Essay about Recidivism Prison and Ex-offenders - 2347 Words

The Argumentative Research Paper Melissa Walker (an acquaintance of the author) sits within the walls of her concrete cell at Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women (FCCW). Walker is making a contribution to this year’s recidivism rate. She was released from prison in 2008 after serving seven years of confinement. Sadly to say, this year she reoffended by stealing credit card information from her â€Å"Productive Citizenship† instructor. Her new charges are credit card theft, forgery, as well as probation violation. The price for Walker’s reoffending is incarceration until March, 2015. Wayne Luke, a retired probation officer with the Virginia Department of Corrections, says that the difference between successful and non-successful†¦show more content†¦Most importantly the offender learns how to answer any questions in regard to being a convicted felon. The Fast Track Program provides limited services to inmates who are nearing release and have not been able to participate in the Productive Citizenship Program. Both programs provide a list of resources to assist each inmate preparing for release. Other programs offered by DOC are Breaking Barriers, a six week course on overcoming the barriers associated with release, parenting classes, and the opportunity to obtain a GED certificate. There are several employment placement services available for ex-offenders upon release. Goodwill Industries of Richmond offers employment and training programs for ex-offenders and will often offer employment opportunities upon completion (â€Å"Employment and Training†). Boaz and Ruth is a faith-based organization that also assists in job training and employment placement in the Richmond area. The State of Virginia has the Virginia Workforce Center that offers training and employment assistance as well (Virginia. Virginia Employment Commission). The Internal Revenue Service offers incentives to employers to hire ex-offenders by offering a tax credit by submitting tax form 8850. Employers qualify for this tax credit by hiring an ex-offender who has been convicted of a felony under federal and state law and then is hired no more than one yearShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Recidivism On The United States958 Words   |  4 Pagesof recidivism as it relates to communities within the United States. Yet recidivism remains a problem in the US. The focus here is not recidivism itself, but to understand which aspects of case management services may assist in lessening recidivism after an offender’s incarceration. Nationally within three years of release, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested (National Institute of Justice, 2014). In Illinois, over 45 percent of offenders released from prison eachRead MoreEvaluating The Effectiveness Of Maryland s Correctional Education Program1486 Words   |  6 PagesCorrectional Education program, by examining Maryland’s Criminal Justice Reinvestment program. The goal of the reinvestment program is to reinvest freed funds from closing select prisons back into the criminal justice system and use them to improve correctional education and rehabilitation programs. The end goal is to have an ex-offender that is able to provide for themselves without returning back to crime. Studies have shown that those who complete a correctional educational or rehabilitative program areRead MoreCrime And Imprisonment : The Higher Chance Of Recidivism1569 Words   |  7 Pagessentencing, the higher chance of recidivism. â€Å"Based upon the existing evidence, both crime and imprisonment can be simultaneously reduced if policy-makers reconsider their overreliance on severity based policies such as long prison sentences† (Wright, 12).There is an infinite amount of variables contributing to the rate of recidivism.Three extralegal variables are included in the analysis: age, gender, and race/ethnicity. Age, one of the most robust predictors of recidivism, is measured from the offender’sRead MoreRecidivism Is An Important Part1606 Words   |  7 PagesRecidivism is an important part and essentially one of the main problems of the criminal justice system. 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In a study of 404,638 exoffenders in 30 states in 2005. 67.8Read MoreEffects Of Prison Sentence And Reintegration964 Words   |  4 Pages Effects of a Prison Sentence and Reintegration Ex-offenders need help with integration into society, bottom line, they are still part of society. Without proper support ex-offenders risk re-offending which becomes a burden to society as a whole. Providing proper support for housing, education and employment may decrease the rate of re-incarceration. Incorporating ways to include education can avoid re-arrest and re-incarceration after release, ex-offenders can and will experienceRead MoreDiscovering Practices That Reduces Recidivism1362 Words   |  6 PagesDiscovering Practices that Reduces Recidivism Kemisha Reid John Jay College of Criminal Justice Abstract Prisoner reentry has recently returned to policymaking agenda, as the need to remedy the cycle of incarceration is being acknowledge and addressed. With this renewed interest in reentry come federal funds and an effort to rigorously evaluate programs aimed at helping prisoners successfully reintegrate into their communities. This paper examines these initiatives, describing lessons learnedRead MoreBeing Released From Prison : A Positive Outlook On Returning1075 Words   |  5 PagesBeing released from prison can be very hard and often the released do not have much of a positive outlook on returning to their communities and staying out of prison. These ex-offenders often return to an area that is disenfranchised and they themselves have a strong sense of anomie and disconnect. This coupled with the lack of resources, skills, opportunities, family ties, health issues, and the now added stigma of a criminal record often leads them back into the lives they may want to escapeRead More The Effects Of Incarceration On Life After Incarceration1301 Words   |  6 Pagesfirst time in years. Most people generally come home to nothing and have to try to make a life out of it. As an ex-con you face stigma, lack of opportunities and the constant risk of recidivism. Recidivism is the ongoing cycle of incarceration. You continue to be in and out of prison because you cannot successfully re-transition into society. This topic is worth investigating because recidivism is a current problem in the United States and it usually takes place because the justice system fails to prepareRead MoreThe Strain On Taxpayer s Money Essay1429 Words   |  6 PagesBureau of Prisons, on average, it costs 31,286 dollars to house one inmate. Some Maximum-Security prisons cost as much as 60,000 dollars an inmate and goes on to name that the most expensive prison, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, costs approximately 90,000 dollars a year (The Law Dictionary, 2012). While the thought of alleviating the c ost associated with jails and prisons, is an unreachable goal, the goal of lowering the number of recidivist and in turn lowering overcrowding is attainable. Prison programs