Reduce Juvenile Recidivism

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Introduction A major concern over the last few decades in the criminal justice system, particularly in corrections, are the high rates of recidivism about 67.5% of inmates released will be rearrested at least once within three years or being released (Gunnison 287; Marbley, 636). Around the 1970s the criminal justice system had a major shift in ideologies when dealing with offenders from a rehabilitative perspective to a punitive view that is also known as the “get tough” movement. The "get tough" movement consisted of harsher sentencing and truth-in-sentencing laws, prevents inmates from being released before serving at least 85% of their sentence. As a result of the get tough movement policy makers passed stricter sentencing laws which …show more content…
(Guy, 15) Programs like boot camp and intense supervision do not reduce recidivism because they are used for the purposes of punishment and focus on deterrence rather than getting to the root of what causes criminal behavior and adjusting the offender’s life in all aspects. (Guy, 16) When punitive mentality is pushed upon community supervision workers it results in them focusing their time on the surveillance aspect of the job instead of the rehabilitative side, which is what ultimately reduces recidivism. (Guy, 16) However,in recent years there are increased efforts to reintroduce rehabilitative programs for offenders. The Urban Institute is starting the Transition from Jail to Community program for offender reentry. The program incorporates all aspects of the criminal justice system working with the offender to work as a team. (Guy, …show more content…
Gunnison and Helfgott found that there was a disconnect between the CCOs and the ex-offenders. The ex-offenders felt that the CCOs did not understand nor did they genuinely care about their needs. On the contrary data on the CCO's perception of ex-offender reintegration needs did not demonstrate any concern nor did they recognize the social distance that the ex-offenders highlighted (Gunnison, 289). In recent data they found that officers did not see a social disconnect or they did, but strongly felt that ex-offenders used this as an excuse for their criminal behavior (Gunnison, 296). This highlights the “get tough” mentality mentioned in Guy's article. There is a wall between the CCOs and the ex-offenders that does not allow CCOs to build rapport with their clients. After feedback from officers the common denominator was that they all fall under the rational choice theory (Gunnison and Helfgott, 295). Gunnison and Helfgott offer a more complete definition of rational choice theory as opposed to the Guys article, stating that rational choice theory also takes into consideration background factors such as personality and environmental influences
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