Correction or Correctional System as it is commonly referred to in other jurisdictions, plays a very critical and indispensable role in the administration of justice. Also loosely referred to as penal system, it encompasses punishment, treatment and supervision of persons convicted of crimes. The term correction was adopted following widespread acknowledgement and understanding of the society aided by various theories from scholars of criminology and penology that sought to establish that individuals do not necessarily commit crimes on their own volition or liking and that their criminal conducts are on most occasions the manifestation or as a consequences of factors beyond their control in play. As a consequence the society developed a view that the best way of dealing with such individuals is not punishing them per se on account of their criminal acts or omissions but in tackling the factors that led to such acts or omissions with a human face that believes every offender, if subjected to such corrective measures, can recover, change and fit back into the society that they would otherwise not deserve to be in.
It is against such background that the Correction Systems and Programs were set up in various states. In the State of California, for instance, there is established, a State Department of Correction and Rehabilitation that has adopted several correction programs including but not limited to: Rehabilitative Program which offers and supports education programs located within the adult institutions. It also includes in-prison, community and re-entry programs. Further, The State of California Correction Department has in place a program, Accountability and Support Framework, which provides support services to the Department including overseeing and superintending data collection and analysis within the corrective programs offered to inmates and paroles. The Re-entry Program offers various programs including: Adult Basic Education which offers the offenders opportunity for high school level education; Career Technical Education which equips the offenders with skills relevant to the job market; Cal ID which facilitates issuance of state identification prior to release; Voluntary Education Program which gives the offenders an opportunity to get college education; and Transition Programs that equip the offenders with skills and competencies key in the job market including job search, job applications, writing resumes, how to conduct successful interviews, career orientation as well as financial literacy. The department also offers Behavioural Therapy Programs that offer evidence-based treatment to address dysfunctional emotions, maladaptive behaviours and better still, cognitive process. This program encompasses drug and substance abuse treatment, criminal thinking therapy and anger management as explained by the State under.
Further, the Department has an elaborate program referred to as Family Relationship or Family Relationship Office that provides support services and overseeing the involvement and participation of the inmates and paroles in the programs selected. The Offender Mentoring Program also offers the inmates and paroles an opportunity to undertake drug and substance abuse counselling and the offenders are selected from various prison facilities and thereafter used as ambassadors or mentors to their colleagues and thus assist in drug and substance treatment throughout the state.
Also established by the State of California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation is the Long Term Offender Pilot Program which offers training on behavioural change to offenders convicted and sentenced to relatively longer jail time. According to the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, the program aims at ensuring total shake off of criminal behaviour by the offenders thus transforming them into people worthy of living amongst others in the society.
In light of the foregoing, therefore, I would have no hesitation in recommending the afore-discussed programs to Clayton for adoption by Centervale considering they put into consideration, the fact that the best way to deal with offenders of crime lies not in condemning them by meting heavy punishments but by adopting a human face that goes to the root cause of the events that led to them getting involved in or committing crimes. These programs focus more on individual restoration and less on retribution. It makes the entire society accountable and responsible, a move which in the long term results in peace and tranquillity. It is also notable that the above discussed programs are tailor-made for offenders of literary every age-from juvenile to those aged one hundred and with the entry requirements being on default mode-one enters a program by virtue of a conviction.
References
Division of Rehabilitative Programs . (2013, November 13). Office of Offender Services: In Prison Programs Unit. Retrieved December 2013, 2013, from State of California: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov./rehabilitation/ofs/in-prison-programs.html
Division of Rehabilitative Programs. (2013, November 4). Office of Offender Services: In Prison Program Unit. Retrieved December 3, 2013, from State of California: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov./rehabilitation/ofs/in-prison-programs.html
Division of Rehabilitative Services. (2013, November 12). Office of Offender Services. Retrieved December 3, 2013, from State of California: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov./rehabilitation/ofs/community_and_reentry_services.html
Herring, J. (2011). Criminal Law. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Weigend, T. (2006). Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure. Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law , 2 (1), 214-227.
