Rehabilitation is one of the top concerns a lot of viewers may have when it comes to the criminal justice system. In my previous criminal justice courses, this was always a concern because of the fact of mental health is not thoroughly discussed in today’s society. We all know that mental health is important, therefore when it comes to the care of inmates in prisons and jails, their mental health still matters too if they are suffering from underlying disorders that we are unaware of.
When it comes to discussing the topic of rehabilitation in the criminal justice system, there have been a list of factors as to why offenders end up in jails or prisons to begin with. In order to give any sort of rehabilitation to offenders, it’s by first seeing where the root of the problem initially is. “The first commonly identified theme was staff participants perception that trauma is a significant risk factor for women entering the criminal justice system” (Belknap, Lynch and DeHart, 2016). To also add, another factor that has been found in previous studies, concluding “many women in hail are from families with multiple generations of criminal offending and incarceration” (Belknap, Lynch and DeHart, 2016). This can also come from a lack of education background, the environment they grew up in as a child, any early on violence they experienced as a child, etc. There has been a lot of challenges that women are faced with when they are in these environments, as they are already harsh to be in to begin with.
In order to have proper rehabilitation services for all inmates, whether male or female, the jail management and how they run everything is a concern. This is by having staff who truly care and want to help individuals be reconnected with society, but also the fact of possibly separating those who have committed violent crimes, away from the ones who did not commit as such serious crimes in order to slim it down to focus on the ones who may need help. By slimming these groups down, they may be able to pull those who are easily triggered by certain things, thoughts, actions, etc. away in order to give them the help they need. However, a negative factor could be the funds and the amount of workers in order to have this go into effect. “the next common theme to emerge from the staff interviews was the idea that offenders; experiences of trauma, SMI, and offending are complicated and result in complex treatment needs and challenging behavioral situations to manage” (Belknap, Lynch and DeHart, 2016).
In conclusion, “several staff members observed that women in jail are far more likely and willing to want to talk about their problems, including traumas and SMI, than their male counterparts” while also including “most of these reports identified jailed women as being ore relational and more open than jailed men, and most of the staff reported this gender difference as one that made it easier to identify and treat women’s needs relative to the men in jail” (Belknap, Lynch and DeHart, 2016). Not only that, but once women are approved for rehabilitation services and are released back into society, there is a lack of housing and other resources along with support that becomes limited. “Women need access to information about where they can go and what options they have. They may not have access to internet or libraries. Women would benefit from reentry programs to help them get into shelters, get medication and drug treatment before they leave” (Belknap, Lynch and DeHart, 2016).
Reference:
Belknap, J., Lynch, S., & DeHart, D. (2016). Jail Staff Members’ Views on Jailed Women’s Mental Health, Trauma, Offending, Rehabilitation, and Reentry. The Prison Journal, 96(1), 79–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885515605485