offender to go to therapy or participate in a rehabilitation program, make probation fall under the rehabilitative justice. Parole differs from probation in just a few ways.

               Parole is a term used to define the period of time after a person is released from prison. Parole has a lot of the same requirements as probation. Parole may require the offender to live in a halfway house, and have other financial duties. One of the major differences of between probation and parole is that a parole officer’s main duty is to help the offender become a member of society again. When violation occurs, it is up to the parole board, and not the court room, on whether or not goes back to prison to finish their sentence. For instance, if the offender serves 15 years of their 30-year sentence, gets out and violates his or her parole, the offender is then subject to finishing that 30- year sentence.

               Parole and probation are the two form of incapacitating punishment that is also part of rehabilitation. This is because most probation and parole agreements require the offender to either participate in a program or receive some form of counseling or therapy. Probation and parole are used quite frequently because of the overcrowding of prisons and jail, therefore the less amount of people they can have in prison or jail, the better. The people who actually participate in the programs required by parole or probation, typically have less chances of recidivism.