NCJ Number
162819
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 59 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1995) Pages: 3-8
Date Published
1995
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This analysis of corrections policies and controversies regarding rehabilitation concludes that the public support for rehabilitation is stronger than political leaders realize and that these leaders should reexamine the results of the recent experiments in crime control and reconsider the value of rehabilitation in corrections.
Abstract
The controversy over rehabilitation usually includes discussions about the assumptions and propositions involved in theoretical issues, as well as controversy over program- oriented issues over the ways in which rehabilitation is designed, implemented, and evaluated. Since the 1960's, critics of correctional treatment have referred to evaluation research reporting on the limitations of rehabilitation programs. However, the main study that supposedly supported the critics' views reported positive outcomes in 48 percent of the programs evaluated, and other research has refuted the negative generalization that nothing works. In addition, the public has consistently supported educational and vocational programs in prisons. Numerous studies demonstrate that most citizens favor rehabilitation, especially educational, vocational, and drug treatment programs. Now that the conservative experiment in crime control over the last decade has failed to live up to its promises, rehabilitation should receive new attention. 45 references