NCJ Number
56724
Date Published
1977
Length
6 pages
Annotation
BARRIERS TO REHABILITATION IN A PRISON SETTING ARE IDENTIFIED AND DISCUSSED, AND A STRATEGY FOR IMPROVED REHABILITATION IS PROPOSED.
Abstract
A PRINCIPAL BARRIER TO REHABILITATION IS UNCERTAINTY, EVEN IN THOSE ADMINISTERING THE PROGRAM, ABOUT STANDARDS FOR SUCCESS AND HOW IT CAN BE DETERMINED WHEN INDIVIDUALS HAVE ATTAINED THOSE STANDARDS. MOST OFTEN, MIDDLE-CLASS VALUES SUCH AS SETTING LONG-RANGE GOALS AND EXERCISING THE DISCIPLINE REQUIRED TO REACH THEM PERVADE SUCCESS STANDARDS FOR PRISON REHABILITATION PROGRAMS. WHILE THE REHABILITATION PROGRAMS OPERATING IN MOST PRISONS ARE ORIENTED TOWARD MIDDLE-CLASS VALUES, THE VAST MAJORITY OF INMATES COME FROM THE LOWER CLASS, WHERE IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION IS THE BEHAVIORAL MODEL, AND THE DISCIPLINE AND GOAL-SETTING REQUIRED FOR THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS AND VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ARE NOT CULTIVATED BEHAVIORS. ALTHOUGH THE ACQUISITION AND APPLICATION OF CERTAIN MIDDLE-CLASS VALUES MAY BE REQUIRED TO GAIN MATERIAL AND STATUS REWARDS IN NORMATIVE SOCIETY, STRONG MOTIVATION AND EFFECTIVE EXAMPLES ARE REQUIRED FOR PERSONS CONDITIONED BY THE LOWER CLASS SUBCULTURE TO CHANGE THEIR WAYS. THE PROBABILITY OF THIS MOTIVATION AND EXAMPLE OCCURRING IN A PRISON CONTEXT IS REDUCED BOTH BY INTERACTION WITH INMATE PEERS AND CORRECTIONAL PERSONNEL. OTHER INMATES TEND TO REINFORCE EXISTING BEHAVIOR, WHILE CORRECTIONAL GUARDS, TENDING TO BE UNEDUCATED, UNDERPAID, AND DISPOSED TOWARD THE 'BULLYING' OF INMATES ARE POOR EXAMPLES OF MIDDLE-CLASS VALUES. IF REHABILITATION IS TO BE EFFECTIVE IN PRISONS, INMATES MUST BE CHANNELED INTO PROGRAMS TOWARD WHICH THEY ARE MOTIVATED, AND HAVE THE CONSTANT SUPPORT OF A QUALIFIED STAFF TO COUNTERACT PRISON INFLUENCES THAT TEND TO UNDERMINE REHABILITATION GOALS. (RCB)