The Problems Of Reintegration Criminology Essay

The Problems Of Reintegration Criminology EssayA large amount of the mass who ar released from prison be incarcerated again within a condensed period of time. Ex-prisoners confront legion(predicate) problems in the effort to be reintegrated into society. These problems embarrass a lack of kind tide over, inability to gain admission price to spanking resources and operate, the resistance of the company, lack of education, and lack of adequate stock preparation. These factors clear it punishing for ex-prisoners to adapt to life in the lodge and thereby increase the assay that they will return to a life of aversion. There are authentic things that prison ministers can do to serve prisoners make a sure-fire spiritual rebirth to life on the alfresco. prison house ministers can be pertain in programs that help grow prisoners through education and information. Ministers can erect prisoners with support during the reentry cognitive operation. In addition, th ey can build relationships in the participation that cause as duads for prisoners when they make the change from life in prison to life in the general population. Prison ministers can also help prisoners reintegrate by fly the cooping to their spiritual exacts.Prison provides a outrank for offenders to hold their debt to society by being punished for the crimes they gather in committed. Ideally, prison will rehabilitate offenders so they can be reintegrated into society subsequently being released. The alternative to reintegration is for prisoners to return to a life of crime. Ex-prisoners case many challenges in the effort to achieve successful reentry into society. Some of these challenges are cerebrate to to the material things that people enquire in order to survive. Released prisoners frequently demote it difficult to obtain logical arguments, housing and the other necessities of life. Other challenges are related to a lack of fond support. In order to be in eff ect reintegrated into society, ex-prisoners hire positive forms of support and encouragement from family members, friends or others in the community. This account will examine the potential problems that might occur during reintegration after prison. The written report will emphasize the perspective of the prison minister. There are some(prenominal) things that prison ministers can do to help prisoners make the transition to community life after their release.The Problems Associated with ReintegrationIn the United States, nearly 700,000 people are released from prison each year (Hesse, 2009). It has been estimated that as many as 75 percent of these people will be incarcerated again within quadruplet years after their release (Rabey, 1999). This is a problem known as recidivism. One reason for the high rate of recidivism is because many ex-prisoners lack social support. For example, during long prison terms, offenders a good deal lose data link with family members. This is pr oblematic because contact with family members is believed to facilitate reintegration into the community (Lynch Sabol, 2001, p. 2). If ex-prisoners do not digest the caring support of family members, they lead to be able to get social support from a different source, such(prenominal) as friends, a community-based support group, or a church fellowship. A lack of support often leads to ex-prisoners associating with their former friends in the criminal world. In the words of Hesse (2009), because many released inmates will not have solid attachments to family or community, they will most likely return to senior neighborhoods where their very presence whitethorn threaten to disrupt their success (p. 64). nurture difficulties are raised by feelings of fear and discrimination among the members of the community. Communities are often disgusting to the presence of ex-prisoners because of their concerns for public safety (Lynch Sabol, 2001). When ex-prisoners arrive in the community, t hey do so with criminal labels that limit their ability to secure housing, treatment services, and use of goods and services (Pogorzelski, et al., 2005, p. 1718). Clearly, ex-prisoners will not be able to reintegrate into society unless they are able to obtain pipelines that provide them with enough income to support themselves. In addition to the difficulty of obtaining a job because of the criminal label, there may be competition between returning prisoners and welfare leavers for jobs (Lynch Sabol, 2001, p. 19). Furtherto a greater extent, ex-prisoners are often hale to take low-paying, low-skill jobs. As noted by Lynch Sabol (2001), the low pay of these jobs enhances the possibility that involvement in illegitimate, income-producing activities will increase (p. 19).Former inmates face these kinds of challenges despite the passage of the federal law known as the abet Chance Act of 2005. The purpose of this legislation is to ensure that ex-prisoners receive the services that they need when they reenter society. According to the findings in a study by Pogorzelski, et al. (2005), the split second Chance Act has done little to alleviate the challenges faced by former prisoners in the effort to gain access to housing, public assistance and other necessary resources. These researchers have found that there are nonvisual penaltys built into the policies and programs that are supposed to help ex-prisoners reintegrate into society. For example, local laws often place limitations on the ability of former prisoners to fill out job applications, acquire housing or receive public assistance. As state by Pogorzelski, et al. (2005), these laws are, in effect, exclusionary public policies that regulate reentry experiences and, in essence, perpetuate punishment after release by assigning special conditions or bans on people with felony convictions (p. 1718). As claimed by Hesse (2009), many will return to crime to support themselves because accessibility to socia l services and other supports may not be available (p. 64).Another reason why reintegration efforts often denounce is because offenders do not receive the preparation that they need when they are cool it in prison. Many people in prison have problems involving such things as mental illness or substance abuse (Pogorzelski, et al., 2005). The prison system does not provide adequate treatment for these kinds of problems. In addition, prisoners do not generally receive the kind of job training that they need in order to be able to succeed in exterior life. As noted by Lynch Sobel (2001), a large number of released prisoners reenter society not having participated in educational, vocational, or pre-release programs (p. 2). The lack of education and job training contributes to the high recidivism rate among ex-prisoners. There is evidence showing that prisoners tend to be far less educated than the general population (Hesse, 2009, p. 64). For ex-prisoners, a lack of education and trai ning can mean a low-paying job or no job at all. This, in turn, increases the risk of released prisoners flunk to achieve reintegration into the community and returning to a life of crime.Prison Ministry and ReintegrationPrison ministers can play an important type in helping prisoners prepare for life after their release. For example, ministers can arrange for prisoners to receive job training or educational services. Ministers can also help prisoners make the transition to community life by being supportive and caring. However, prisoners need more than this in order to succeed in the reintegration process. Regarding the limits of prison ministry, McRoberts (2002) notes that spirituality may help people survive the hardships and absurdities of incarceration, but life on the right(prenominal) poses a radically different existential challenge (p. 2). Rabey (1999) agrees that prison ministers need to place more emphasis on aftercare and the reintegration of prisoners into communitie s and churches after their release (p. 27). A problem is prepared by the fact that many church members are resistant to the idea of providing large amounts of assistance to former prisoners (McRoberts, 2002, p. 7). To address this problem, prison ministers need to work at building relationships with community ministers and to thereby strengthen the bridge between prison life and community life.Prison ministers also have a vital role to play in helping prisoners adjust themselves spirituality to what life will be like after their release. As Rabey (1999) points out, prison ministries have shifted their attention from punishment to redemption, and from retributive justice to soda justice (p. 27). In order to achieve successful reintegration, prisoners need to experience a sense of healing and restoration.ConclusionAs discussed in this paper, various factors create challenges for ex-prisoners in their effort to be reintegrated into society. These factors include a lack of social supp ort, community resistance, the inability to get a decent job, lack of access to necessary services, and a low level of education. The challenges faced by ex-prisoners greatly increase the risk of recidivism. Prison ministries can play a role in helping ex-prisoners make a successful transition to community life. Prison ministers can help prepare prisoners for life on the outside while they are still in prison. They can work with community ministers to provide a bridge to life on the outside. They can make efforts to be sure that ex-prisoners will receive the resources and social support that they need to survive in the community. In addition, prison ministers can contribute to the reintegration process by tending to the spiritual needs of prisoners as they prepare for their reentry into society.