The factor to be discussed in this review is the length of the sentence and the rehabilitation effects in prisons. The longer lengths of stay complicate the rehabilitation of prisoners in several ways, the first being with overcrowded prisons. First of all the longer sentences do not work as a specific deterrent to crime and cause the overcrowding in prisons that result in fewer rehabilitation programs per inmate Studies have found that the long sentences are not a deterrent after all.
Secondly, overcrowded and prisons, in general, are crime teaching institutions. Criminals with less of a background can increase their craft by spending time with more knowledgeable criminals. This criminogenic factor is further validated by the high recidivism rate. Longer prisons sentences have been found to be only a minor deterrent to incapacitation effect. The rate is about a modest 2 to 4 %. ,
With the longer prisons sentences, there does not appear as a considerable amount of deterrent effect has been found. It certainly makes sense to rethink the longer sentences and the impact that they have on the whole system. Some emphasis has to be put on the public safety issue of having offenders off the streets, but it appears that longer prisons terms just turn out better criminals who make the streets more unstable and unsafe.
The Justice system does need to be overhauled but in a way to measure which rehabilitation methods are actually working. The longer length of stay of prison sentences is not one of the ways to increase rehabilitation in prisons. The overcrowding, lack of programs, and the mix of older criminals with the newer ones offers great pains to any rehabilitation in prisons.
Annotated Bibliography
Cullen, F. T. "Taking Rehabilitation Seriously: Creativity, Science, and the Challenge of Offender Change." Punishment & Society 14.1 (2012): 94-114. Web.
http://www.d.umn.edu/~jmaahs/Correctional%20Assessment/Articles/cullen_bookreview_creativemodel.pdf
Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on rehabilitation programs in correctional facilities at an enormous expense to taxpayers and the offenders, themselves. There is a reform movement in the political arena that does not way the expense to offenders. When considering that prisons are full of young black males it is unfair to take away the lives of these individuals for a long sentence that is not going to help the problem.
Nagin, D. S. (2013). Criminal Deterrence Research at the Outset of the Twenty-First Century. Crime and Justice, 23, 1-42. http://www.soc.umn.edu/~uggen/Nagin_ARE_13.pdf
The deterrence of the length of stay of prison terms is only a modest deterrent. Four high priority area are identified in this article for future research. These are the testing of an integrated model of the experience of punishment, measuring perceptions, theories of criminal opportunities, and estimating the deterrent effect on shorter prison sentences. It is hoped the shorter prison terms will reduce overcrowding and allow the probation departments to monitor the success of the offender in a social setting.
Tonry, M. (2013). Sentencing in America, 1975–2025. Crime and Justice, 42(1), 141-198.
https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/sentencing-in-america19752025(0690b3b8-456f-404c-a427-1a3a6eaa5881).html
America has gone through some changes in sentencing in the last forty years and is expected to produce a sentencing reform initiative before 2025. In the new sentencing recommendations, the tough on crime initiatives will remain in place with an emphasis on restorative sentencing. Indeterminate sentencing is more in line with social science aims in that a prisoner is sentenced according to the best method of rehabilitation for the crime committed. Current sentencing options are like a crazy quilt.
