Persuasive Speech: Rehab Programs

“In a prison the awe of public eye is lost, and the power of the law is spent, there are few fears, there are no blushes. The lewd inflame the lewd, the audacious harden the audacious,” Samuel Johnson wrote these words in The Idler. In prison there’s no worry about what your neighbor might think of you or any embarrassment. You’re no longer under the same restrictions of the law. The reckless; the fearless influence the unrestrained. The behavior of prisoners and the concept of being isolated from society is what cause inmates to find themselves back in prison. In my speech I will persuade you that more programs are needed to rehabilitate released prisoners and what programs would be effective.
The recidivism rate of prisons in our country, which is the repeated or habitual relapse into crime, is more than half of those that stay released. According to a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “67 % of prisoners released in 1994 were rearrested within 3 years.” 74% over property, 67 over drugs, 62 % were public-order and violent offenders. What is the cause of these numbers? Imprisonment affects the well being of the prisoner. They become prisonized. In an article on uplink.com, “Prisons do more harm than good,” “Prisoners are faced with incidence of violence. And they are concerned for their safety”. They have to withstand the shock of entering prison, adapt to that way of life, their exposed to a different culture, then keeping contact with family becomes frustrating, they have endless free time to fill, and they lose their ability to make their own decisions. They’re told what to eat and when, what, where, and when to play and sleep. Lock-ups and isolation used for punishment are dehumanizing. Prisoners are reduced to nothing as they live with bear subsidence.
Now, you might be thinking who cares, they disserve to be there; they committed a crime? Well, for one thing we’re all human that make mistakes, some fewer and less severe than others. But their prison time affects us, too. As you probably already know, prisons take our money, or at least it will if you’re not currently working. More importantly, it puts us in fear of criminals and the prison-looking. So, what could be done about these high numbers since they did commit a crime or crimes? There are a few options that I think will work. First, I will discuss what kind of programs could be effective then I’ll explain what programs are already in place and what their doing.
The first thing, provide rehabilitation programs for each inmate leaving prison or jail to fit his or her needs. They will reshape how they live and show them how to re-enter society. This might include group homes, counseling on a regular basis, and employment assistance. Second, the judges could chose to put drug offenders through a drug rehab to replace prison time, with routine drug tests and lifestyle monitoring. This will not only help the drug abusers it will help the overcrowding of jails and help the recidivism rate even further. Next, correctional facilities should have education opportunities with the government requiring each inmate to attend. It will help pass time and when they are released their educated and not inadequate. And finally, the government should research more ethical ways to punish criminals; still keeping justice and integrity.
Are these just far fetched only-if ambitions? No, there are some programs already in place that show successful results. The Interchange Freedom Imitative that’s voluntary and holistic based. On IFI.org this program begins 18 months before the inmates release and continues for 12 months of mentoring. It’s volunteer and they must meet several criteria before their accepted. It operates in 50 states throughout Brazil with a recidivism rate of less than 5 %. Others are Ready4Work, Woman’s Re-entry Initiative, and Youth Violence Reduction. A few programs to help drug abusers are the Second Chance Program and Teen Challenge. The Second Chance Program uses six modules from drug withdrawal to job training. According to penalrehab.org, “Those who have completed the first month of the program before release, the normal recidivism rate of 70% dropped to less than 10 %”. And Teen Challenge has a 67% success rate. According to teenchallengeusa.org they admit adults and children to an effective and comprehensive faith-based solution to drug and alcohol addiction. Then the education programs already implemented on educateupdate.com say college prison programs nurture self-esteem and provide rehabilitative projects. The response to these projects is enthusiasm from inmates and the recidivism rate is 20-60% lower than non-participants. And finally, psychologists understand the effects of imprisonment and treat criminals with that in mind.
In conclusion, are rehabilitation programs effective? Yes, but I’m sure it depends on the criminal. We should have them because it allows inmates to re-enter society with support and an opportunity at a second chance. What could we do to help lower the recidivism rate of criminals? Well, we could vote for rehabilitation initiatives written by the government or even volunteer at you local city mission with these programs already in use. I’ll leave you with these words by Henrey Feilding, “Houses of correction, whatever the houses were designed to be or whatever they at first were, the fact is that they are at present…no other then schools of vice, seminars of idleness, and common bearers of nastiness and disease”.