DB4StudentPostAlexHutchison.docx

Alex Hutchison 

Hutchison – Discussion Post 

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Discussion Board Forum 4
            Good evening.  This discussion board forum for Module 6, Liberty University CJUS 703 Advanced Corrections Policy, will outline why, even though the public seems to support early intervention and rehabilitation, but many people are still in prison or being sent that way. The assignment will cover why rehabilitation and early intervention programs are not something that is more common in everyday correctional proceedings. Additionally, this presented will be presented in comparison to a Christian worldview. 

Rehabilitation

             In reviewing Cullen and Jonson’s (2017) work on rehabilitation, the Canadians got in right when they said Americans do not know what they are talking about, that as a country we are cynical about the benefits of treatment and rehabilitation because we are too lazy to read the research.  They are right, there is significant evidence that indicate early treatment interventions work, even more so then punitive based or restorative based programs.  Nearly six decades ago, were the 60’s really that long ago, the American public accepted the general concept of rehabilitation.  This was recognized as a distinction of a modern society.  As noted by Cullen and Jonson (2017), this acceptance separated us from antiquated forms of punishment for deviant, or in some cases suspected deviancy, behavior.  In to discuss rehabilitation, we must first define it.  Cullen and Jonson defined rehabilitation as, “rehabilitation is a planned correctional intervention that targets for change internal and/or social criminogenic factors with the goal of reducing recidivism and, where possible, of improving other aspects of an offenders life” (Cullen & Jonson, 2011b, p.295).  Rehabilitation’s fall from grace is the unintended result of legislative mandates and political influence on judges and other members of the criminal justice judicial system.   The authors note that in to implement rehabilitation, judges and other parties were granted discretionary authority over judicial matters, including sentencing recommendations. Although well intended, discretion was abused, the perception of this abuse follows political ideology.  Conservatives believed that discretion was used too frequently and prevented criminal from being incarcerated and thus endangering society.  Liberal too were unsettled by the use of discretion.  For them, this abuse meant a disproportionate number of minority members were unjustly sentenced to prison. In to combat the inequity, rather perceived or just, liberals advocated for mandatory minimum and minimum sentencing guidelines and authored get tough on crime legislation.  This became a bipartisan effort, notably, President Clinton’s Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.   The 1994 law shaped Democratic Party politics for years to come. Under the leadership of Bill Clinton, Democrats wanted to gain control of crime issues from Republicans, so the two parties began a bidding war to increase penalties for crime, trying to outdo one another. At that time, the 1994 crime bill was a key part of the Democratic strategy to show that it can be tougher-on-crime than Republicans.
            If rehabilitation and treatment programs work, they why does the American judicial system not embrace them? Cullen and Jonson (2017) write that the hesitancy for Americans to fully embrace rehabilitation and treatment based on several factors.  In their opinion, the most salient point is how researches, who they admit are biased, interpret the results of the research.  They categorized these researches as; half-full – researchers who, upon the conclusion of their research will emphasize what works, and will highlight the promise found in programs that do work.  The other side; half-empty – fixate on what does not work, they ultimately conclude that rehabilitation and treatment programs are no better than flipping a coin, a 50/50 chance of success.  They opine that the limited success does not warrant the significant investment and public funding.

Christian Worldview

           
            To begin an analysis of a Christian worldview of rehabilitation and treatment there must first be an acknowledgment, all have sinned, as such we will fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23 ESV).  Knowing that we all have and will sin, God offers a way to redeem ourselves.  God does not claim that this process is painless, God disciplines those who do wrong.  However, God knows that we need his teaching to follow his path.  In Hebrews, the Apostle Paul addresses this very concept through several passages, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”(Hebews 10:26-31 ESV)”.  Paul continues two chapters later and writes, “and have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live” (Hebrews 12:5-11 ESV)”.    God calls for discipline, not punishment.  These concepts are often conflated in modern theories of criminology.  We must understand that discipline is not punishment, it’s similar to the concepts of rehabilitation and treatment, correcting unwanted behavior through strategic guidance.
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