NCJ Number
89488
Journal
Journal of Offender Counseling Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: (April 1983) Pages: 34-39
Date Published
1983
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The proposed intervention model for inmates' families uses a team approach (correctional counselor, social worker, and volunteers) for helping families at the stages of pretrial, trial, incarceration, and returning home.
Abstract
A community center is one of the service outlets in a local community that can be used as a resource for offenders' families. The community center should include on its staff a counselor with a master's degree in counseling who is familiar with the criminal justice system. The counselor can help the family deal with feelings occasioned by separation from the family member incarcerated as well as teach family members the skills to cope with associated problems. The social worker is aware of community resources and can guide the family toward the appropriate social agencies. Volunteers can be trained to provide support and guidance that supplements the work of the professionals on the team. During the pretrial period, the counselor works with the spouse and children, and the social worker links the family with various social agencies, while the volunteer provides emotional support. During the trial, the volunteer should sit with the family, being prepared to provide emotional support particularly at sentencing. Counseling and referral help should be particularly intense immediately after sentencing. During the incarceration period, the counselor should meet with the family regularly, and the social worker and volunteer should help the family deal with the practical problems of adjustment and survival. Within 6 months of release, the correctional counselor should begin counseling sessions with the offender, including the spouse and the total family in the months just prior to release. The work of the team should continue after the offender returns home to help deal with the adjustment problems involved. Seven references are provided.