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Kristie Benning 

Rehabilitation and Early Intervention

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Rehabilitation and Early Intervention

Rehabilitation is and early intervention may be ways to prevent crime. However, it is very difficult to put a number on the amount of crime that one or both of the correctional theories could prevent because the crime never happened. It is easier to look for the number of people who are incarcerated. This has led to rehabilitation and early intervention being difficult to justify. We live in a data driven world where theories that cannot produce data are harder to justify funding. This discussion will look into why rehabilitation and early intervention programs are not more common in correctional policy. This discussion will continue by stating barriers that prevent early intervention from being more widely used. The discussion will also include a Christian Worldview for rehabilitation and early intervention.

Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation is giving the criminal training on how to stop being a criminal. According to the textbook, “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 offender’s life” (Cullen & Johnson, 2017, p. 173). This can work if the offender is willing and wanting to change their ways. If the offender has no remorse or does not see a problem with their behavior, it would be difficult to find success in a rehabilitation program. These programs are expensive to run and require many trained medical professionals in to be properly run. Prisons, even though they are expensive, seem cheaper to the politicians who are making the decisions. Also, making policies that make the politicians looks tough on crime has been one tactic that has helped to gain voters. This does not necessarily help the individual who is stuck in the system and needs the medical care that could be given in a rehabilitation setting.
According to the article To Rehabilitate or Not to Rehabilitate, rehabilitation has been a favored and disfavored part of the correctional policy throughout the years. The article state, “In part, the interest in treatment programs was brought about by research evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of programs and the failure of the deterrence and incapacitation initiatives” (Doris MacKenzie, 2018, p. 1). This means that as political interest to reduce the crime population gains, rehabilitation is once again brought into the focus as a correctional tool. It is a tool that has been used to attempt to reduce the drug population within the prison system. The Bible states that, “James 5:16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (English Standard Version, 2001/2008, James 5:16). Rehabilitation can include confessing of one’s wrong doing and looking towards a way to heal and turn from their drug addiction.

Early Intervention

Early intervention is not more widely used because it is a difficult concept to justify spending money. There is no way to count the crimes that did not happen because a child received early intervention to prevent them from falling into the same criminal path as their parents. The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it” (English Standard Version, 2001/2008, Proverbs 22:6). So, it is important for children to receive guidance while growing up so they can become good adults. However, there are many children that do not receive the care and advice that they need because there may be no local programs or there may be no way for the child to get to these programs. Additionally, it could be that the parents do not want their children to be in these programs because the parents might not understand their importance or may not be able to take the children to the program.
These programs would best exceed as non-profits and/or church initiatives which are further away from the political influence and need to beg politicians for funding. However, this also has its challenges because the programs need to be funded through private donations, which takes time and effort to receive. Overall, the early intervention programs tend to be difficult to maintain. The programs are not impossible but do require dedicated staff members who are passionate about their mission. An example of this is the Pregnancy Center in Severna Park, Maryland. This program helps women who have become pregnant gain confidence and support to raise their child. The program does not stop once the child is born, it also supports and trains the mother on how to care for her new child so the child can be healthy. They can also help the mother with resumes to help get her in a healthier position. This program is run on donations and while it is an extremely needed program, without the donations they could not help who they help. There is a need for similar programs that specialize in all stages of helping children thrive and helping adults.

Conclusion

                Rehabilitation and Early Intervention are excellent resources for the correctional community that are underutilized. Both theories can lead to reducing the crime population but are hard to put a solid number on their impact and are also expensive to run and manage. The easy answer has been to throw the criminal in jail and throw away the key until their sentencing is up. Rehabilitation becomes popular when there is a push to reduce the prison population. Early intervention can help to educate adults and children in ways that they can better themselves after they made a small mistake or before they can start a life of crime. Non-profits and churches can make a big impact in early intervention programs to encourage people and help them grow. Both rehabilitation and early intervention should be considered more often in to help those offenders of smaller crimes or to reduce the amount of drug addicts.
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