Obstacles That Hamper the Reintegration of Institutionalized Offenders

     Some of the obstacles that hamper the reintegration of institutionalized offenders are their past criminal records. Drug use and violence is common these days among offenders, and the willingness to follow through with treatment is compounded by the lack of motivation itself.  Programs such as half-way housing and drug rehabilitation serves to promote wellness but the lack of motivation among the offender is predominate at times.  Many half-way houses are over booked and lack the staffing to supervise the offender.

     Society itself has difficulty with offenders attempting to reintegrate into society.  Many employers are prejudiced by the fact that the offender has been a person with a past linked with consideration of criminal intent.  Employers lack the education of dealing with a person with a criminal record.  Though there are some programs which support offender’s attempting to reintegrate into society; still the support is limited and money for these programs have been cut in the past.

     Probation and parole lack in the staffing abilities to support the offender in the community as their cases are vast and the officers are few to supervise.  Many county correction facilities do have programs which encourage the offender to reintegrate into society but the downfall is the lack of supervision which seems to go by the way side. It is easier for the offender to stay in jail and serve the time in opposed to reentering society in such away as to not commit the crimes in which he or she is serving time for.

     Community corrections attempt to assist the offender to gain skills and function within the community. Even if a bracelet is worn to alert the officer of the person’s whereabouts still the offender can choose to decompensate into the same old behaviors as before. Work release, education release and furloughs do pose some risk to public safety; as again the supervision to supervise the offender lacks with the less o amount of officers to perform the needed duties.

Relapse of drug use along with past criminal activities resurfaces quickly within the offender’s attempts to reintegrate; as past faces and places pre-dominate the issues of the motivation to achieve the goal of reintegration.

Adaptation strategies and reintegration strategies have in common the same goals to initiate within an offender’s struggles in society.  These programs attempt to serve the community by attempting structure into programming the offender to perform needed tasks to fit into society once again.  Education regarding the structure is a must among the offender.  Programming in itself lacks the staffing to supervise the offender as he or she attempts the services that are offered to him or her within the community.