Justice?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
(By Amanda Keene) - After doing research on the amount of money put into the corrections system in the United States, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that expenditures on corrections alone have increased from $9,000,000 in 1982 to $59,000,000 in 2002. Looking at this dramatic increase of expenditures, it is interesting to note that of the 272,111 offenders released from prison in 15 States in 2000, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% re-sentenced to prison for a new crime. Does this make sense that so much money is going into putting offenders in jail when they will just later return after serving their time? Changes need to be made in how offenders are treated and how they are prepared to be reintegrated back into society.
Those who are drug offenders are most times put directly into prison in order to serve their punishment for their crime without the alternative to drug treatment programs. An evaluation that was done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that only six months after drug treatment, 60% of the drug abusers remained drug free, and drug related offenses declined from 28% to 7%. Drug treatment plans do work and cost less that putting a person into prison, yet treatment is not usually given as an alternative.
After an offender of any sort is released from prison, he or she many times does not effectively re-integrate back into society. An offender may be denied work because employers do not want to hire a person with a criminal record. General education within prisons can vary from quality education to no education at all. The percentage of state prisoners who are participating in offered educational courses decreased by more than 8% between 1991 and 1997 because funding for the courses ceased. This happened despite the fact that there is growing evidence of how educational programming reduces recidivism. This lack of education leaves ex-offenders without basic skills that are needed for job employment. Without employment, ex-offenders are many times faced with poverty since they do not have income coming in to provide for themselves and/or their families. This all results in something I like to call a vicious cycle.
One year ago, the Second Chance Act of 2007 was enacted. This is great because it provides the following:
1. The establishment of new and innovative programs to improve offender reentry services
2. Drug treatment programs as an alternative to imprisonment
3. Creation of mentoring and other transitional services for reintegrating offenders into the community
4. Reentry research on juvenile and adult offender reentry
This is a big step, but more can be done. We need to take more of a look at how to give ex-offenders basic life skills that can be useful to them in their reentry into society. I’m writing about this specific topic because I work with many men who are struggling with these issues after coming out of prison. They were released from prison but were never taught how to deal with their substance abuse issues, so they go right back into the destructive habits. They can’t hold a job, which means that they don’t have income, which means that they can’t afford housing, which eventually results in homelessness.
What can we do? Pray would be the most obvious. Pray for these men and women, the organizations who provide services for them, and the government. Praise God for the work that He is doing already, and pray that He would continue to bring to the minds of those with influence the things that need to be changed within the prison system and community. Also, if you are interested in following different bills and acts being talked about in Congress and the House of Representatives, you can go to the following website: http://thomas.loc.gov/. You can type in key words such as “prison”, “recidivism”, or “reentry,” and you will see a list of different pieces of legislation that are still in the process of being passed, as well as legislation that has already been passed on this issue. You can look up other issues as well, and know that you have a voice. You can write to your legislators and government officials about different social injustices that you are passionate about seeing changed. Look up pieces of legislation on the topics you are passionate about and urge officials to pass bills or acts that will bring justice. All it takes is some time, and I know you all have time….just get off Facebook for 10 minutes! So I challenge you to make a difference and actually take some action! Don’t just sit around and wait for someone else to do the work, because then it will never get done.
“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” –Micah 6:8
Posted By: bukiewicz at 5:27 PM : Link : 0 Comments
