Until the mid-seventies rehabilitation played a central role in prison policy in the United States. Court sentences often mandated treatment for mental issues that were thought to be the root of the offending behavior. Prisoners were encouraged to learn skills that they could use to reintegrate into society after they were released.
Today, with many politicians taking a “tough on crime” approach, rehabilitation seems to have taken a back seat. Prisons are centers of punishment rather than correction. This has caused the prison population in America to explode. The country has the highest rate of prisoners per capita of any nation in the world.
If you study for a Master’s degree in law enforcement, this is one of the topics you may encounter. Rather than decide whether or not rehabilitation works, you will be equipped with knowledge that will allow you to reason & understand the issues on both sides of the argument. The Master’s of Public Safety from Wilfred’s for example, will teach you how to keep citizens safe from crime, and this includes keeping recidivism rates down. Recidivism is the lapse into criminal activity after incarceration. The course is taught by professionals who have experience in public safety, and they shed light on contemporary issues and social aspects that affect citizens. It includes modules like Intelligence and Analytics in Public Safety, and Research Methods and Statistical Analysis in Public Safety.
A Quick History Of Incarceration And Rehabilitation In The United States
Before we look at arguments for and against prisoner rehabilitation, it is important to have some background.
To understand the modern ideas of rehabilitation we have today we need to go back to the 1800s.
During the Enlightenment (also known as the Age of Reason), philosophy emphasized the importance of individuals. As a result, many European countries eventually abolished torture as a way of dealing with offenders and started the prison system.
However, prisons were miserable places, and even those who committed small offenses found themselves living in terrible conditions. They were harassed by keepers (wardens) and many died of malnutrition and disease. They endured forced labor and isolation, and when they were in the prison yard they were not allowed to talk or even look at one another.
As migrants reached America they established prisons. In 1787, Dr. Benjamin Rush along with others formed the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons. The Quaker-based organization advocated for imprisonment in place of capital and physical punishment.
They thought solitary confinement was the best way to deal with criminals by giving them time to think about their offenses, while the isolation would deter them from re-offending.
Up until 1819 it was routine to confine prisoners to solitary cells at night and then gather them together during the day so that they could be used for forced labor. This was economical because one guard would watch many prisoners as they worked, and few guards were needed at night when they were in their cells.
Growing corruption in the prison system led to the need for reforms. In 1870, the National Prison Association (later, the American Correctional Association) was created. It issued a series of declarations, one being that the prison system should be based on reform rather than punishment.
It also advocated for good conduct to be rewarded and recommended early parole for hard work and good behavior. The association urged that society was responsible for the conditions that led to crime, and insisted that prisoners had the power to change their lives.
Some of these ideas were put to work in the Elmira Reformatory in New York. Inmates who did well in moral and academic subjects earned points and at a certain threshold, these points could be used to attain early release.
By WW1 however, these ideas were no longer practical in most prisons because of a lack of funding as well as a shortage of guards and teaching staff. Rather than being correctional, prisons were once again punitive. Forced prison labor was the source of many goods sold in America and exported abroad.
The Great Depression forced prisons to limit what they could produce with forced labor. Goods from prisons were competing with those produced using cheap labor from the general population, and states were forced to limit what prisoners could put into markets.
Rehabilitation once again came to the fore in the 1930s and peaked in the 1950s. Prisoners were diagnosed to try and determine the cause of the offending behavior, treatments were administered and prisoners were evaluated to determine if they were making progress.
Prisons now incorporated group therapy, behavior modification and counseling as part of their treatment programs.
A spike in crime in the 1960s led to advocates asking for rehabilitation within communities rather than in prisons. Rather than serving a jail sentence, offenders would be mandated to attend educational courses and job training.
Crime continued to increase in America, and by the 1980s there was mounting pressure against rehabilitation as a means of reform. It was argued that the best way to treat offenders was to keep them off the streets for the length of their sentence.
Many states introduced mandatory sentencing and life terms for repeat offenders, as well as the three strikes law. Probation, parole and time off for good behavior were reduced.
Due to the high rate of incarceration of offenders, longer sentences and reduction of parolees, crime figures fell in the early 1990s.
Experts, however, were not able to agree as to the cause of the crime reduction. To some, the answer was higher incarceration rates. Others argued that it was because of new policing strategies including community policing and zero-tolerance of crime.
Has Rehabilitation Worked?
There are still many rehabilitation programs for offenders in the United States. The important thing to note, however, is that for all the types of prison reform programs that have occurred in the last 100 years, none of them seem to have had much effect on recidivism rates, the lapse into criminal activity after incarceration.
Experts have realized that rehabilitation alone doesn’t work and many now advocate for a mix of punishment and rehabilitation.
Why Does Recidivism Matter?
Recidivism rates are an indicator of whether rehabilitation works.
This matters because the United States has the highest number of incarcerated individuals in the world. A 2021 report shows that the country has just over 2 million prisoners. It is followed by China which has 1.7 million prisoners.
A 2002 US Department of Justice report showed that more than 65% of 300,000 prisoners released in 1994 were rearrested within 3 years. Those with the highest rearrest rates were robbers and burglars, GTA (Grand Theft Auto), and those possessing, using or selling illegal weapons. A more recent report shows recidivism rates as high as 83%. The report states that prisoners who attended behavioral therapy did not have a lower rate of re-offending.
A recidivism of 65% is extremely high, especially when compared with other countries. In Norway, for example, where prison sentences are shorter and rehabilitation is the focus of imprisonment, the recidivism rate is around 20%.
What Are Recidivism Rates In Canada?
Since you want to study for a master’s degree in law enforcement in Canada, you may be looking to be employed by the RCMP, and are wondering how this information applies to Canada.
Canada’s recidivism rate, according to the latest reports, is as high as 90% in some regions. Different regions may have different rates and different definitions of recidivism, but that number should be of concern to all law enforcement.
The USA and Canada share some causes of recidivism. In both countries, those who are homeless, are addicted to drugs or suffer mental health problems seem to have the highest probability of recommitting crimes and getting rearrested.
In both countries, there are many programs in place to address these causes. However, while they seem to work to some degree in Canada, they have little effect on re-offending in America.
Several factors are thought to contribute to recidivism in Canada:
- Age — criminal activity peaks in the late teens and early twenties and declines as offenders grow older. The older an offender is, the less likely they are to commit a crime.
- The quality of family and marital relationships also contributes to recidivism. Those with a stable home life tend to offend less.
- The more convictions someone has had in the past, the more likely they are to re-offend.
- Long sentences also seem to contribute to higher recidivism rates. Offenders who have served long sentences are more likely to commit a crime than those who serve short sentences.
- Most convicted offenders have at least one other conviction in their history.
Some research studies into recidivism in Canada had eye-opening results:
- They show that the most effective way to deal with recidivism in young people is to put them through prison and community-based rehabilitation programs and substance abuse clinics.
- Drug rehabilitation programs that are delivered through the prison system in Canada seem to have a high rate of success.
- Offenders that are released into communities that offer support programs are less likely to offend than those who are released into communities where they don’t get any support.
According to Canadian Lawyer, the federal government has launched a framework to address recidivism, improve rehabilitation and increase community safety. They address 5 key areas:
- Housing — 30% of newly-released offenders are homeless within two years. The framework aims to provide transitional housing as released offenders re-integrate into society, and find jobs and a means to support themselves.
- Education — since basic education isn’t enough to support those who need to reintegrate after incarceration, the framework proposes to come up with new ways to address this problem while offenders are in prison.
- Employment — most offenders are not able to find employment or viable employment; they resort to crime to support themselves. The framework proposes to provide prisoners with vocational skills that they can use to get jobs after they are released from prison. Although these programs already exist, they should be expanded to reach more prisoners and provide more vocational skills.
- Health — offenders are at a high risk of health complications immediately after they are released. They are more likely to attend an ER, be hospitalized or die. The federal framework proposes early planning to enable access to medical facilities and doctors after release.
- Support networks — the framework proposes that these networks should be formed when offenders are still in prison so that when they leave, they are not inclined to associate with antisocial peers who may encourage them to re-offend.
Why Study For A Master’s Degree In Law Enforcement In Canada?
Now that you understand the issues around recidivism and how they contribute to crime, a master’s in law enforcement can help you get a law enforcement job where you can address these problems directly.
With a master’s you can move up the career ladder into a management position and you may be involved in drafting policies that address re-offending in your area. As you look at master’s courses, find out if the curriculum addresses offender rehabilitation.
How To Choose The Right Master’s Course
There are several master’s in law enforcement that you can choose from. As you are already a working professional, you may find it easier to do an online course. They are more flexible, so you can study and work at the same time.
Think carefully about the different areas that are covered in the courses you have in mind. Are you interested in working in those areas? If, for example, you do a master’s that covers recidivism, it’s easier to get a job working as a policy or research expert.
Different master’s courses have different requirements, so check these carefully before you enroll. Some require that you attend a certain number of classes in person while others allow you to take all your classes online.
You should also look into whether or not you are required to do some fieldwork or a project to complete your course. These require time and you may need to take leave.
Most importantly, choose a master’s course from an accredited university.
Education Site has additional tips for students. Although they are aimed at first-timers in college, some of them apply to working professionals.
Conclusion
Offender rehabilitation is an issue that plagues law enforcement around the world. Rather than take the attitude “once an offender, always an offender”, many countries, including Canada, are looking for ways to reduce recidivism rates. They are studying the factors that contribute to reoffending and attempting to address them directly.
Programs such as these already exist in Canada, but more needs to be done. You can join those who are helping identify the issues that contribute to re-offending and developing policies to address them by studying for a master’s in law enforcement. It will help you to move into a decision-making role, where you can contribute your ideas and see them implemented.