NCJ Number
122278
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 53 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1989) Pages: 31-35
Date Published
1989
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Beginning in the 1940s and 1950s, corrections began to implement a philosophy of rehabilitation, rather than the historic approach of unsuccessfully combining retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation; despite two subsequent decades of intensive therapeutic treatment for offenders, the crime rate increased, prisons became overcrowded, and correctional officials began to question their theories' validity.
Abstract
In 1971, the uprising at the Attica State prison in New York resulted in a public outcry for complete prison reform and led to research efforts studying the effectiveness of various rehabilitative programs. Three years later, a landmark study claimed that, with few exceptions, these programs had no appreciable effect on recidivism. These results initiated a debate within the correctional community over the value of rehabilitation and compulsory rehabilitation. A new approach to corrections emerged in which equal emphasis was given to retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation. The medical model which had supported past programs was rejected: authorities argued that inmates could not be coerced into treatment, and criminality was not an illness. For the first time, the responsibility for rehabilitation was put on the offender to seek out and utilize facility programs. The principles of the free market were applied to rehabilitation; resources and programs would be supplied based on the inmates' demand. Unsuccessful at deterring crime, the free market approach has not punished offenders nor reduced the rate of recidivism. The author argues that society should no longer leave rehabilitation choices in the hands of inmates who are incapable of making responsible life decisions. The failure of society's correctional system stems from its failure to actually provide a balanced approach. The free market approach has eroded the number and variety of rehabilitative programs and removed the incentive to participate by making participation voluntary. The system has placed inordinate emphasis on incapacitation without impacting on offenders' basic attitudes and values. Further, incarceration must be made sufficiently aversive to act as a deterrent to future criminal activity. 5 references.