Rodriguez 1

Noelia Rodriguez

Professor Moore

English 1302-01

31 March 2017

Recidivism

Just like in the rest of the United States, Houston has been struggling to keep the

recidivism rate down. However, the problem is not always ex-offenders wanting to commit the

crimes to get put in jail again. Some ex-offenders want to get their lives straight. But, ex-

offenders are faced with many challenges when they are released. Although, many prisons have

put in place programs to help with the challenges ex-offenders face upon reentry into society and

to help keep the recidivism rate down. Not all programs can address the problems that ex-

offenders encounter. Many factors contribute to the problem of recidivism, and these factors

begin in dealing with the core needs of an ex-offender, and that includes, finding family,

obtaining shelter, earning income, continuing health treatments, criminal justice obedience, and

peer support.

On occasion, some inmates while in prison lose touch with their families. Family contact

is a vital aspect for the ex-offender to be able to succeed in society. In fact, the family can

provide temporary shelter, income, transportation to see probation officers, peer groups or a

counselor until he/she can be stable and self-sufficient. Consequently, not all inmates are able to

keep contact. Sam Gustin of Time stated, For over a decade, many prison inmates in both state

and federal facilities have paid significantly higher rates to make interstate phone calls than

people outside of correctional facilities. According to the FCC, some prison inmates have had to

pay as much as $17 for a 15-minute phone call. They also have the option of writing a letter but
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again if the inmate has contact with someone that can put money in their prison account their

books so they can buy a pencil, paper, envelope, and stamp, which can be difficult if the family

of the inmate is living in poverty themselves. Thus, the absence of money makes it hard for

poverty stricken families to accept calls from their loved one in jail or even a letter. In the end,

inmates have a difficult time finding and keeping in touch with their families.

If the ex-offender can not find a friend or family member to stay with after being released

from jail, then they turn to the streets and become homeless. In which, makes it easy to fall back

into their old habits of defiance of the law. Stated by Robert Stanton in the Houston Chronicle,

Hud: Ex-inmates need help to stay off streets in Houston. But youre not used to the

mosquitoes, the bugs and snakes, so suddenly the Harris County Jail is a viable optiona short-

term lease, youll be accommodated in an air-conditioned jail for months or maybe a year and a

half (qtd. in Stanton). Prisons have a list of homes for the homeless and halfway houses that

they provide the inmates when released. But, both types of homes are overbooked and far from

the prison. In that sense, if the programs that the prisons have could provide a bus pass or taxi

vouchers and motel vouchers, then perhaps the recidivism and homeless rate can drop.

Being unemployed can be demeaning and hinder an individual's self-esteem but being

unemployed and with a criminal record has to be even more belittling to an ex-inmates self-

esteem. Many employers will not even consider looking at an ex-offenders application if they

become informed that they spent time in jail regardless of the offense. The rejection could be due

to the stigma that comes with the title of ex-offender. Even though some states do provide

programs that help inmates gain a skill while in jail, and other programs help with finding a job

upon release, there is still the chance that the freed individual will return to the streets and repeat

the wrongdoing. Samuel L. Myers, Jr. from The University of Pittsburgh, stated, There is an
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emerging consensus that employment programs for ex-offenders do not work. He argues that

there is little evidence that such programs have had a consistent and substantial impact on

employment or recidivism. However, there is some optimism in his report, because he later

states that they have helped some ex-offenders. On the other hand, the success depends on the

individual's crime that that person committed, and time served. For example, if he/she was a

person that has had a good work history, and was a law abiding citizen that made a mistake of

trying a drug with friends and got pulled over, and the officer arrests him/her for possession of a

controlled substance, and this is their first offense, and only served a year in prison for the drug-

related offense. Perhaps then, the ex-inmate could recover and have a successful outcome. But, if

they are a career criminal, their chances of success are slim. In either case, employment services

for ex-offenders are a dire need, even if they only successfully help a few.

It is easy for a person in the penitentiary to see a doctor, nurse, or mental health

professional because they are all there at the prisoner's disposal. By way of contrast, when

prisoners are released they are not always able to continue receiving medical treatments. Prisons

do offer programs that will provide mental health services. But, the facilities that provide these

services are often too far and overbooked. Thus, ex-inmates find it extremely difficult to

continue drug treatment and often results in relapse. These programs are state funded, and their

funding is limited. In an investigation done by Jason Schnittker, Christopher Uggen, Sarah K.S.

Shannon, and Suzy Maves McElrath from the University of Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and

Georgia mention that their analyses established an intersection between systems of care and

corrections, linked by inadequate financial and mechanisms for delivering services to former

inmates. Unfortunately, ex-inmates do not have means of obtaining accessible healthcare.

Subsequently leading to drug relapse, in which can lead to recidivism.

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The goal is for the ex-inmate not to make the same immoral choices and to abide by the

laws. Matt Ferner of The Huffington Post states, It also could be because the programs are

focused on punishment, deterrence, or control or dont do enough to change the individuals

thought process during the program course work Criminals are used to not following the rules

and doing precisely what they want to do. Especially if they returned to the environment or

situation, they lived in before getting put in jail. That is mainly because the temptations are there

and so easy to go back to or access. Teaching an ex-inmate to change the way they think is

something entirely challenging to do. Mark Walker of USA Today Stated that A lot of guys dont

have a lot of hope. They are scared. They dont have anybody to help them. They feel stuck,

When people get stressed, they go back to doing what they were doing that got them in trouble in

the first place. Fear could be stressful, and the individual's lack of will to change can be

stressful too if only scientists could create a pill to alter the criminals thought prosses. Then

perhaps we could discover a solution to the recidivism problem in the United States or even

nationwide.

Another cause of recidivism is the lack of peer support. In smaller rural areas there might

only be one, like The Golf Coast Center in Alvin, TX, where there is only that one facility that

offers to counsel but does not provide group counseling. The ex-inmate also needs to be willing

to open up to strangers when he/she does find a center that provides these services. In the

Success in the Community Matrix peer support is listed under the survival row and

Social/Civic connections collum along with other forms of receiving that essential peer support.

The interactions and experience that the ex-inmate gains from social/civic connections can be

beneficial to the overall psyche of the ex-offender. Commonsense human exchange that is good

for all parties involved (Ferner). Particularly, regaining the hope in humanity. Becuase, ex-
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offenders that have been newly released can perhaps find it difficult to trust others or even find it

humiliating to share that they committed a crime and now found themselves in a position to try

to gain someone else's confidence in them.

The problem with address recidivism is that not all inmates take advantage of the services

provided by the prison programs. It also depends on if state government will continue funding

these programs. And, it also includes the persons willingness to go outside of their comfort zone

to seek the support from the community that they need for that transition. Because A persons

successful re-entry into society can be viewed through how adequately they are able to meet six

basic life needs: livelihood, residence, family, health, criminal justice compliance, and social

connections. Those needs manifest differently, depending on the phase an inmate is in when

theyre released (Ferner).

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Works Cited

Ferner, Matt. These Programs Are Helping Prisoners Live Again on The Outside. The

Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 9 Sept. 2015,

www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/if-we-want-fewer-prisoners-we-need-more-compassion-

when-they-re-enter-society_us_55ad61a5e4b0caf721b39cd1. Accessed 2 Mar. 2017.

Gustin, Sam. "Prison Inmate Phone Call Reform." Time. Time, 12 Feb. 2014. Accessed 01 Mar.

2017.

Myers Jr., Samuel L. "Racial Differences in Post-Prison Employment." Social Science Quarterly

(University of Texas Press), vol. 64, no. 3, Sept. 1983, pp. 655-669.

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=16683228&site=ehost-

live. Accessed 2 Mar 2017.

Schnittker, Jason, et al. "The Institutional Effects of Incarceration: Spillovers from Criminal

Justice to Health Care." Milbank Quarterly, vol. 93, no. 3, Sept. 2015, pp. 516-560.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/1468-0009.12136. Accessed 01 Mar. 2017.

Stanton, Robert. "HUD: Ex-inmates Need Help to Stay off Streets in Houston." Houston

Chronicle. N.p., 19 July 2011. Accessed 01 Mar. 2017.

Walker, Mark (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader. Finding a Home after Prison Tough for

Released Felons. USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 28 Feb. 2015,

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/28/another-barrier-prison-finding-

home/24197429/. Accessed 2 Mar. 2017.