Re-integration of offenders back into society.

[Grandad]

I am taking this title from LLL's post on another thread as I believe the topic justifies wider discussion than as a 'what are you doing today' post.

Is a prison sentence today a real deterrent? I think not and as a result many in the criminal fraternity do not think twice about commiting criminal acts again after release.
I have never been inside a prison but from what is reported the inmates enjoy comfortable cells with TV and many comforts of home. If they behave, they may serve as little as 40% of their penalty. Lack of security inside prisons means that many inmates have access to mobile phones and drugs. Even drones are used to make deliveries.
IMO this is all too soft and if life 'inside' was a lot tougher that might be the best deterrent against re-offending.

[Horus]

Its all done to keep them compliant Grandad, because we have gone so soft on criminals that any real punishment is not allowed anymore, chain gangs and breaking rocks for serious offenders and less of locking up people for things like not paying council tax may be a start.

[LovelyLadyLux]

There are some definitions that need to be in place in that there is a difference between between a jail and a prison and there is also a world of difference between how Canada and the USA treat those in correctional facilities.

Here the focus is on rehabilitation (with all sorts of programs to return you to society) while in the USA the focus is on punishment.

Here we almost have 3 levels of correctional facilities - those that are active rehab places where you get day jobs (i.e. fix parks, lay bark mulch on park pathways), those that are jails (relatively easy to cope, short term stays) and then our prisons.

Our prisons aka penitentiary are federal and mostly are located in fairly remote areas. Typically once you're there you're really NOT getting back out. These are the serious serious offenders and IMO many have significant mental deficiencies that preclude their ability to return to society.

The guys who are doing real 'short stay' - well - you really don't want them to become institutionalized so much so they can't return and most of them seem to have levels of substance abuse & mental health issues which caused the criminality. These are the people that IF the proper supports are in place can usually re-integrate (hopefully) into doing something positive with their lives. Maybe not by the standards you and I would see as positive but with support they can maintain housing (probably the most crucial issue), get a small job and remain crime free. This is the group I'm interested in as without getting social support they become the revolving door of being in and out of corrections.

Contrast this with the USA where it honestly unfortunately IS 3 or 4 men per cell with minimal space, minimal yard time, overarching structure (both via the other inmates and via the guards). These guys definitely do not get TV time or really much of anything. The concept of 'hard' time rings really true. There are minimal programs if any, really no supports to deal with substance abuse or mental health issues. Corrections aka jail or prison is pretty grim in the USA.

I think there are lots of stereotypes out there as to what life is like in prison. The one thread everywhere is probably the loss of personal freedom and, I guess, it is the value the individual places on trying to keep it again once it has been taken away along with their abilities to actually put cause and effect into place i.e. if I steal the car what is going to happen to me?

[LovelyLadyLux]

In answer to the question - "Is a prison sentence a real deterrent?" I think that really depends on the person and the value they place on their life.

If you a young person with education, goals and ambition and some how come afoul of the law having to go to prison would affect them to a real extreme. On the other hand if you're from a place where all family and friends routinely go to jail and almost on coming out take pride in having done time I don't think it is much of a deterrent at all. In the later case the hope would be that the person would not acquire more nefarious life skills IN jail/prison.

One thing is certain - once you have a prison or jail sentence linked to your name you will never outlive it and that one happening will pervade your life forever more and will automatically preclude you from a host of professions and employment. Unfortunately young people don't always realize the impact 'going to jail' will have on their lives so it isn't a real deterrent.

[Ruby Slippers]

You explain your subject extremely well, LLL. Over here, there are a few distinctions. Remand centres, (self explanatory) young offenders, prison and Broadmoor! The reason I capitalise Broadmoor is because it's for the criminally insane, and very few detainees are released. In The British prison system, offenders are encouraged to take further education - even degrees, and apart from the loss of freedom, most of them have better lives than a lot of people on the 'outside'!

[LovelyLadyLux]

The focus in Canada is primarily the rehabilitation of those who end up in corrections and we do emphasize "corrections" vs jail. In the USA nobody ever refers to "corrections" and means jail.

Probably our most violent jail is Penetanguishene which is back in eastern Canada (Ontario so the middle of the country) which is also in a more populated urban area so this particular jail is most over-crowded which seems to lead to violence (probably due to a mix of offenders i.e. very violent inmates mixed with inmates who have committed possibly white collar crimes or offended against property etc.)

Of crucial importance re: recidivism is housing. If you get somebody out of prison and can get them into stable housing their chances of staying on the 'straight and narrow' is much higher than if they become homeless which is almost a 100% guarantee they'll re-offend and violence does seem to correlate to the number of offences.

Some of the discussion - if a person offends, charged, guilty and does time this then attaches a label for the rest of their life. How to overcome this stigma? Will there ever be a time in their life that they can then not say they're criminal?

If a drug addict or alcoholic maintains sobriety there can potentially be a time when they can lose the label via leading a clean and sober life - but - a criminal? Any employment even if it is 30 yrs later when you've never stepped out of line will still see you and vet you through the spectrum of criminality. How long before the average person just gives us and says "if society sees me as criminal I'll live up to that expectation?"

What is the impact on a child of having a mom or dad who has gone through the prison system?

Probably way more questions than answers and honestly I am not coming up with any great ground breaking discoveries (although I try)