Prison Programs Take Innovative Approach To Reducing Recidivism

Here's a question to the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world: how do we turn tax-consuming inmates into tax paying, law-abiding citizens? Traditional prison rehabilitation programs don't seem to work; in fact, our recidivism rate is grim with 67% prisoners rearrested within 3 years of being released.

Even after ex-convicts have served their time, they are fighting the system to find employment. Without a stable job, it becomes easier to turn back to a life of crime. But in this $60 billion/year prison industry, there are a few creative programs that are trying to solve a deeper problem. Here are five unique prison programs, aiming at changing the lives of some of the 7.2 million prisoners:

Puppies. In Kansas, homeless dogs are matched with violent offenders to help them "rediscover their humanity". Puppies Behind Bars trains inmates to raise puppies to become service dogs for the disabled and explosive detection canines for enforcement.

Entrepreneurship. This non-profit teaches "MBA-level" classes to prisoners, especially drug-dealers and gang leaders who have shown some entrepreneurial tendencies in their past. They aim at leveraging this proven skill-set to inspire a deeper change and give prisoners a sense of purpose and leadership.

Theater. Studies have shown that the use of dramatic techniques leads to significant improvements in the cognitive behavior of the program's participants inside prison and a reduction in recidivism once paroled.

Arts. Being able to express their emotions through art or writing gives inmates hope for the future, as well as some release from frustration, lack of self worth and hopelessness.

Yoga. The rehabilitative benefits of yoga and other mindfulness practices can help prisoners deal with stress, anxiety, and depression. Maintaining a long-term practice can actually change ones' outlook on life and behavior.

Our prison system seems to perpetuate its population, instead of diminish it. While short-term costs of these unusual programs may be high; if they prove to be successful in reducing recidivism rates, they would be cost-effective in the long run.

Catherine Rohr, who gave up a six figure job on Wall Street to run the Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP) says it best:

The real success comes from turning a tax consumer into a tax payer, a deadbeat dad into a supportive father, a societal terrorist into a community contributor, an influence of evil into a positive role model, a waste of talent into a man of realized potential. You can't argue with those results.

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Comments

[ddnlj]

While I am all for keeping violent offenders off the street, most people in jail are not violent. But once they are caught up in the legal system, strapped with felonies for offenses such as drug possession, their future is grim.

It's been proven that prison rehabilitation does work, but the conservative public sees it as "coddling" and it much prefers that inmates be treated as animals so that when they are released back into society they are far more likely to reoffend and fall back into the system.

The ideas in the article are all very good and there are many more programs that could be put into place to help reduce the recidivism rate. Parole and probation officers should be more than just monthly money collectors. They should be counselors and mentors, as well; helping ex-inmates regain stability through job placement, volunteer work, drug rehab, etc.

It's become so much easier to toss every offender in jail regardless of his/her crime and then turn them loose and wish them well. Many, many people shouldn't be in jail at all. They should be worked with on the outside. Those who work in criminal justice complain that the system is overtaxed, but they don't seem to recognize that the revolving door they've created is the reason why.

[dougnoll]

The ignored conversation is not about prison programs that can rehabilitate and reintegrate offenders back into society; it is about why state governments, especially California, are not acting. There are hundreds of ideas, programs, and policies known to save lives and families, reduce recidvisim, increase community safety, and reduce the enormous taxpayer burdens of the prison system ($250,000 per inmate per year in California). Like so many other important public policy issues, prison reform and rethinking the entire criminal justice system has become politicized and polarized. Too many jobs are now at stake to think about reducing prisoner populations. Too many politicians are dependent upon "Tough on Crime" or "Endorsed by the Deputy Sheriffs' Association" for re-election. As a result, anyone who questions the current policies and asks for a civil public conversation is marginalized as a left wing liberal wacko with no common sense. Ad hominem attack, rather than considered discourse, is the preferred method of dealing with intelligent, thoughtful discourse.
The solution is education and awareness. How long do even the most conservative anti-tax partisans want to fund a failed system that trades off education dollars for children for imagined safety, "justice," and "vengeance?" When will the media step up and stop using crime as cheap news fillers on the 5:00 pm news and the metro section of the local paper? When these shifts start, perhaps we will see the ignored conversation become the important conversation of social change.

[James Higa]

And programs like FLY in San Jose http://www.flyprogram.org/ is reducing recidivism for at risk youths. It's a 10 x 1 saving for tax payers.