Rehabilitation as Social Control - a Review of Existing Research and Data
Poster Number
35
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Dr. Jennifer Medel
Faculty Mentor Department
Sociology
Abstract/Artist Statement
Rehabilitation programs in the post-Second Chance Pell Grant time comes in greater variation in the United States Prison system than ever before, but they all generally share the same goals: to prepare inmates for re-entry into their communities and society at-large, and as deterrence for recidivism. Despite the fact that many studies on rehabilitation programs suggest positive effects, existing studies on recidivism and participation in rehabilitation must be approached with the understanding that critical amounts of data are missing or inaccessible for public policy and/or privacy concerns. This does not mean that no conclusions of any kind can be drawn from the data, nor does it mean that existing data is not in favor of rehabilitation. In fact, most research done on rehabilitation programs and their effects strongly suggest that there are significant positive effects for both the individual participating and their communities on release. In order to further study rehabilitation and its general effects on prison populations, we first review existing literature surrounding rehabilitation programs. Next, we move into a statistical review of open source data from the Bureau of Prisons to look more closely at the relationship between the availability of rehabilitation programs and in-prison conduct as a measure of the efficacy of these programs. In our findings from both the qualitative and quantitative reviews, we find evidence that suggests access to college education, and possibly other types of rehabilitation in the prison system, may currently be used against incarcerated people as a form of social control. Further research and testing is needed, both to prove the positive benefits of rehabilitation programming, as well as our hypothesis of access to rehabilitation programming as social control. Limitations and implications are also discussed.
Location
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Start Date
29-4-2023 10:00 AM
End Date
29-4-2023 1:00 PM
Rehabilitation as Social Control - a Review of Existing Research and Data
Information Commons, William Knox Holt Memorial Library and Learning Center
Rehabilitation programs in the post-Second Chance Pell Grant time comes in greater variation in the United States Prison system than ever before, but they all generally share the same goals: to prepare inmates for re-entry into their communities and society at-large, and as deterrence for recidivism. Despite the fact that many studies on rehabilitation programs suggest positive effects, existing studies on recidivism and participation in rehabilitation must be approached with the understanding that critical amounts of data are missing or inaccessible for public policy and/or privacy concerns. This does not mean that no conclusions of any kind can be drawn from the data, nor does it mean that existing data is not in favor of rehabilitation. In fact, most research done on rehabilitation programs and their effects strongly suggest that there are significant positive effects for both the individual participating and their communities on release. In order to further study rehabilitation and its general effects on prison populations, we first review existing literature surrounding rehabilitation programs. Next, we move into a statistical review of open source data from the Bureau of Prisons to look more closely at the relationship between the availability of rehabilitation programs and in-prison conduct as a measure of the efficacy of these programs. In our findings from both the qualitative and quantitative reviews, we find evidence that suggests access to college education, and possibly other types of rehabilitation in the prison system, may currently be used against incarcerated people as a form of social control. Further research and testing is needed, both to prove the positive benefits of rehabilitation programming, as well as our hypothesis of access to rehabilitation programming as social control. Limitations and implications are also discussed.