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December 10, 2001 |
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RESOCIALIZATION OF PRISON INMATES |
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Resocialization happens in many different ways and for many different reasons. When a person moves into a new society they need to learn the new rules and laws of that new society. This move, most of the time, is voluntary, but when a person has proven that they are not willing or able to obey the laws of a society then they need to be taken out of that society. The most common place that people are removed to are prisons. |
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The inmates of prisons, are for the most part, tried and convicted of a serious violation of a societies' laws. In some countries, there are people who are put into prison because they disagree with the laws that govern the society. For whatever reason, society has demanded that these individuals should be placed in a different, more imposing society. |
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This paper will be using the mainstream American society. "Until the late 1700s, imprisonment was rarely used as a penalty for common law violations. Instead, for all but the exceptions offenders were institutionalized only until a court hearing could be arranged, if convicted, until the punishment could be meted out." (Petersilia, 1998:5) Today, in contrast, people are not only held before their court hearing, depending on the crime that they are convicted of, they can be held for several years as their repayment to society for these crimes. |
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Upon entering prison, the inmates need to learn a new set of rules and regulations. This involves a process called resocialization. They need to learn new laws and regulations that govern their new society. It is thought that if an inmate is successfully resocialized to this environment inside the prison it proves that they should be able to be resocialized upon their release to adapt to the mainstream society. |
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The first form of resocialization for prison inmate is usually the strip search, haircut, spraying for lice and identifying photographs. The wardens of the prisons to control the entry of contraband, such as drugs, use strip searches. In some prisons, there is a belief that you need to break down the inmate's psyche in order resocialize them. "The individual must be contrite: he must recognize the error of his ways. He must come to want to make amends, and the only way to effect such a transformation since the sins of evil people are so deeply entrenched, is through a long process of suffering." (Tipp, 1991:101) |
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There are as many different ways to resocialize the individual, as there are different prisons. "There are maximum, medium and minimum security prisons. There are prisons for women and prisons for men. There is prison for boys and for girls. At some prisons, convicts march in file to work and show; at others, they amble from all directions. At some prisons the convicts, all wear the same clothes: blue denim pants and drab olive work shirts. At others they get to dress up like bikers or rock stars of fierce, bearded, kerchief-crowned pirates, albeit the scabbardless kind." Gordon, 2000:12) |
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The chosen way to resocialize depends on what outcome the prison system wants for its inmates. If the outcome is reform, then the prison's society will reflect the mainstream society. The inmates will have a daily job to perform. Some prisons pay the inmates a little bit of income. The inmates are able to take correspondence classes to earn their high school diploma or college degrees. This should change their personal circumstances when they are released from prison. The inmates are given choices to make. It is through their choices that they are able to prove their ability to become a productive member of the mainstream society. This is how most minimum and even a few medium prisons are run. They are seen as stepping-stones to release for the inmates. |
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If the prison system is set up to punish the inmates, then there are fewer choices allowed to the inmate. Their movement from one section of the prison to another is controlled. Their access to jobs, to recreational areas and even to visitors is not up to the individual inmate. Showers are in communal rooms. There is no privacy in these prisons except for inside individual cells and that is very limited privacy. Usually an inmate has to prove that he or she is worthy of being allowed access to these "privileges". ; They are earned by following all the rules and regulations of their prison. Maximum-security prisons usually house the more socially deviant inmates. Therefore, these inmates are going to need the most resocialization before they can become successful member of the American mainstream society. |
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If the resocialization of inmates back into the mainstream society is to succeed then they need to have a support system in place outside of the prison. The majority of "habitual" offenders are being sent back out into the mainstream society without the skills necessary to support themselves. This is for the most part the main factor that led to their committing the crime that caused their imprisonment in the first place and subsequent incarcerations. |
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Following are a couple of example of different correctional programs that focus on resocializing inmates back into the mainstream society. "The mission of the Georgia Department of Corrections is to protect the public and staff by managing offenders either in a safe and secure environment or through effective community supervision according to their needs and risks. In collaboration with the community and other agencies, we provide programs which offer offenders the opportunity to become responsible, productive, law-abiding citizens." (Petersilia, 1998:209) Project Safeway is located on the west side of Chicago. It became operational November 1, 1991. "Project Safeway conducts on-site offender programs that draw on community resources to assist offenders to their efforts to avoid criminal behavior." (Petersilia, 1998:169) |
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I think that in our society we need to maintain that prisons who's mission is to reform the criminals, therefore during their incarceration we should make available every opportunity for the inmates to learn the skills necessary to become productive members of society. Whether the skills needed are as simple as learning how to budget their income or a better education to earn more income. I think that our society as a whole should make post high school education more accessible to everyone. This would in itself create a more productive incentive to not break the laws of our society. The individual would have more to lose if they were caught breaking the laws, therefore would most likely chose to live within the laws. |
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Bibliography |
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Gordon, Robert Ellis and Inmates of the Washington Correction System. The Funhouse Mirror: Reflections on Prison. 2000. Washington State University Press. |
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Petersilia, Joan. Community Corrections: Probation, Parole, and Intermediate Sanctions. 1998. Oxford University Press. |
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Seymour, Cynthia and Hairston, Creasie Finney. Children with Parents in Prison: Child Welfare Policy, Program and Practice Issues. 2001. Child Welfare League of America, Inc. |
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Tripp, Stacey L. America's Prisons Opposing Viewpoints. 1991. Greenhaven Press, Inc |
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