Rehabilitation treatment for inmates of county jails

Abstract

This literature review was conducted to determine the effects of rehabilitation programs on recidivism rates of the incarcerated in Wisconsin jails. Rehabilitation in the county jail is becoming common even though there is a belief that imprisonment should be about punishment, not rehabilitation. The efforts to rehabilitate are primarily undertaken for the benefit of the community, not the inmate. It is in the community's interest that programs should aim to minimize the negative effects of incarceration, maximize the inmate's ability to successfully reintegrate into the community upon release, and provide alternatives to an offending lifestyle. It should be a central goal of imprisonment to ensure that inmates leave correctional facilities with more employability and community living skills than when they were sentenced. If a prisoner only "does time" for a crime, upon release, he or she will have no preparation for re-entering society. Without treatment, counseling, or educational training the chance of recidivism becomes higher. Society holds people accountable for their actions, but allowing inmates to sit in a cell for the duration of their sentence is not productive. However, an inmate may benefit from participating in literacy classes, vocational training, Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA) treatment, anger management classes, and/or domestic violence treatment. Programs should be offered and available to those who need them. Failure to address disabling conditions among inmates may yield higher rates of recidivism for those who are released into the community. Inmates provided the opportunities to improve marketable skills are more able to secure adequate employment and less likely to return to a life of crime