Recidivism is not solely a response to a lack of rehabilitation on part of the municipality that convicted the repeat offender. There are a plethora of laws, rules, regulations, and codes against crime. Some citizens disregard this reality due to their amoral state of mind, or the obstacles and challenges they face on a daily basis. Then other citizens lack the knowlege to do anything other than what is presented to them, which is crime ... Thus a criminal lyfestyle is cultivated. Which will most likely result in either incarceration and/or death. When an individual finds themselves in prison, their opportunity for personal refinement does not evaporate ... It becomes that person's responsibility to put forth the necessary effort for change. However, there are many elements that are essential in the decision and process of personal rehabilitation.
There are a variety of variables that contribute to someone being convicted and sent to prison. Some people find themselves in prison due to a lack of adequate education. So in their mind, criminal activity is their only option. Also, there is that low percentage of convicts that were products of false accusation. Nonetheless, this does not change the need for change, because obviously there is (or was) someone and/or something that is not (or was not) right within their cipher. Another reason one might be sent to prison is because they have failed to properly plan, and as the saying goes: "If you fail to plan; you plan to fail." When one does not have an objective and a plan in which they intend to achieve said objective, then most likely this person will fail ... Whether the failure is falling short of their goals, or grasping at any floating idea that comes in close proximity. Being a slave to one's lower self, a person can wind up in the confines of a prison house. Urges are more of an emotional decision, desires are pretty much selfish intentions, and appetites are mostly physical manifestations. So it is no surprise that victims of bondage of this aspect of self experience one of the criminal injustice system's plush abodes. Finally, some prisoners were misled by others with vilipending intentions.
Regardless to what decision(s) escorts someone through the threshold of penitentiaries, there is so much to do behind the walls and fences of prison; some good, some bad, some ugly, others special ed. Some of the positive resources available are libraries, schooling, vocations, as well as other mental, spiritual, and physical developing programs. The library obviously has books ... And through these books one can learn so much about not only the world, b.u.t the universe. Should a prisoner want to attain formal education, they can go to school - from Adult Basic Education to college courses. If an academic education is not their forte, there are also vocational training where prisoners can learn trades. As for as those mental, spiritual, and physical enhancing programs, the mental can be stimulated through the thought provoking opporttunities such as "Thinking For a Change", "Brand New", "Oasis", and "Bridging the Gap." To spiritually grow, there are a number of faith based events and programs. Physical empowerment can be attained through one of the many recreational occurrences.
The reasons why an inmate may not take advantage of the rehabilitation resources provided by the administration can vary:
1) PEER PRESSURE - Some people take pride in being criminals and do not want their friends and associates to empower themselves by getting theirs lives together through rehabilitation.
2) EMBARASSMENT OF A LACKING, OR NO, EDUCATION - Due to their poor education, some inmates do not want to be exposed, and refuse help because of this fear of exposure.
3) DEVOTION TO A LYFE OF CRIME - Despite the hardships that come with living a lyfe of crime, such as violence, fear, incarceration, et cetera, there are those that would not choose any other lyfestyle. Hence, rehabilitation is not even an option for them.
4) PREOCCUPIED WITH PRISON POLITICS - The awes of politics inside prison captivates some of these people's mind so strongly that the thought of change does not even have the slightest chance of survival.
5) LACK OF REMORSE - The etymology of the word "penitentiary" is the Latin word "paenitens", which means "penitent." The definition of penitent is:
"Feeling or exhibiting remorse for one's sins or misdeeds." There may just be no cause or reason for remorse in their mind.
Things people do instead of growing and developing while in prison can vary. Thers are those that are (or become) sexual deviants and partake in all kinds of homosexual activities. Others are stuck in their second childhood and play games all day and everyday. These games come in many different forms and fashions: cards, sports, boardgames, dominoes, joking, et cetera. Also, the reality of drug addiction prevents many from evolvinginto someone better than who they currently are.
The solution to this issue of lack of participation in personal rehabilitation are abundant, b.u.t staff plays a major role. Being that the decision to change is a personal one for the prisoner, there needs to be unique approaches. Everyone does not learn the same way. So there should be programs based on this fact alone. Being in prison means one has to interact with staff members that are paid to assist inmates with the issues. However, a lot of these staff members lack the necessary emotional control to be in a position of assistance. Also, many of those staff membersdo not relate to the people they are required to assist. Therefore, there should be training units in place that will teach these employees about the environment, circumstances, and struggles that produce these prisoners. As well as training units that will educate the employees on controlling their emotions, there should also be a measuring system to ensure their ability to control their emotions before hiring, with spontaneous testing throughout their tenture.
Recidivism is a result of many factors, and a prisonernot utilizing their time wisely is the main one. People think that they are put in prison to be penalized, b.u.t if they would simply see it as an opportunity to become superstars, maybe they would use their time in prison to empower themselves. There are many reasons to decide to grow as a person, and it is on eeveryone around these prisoners to encourage this activity among inmates. Directly associated with this ideology is a support system backing prisoners in and out of prison. Indirectly, society needs to do away with the stigma of ex-cons being worthless members of society.