Explain the issue you will address in your brief and how it is an intervention in a policy discussion

For my brief I will address the issue of reducing recidivism through re-entry programs.  As the US has one of the highest incarceration rates, discussion on how to reduce this has become a more prevalent topic.  As many as 68% of released inmate are arrested again within three years, and the percentage increases to 83% after nine years (Bureau of Justic). Many of the rehabilitation or re-entry programs prisons have implemented have had positive results.  If these programs can help reduce recidivism, then it makes sense to discuss how to more widely implement these programs, as it would decrease incarceration rates as well.  My brief will be an intervention because it will take the information and studies done within this topic and suggest a possible solution or course of action to take.  Furthermore it will take into consideration various arguments about this topic and look for a solution that may be widely agreed upon.

Discuss how you will address the exigence and the rhetorical situation to open your issue brief and the audiences for your issue brief

I will probably open my issue brief by discussing specific examples of how this topic is important to us right now, and by giving statistics of what the current system looks like.  For example, I may use the statistics I wrote about above as it would make it clear a way to reduce incarceration rates would be to simply reduce recidivism rates.

Identify the “cause” of the issue you are addressing in your brief,  selected from one of the four categories of causes from the “Causes” reading (intentional, inadvertent, mechanical, accidental).

This issue would probably fall under mechanical causes, as the process of inmates going to prison, being released, and ending up back in prison usually follows a pattern and set system.  While this system of justice works generally well in keeping people safe, it tends to not do anything for the prisoners, when it is possible that there may be less crime if prisoners were helped instead of just sent through the system.

Write about which of the four kinds of policy instruments (or combinations) named in the “Making Policy” reading you are likely to use in crafting your policy for your issue brief

I think my issue brief will most likely use the “system changes” policy instrument as adding programs into the existing system would be changing the system.  However, this may also involve “capacity builders” and “inducements” depending on what the new program looks like.

 

Sources:

https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=6266