Theories Of Prison Resocialization

Words: 1610
Pages: 7
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Mathew Rodriguez
Sociology 1301
Professor Hajicostandi
December 1st 2014

Prisons and Resocialization What is the goal of the Prison system in the United States? It is important to incorporate not just the criminal justice system but also the science of criminology to be able to obtain a clear picture of the entire justice system and to decide if prisons are effective institutions or if they fail in their goal of resocialization. First Criminology is the study of why people commit certain crimes. Criminal Justice is how society responds to crimes that people commit, for example: Prisons, Jails, and Probation. There are two major aspects of opinions which most people contemplate the role of the prison system here in the United States. One …show more content…
The other side to this is how we can help individuals who may have a sociological or psychological hindrance to conform to these guidelines we have established within our society. Thus, essentially establishing programs within the prison system to help these individuals to not recidivate upon release from the criminal justice system. It does not seem that prisons are effective in the view of resocialization. But, to come to this conclusion it is crucial that we understand the different social theories that someone may view to come to this result. When comparing the social conflict theory as compared to the functional theory there is no doubt that depending on which theory you agree with exhibits the fact that a prison will work or not. In explaining the difference in how different theorist view this dilemma it is important to first understand what the functionalist theory is. Functionalism is a broad perspective in sociology which sets out to understand society as a structure with consistent parts. Functionalism addresses society as …show more content…
He defines these two aspects as follows; Intrinsic constraints focus on the offender's internalized norms, conscience, empathy capacity, impulse control, and ability to foresee and be constrained by anticipated consequences of the offense behavior. Extrinsic constraints are focused on punishment and deterrence. A simple conditioning example may be enough to link punishment to be offending behavior. Acklin suggests that, “Sex Offender Treatment is primarily a socialization/education process to the sexual norms of the community and establishment or reiteration of intrinsic limits against offending behavior. Sex offender treatment addresses intrinsic factors associated with re-offending, including self-awareness, establishing of non-illegal means of sexual gratification, and control of disinhibiting factors. A combination of punishment and resocialization/education is most likely to reduce future probability of doing wrong or bad. When the offender has done wrong or bad, it signals that intrinsic constraints have failed (Acklin). When offenders do not have the punishment or resocialization efforts then the probability of recommitting an offense is usually high and the same type of crime that has previously occurred. Acklin suggests that risk mitigation strategies include punishment, threat of punishment, removal of disinhibiting factors, and removal of access to
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