Rehabilitation Theory———831

R-Bosworth.qxd 11/16/2004 2:45 PM Page 831 Rehabilitation Theory———831 Further Reading Jacksonian era of the late 19th century. Reformers Architectural Barriers Act of August 12, 1968 as Amended hoped that felons would be “kept in solitude, through 1978. 36 CFR Part 1192. reflecting penitently on their sins in order that they Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1978. Public Law 100-259; might cleanse and transform themselves” (Irwin, 102 Stat. 28. 1980, p. 2). Initially, under the Pennsylvania Kraus, L. E., & Stoddard, S. (1989). Chartbook on disability in system, it was believed that solitary confinement, the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. National accompanied by silent contemplation and Bible Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as Amended through 1978, study, was a means to redemption. This approach Sections 502, 506, and 507. was later transformed in the Auburn system into one The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Briefing Guide, Section 504 of discipline and labor, also performed in silence. Regulation Briefing Guide. (1979). Washington, DC: Through hard work and a strict disciplinary regime, Department of HEW, Office for Civil Rights. prisoners were meant to meditate over why they Tucker, B. P. (1988). Deaf prison inmates: Time to be heard. chose a criminal path in order to amend their ways. Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, 22(1), 1–71. Veneziano, L., Veneziano, C., & Tribolet, C. (1987). The spe- Disciplinary infractions were met with corporal cial needs of prisons inmates with handicaps: An assess- punishments. At this time, prisoners were responsi- ment. Journal of Offender Counseling, Services and ble for their own rehabilitation, since the causes of Rehabilitation, 12(1), 61–73. crime were thought to result from individuals’ inability to lead orderly and God-fearing lives. Legal Case In the latter part of the 19th century, the peniten- tiary gave way to the reformatory, which attempted Grove City College v. Bell 465 U.S. 555 (1984) to rehabilitate offenders through educational and vocational training, in conjunction with quasi- REHABILITATION THEORY military regimes. Reformatories introduced a system of classification of prisoners that allowed for Rehabilitation has long been a contentious topic their individualized treatment. Prisoners progressed in the fields of both criminology and penology. through graded stages contingent on their conduct The term “rehabilitation” itself simply means the and performance in programs. They could even process of helping a person to readapt to society or work toward early release. Reformatories, although to restore someone to a former position or rank. developed around the concept of rehabilitation, However, this concept has taken on many different continued to advocate physical punishment for meanings over the years and waxed and waned in nonconformity and later regressed to more punitive popularity as a principle of sentencing or justifica- regimens consistent with the reemergence of retri- tion for punishment. The means used to achieve bution at that time. reform in prisons have also varied over time, begin- ning with silence, isolation, labor, and punishment, MEDICAL MODEL then moving onto medically based interventions including drugs and psychosurgery. More recently, The medical model of intervention as a form of educational, vocational, and psychologically based rehabilitation emerged at the turn of the century in programs, as well as specialized services for spe- response to the perceived ineffectiveness of early cific problems, have typically been put forward as means of reform that used labor and physical means to reform prisoners during their sentence. punishments to change people’s behavior. New “scientific” disciplines like psychiatry, psychol- ogy, and criminology proposed that the causes of HISTORY crime and deviance could be linked to biological, Ideas of rehabilitation through punishment were physiological, or psychological defects of the indi- first embodied in the penitentiaries, built during the vidual. Criminals were viewed as products of R-Bosworth.qxd 11/16/2004 2:45 PM Page 832 832———Rehabilitation Theory socioeconomic or psychological forces beyond Even though Martinson himself later retracted his their control. In turn, crime was seen to be a “sick- earlier conclusions regarding rehabilitation pro- ness,” and the object of corrections then was to grams, and his original essay was found to have seri- “cure” the offender. The emergent Federal Bureau ous methodological flaws, the academic community of Prisons in the 1930s endorsed the medical and both the political left and right embraced his model in its approach to rehabilitation, thus legit- message at that time. His message was attractive to imizing its use in corrections. It was during that liberals since it could be used to argue against the use time that the classification of prisoners became of imprisonment and to abolish indeterminate sen- more refined, and the medical model provided tencing. For conservatives, rehabilitation programs what was then considered a “state of the art” clin- were thought to “coddle” criminals, since they ical orientation to the diagnosis and treatment of allowed for early release. For them, Martinson’s offenders (Welch, 1996, p. 75). argument permitted the introduction of harsher The medical model led to the introduction of regimes of punishment. Finally, an emerging social therapeutic personnel, such as psychiatrists, psy- science also played a large role in vilifying rehabili- chologists, and clinical social workers, into prison tation, since researchers found that prisoners who settings. While this model initially appeared to “participated in a wide range of rehabilitation pro- be more humane than previous penal practices, this grams were rearrested at the same rate as those who was not always the case. Instead, extraordinarily did not” (Irwin & Austin, 1997, p. 64). invasive and even illegal procedures took place in many correctional institutions, including psychosurgery, electroconvulsive therapy, and surgical POST-MARTINSON ERA and chemical castration, all in the name of rehabilitation. Other forms of treatment included various Penal policy in the United States, following “talk” therapies such as psychotherapy and psycho- Martinson, no longer sought to rehabilitate prison- analysis. Given that the nature of many of these ers. Thus, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Misretta v. interventions was open-ended, prisoners could be U.S. in 1989, upheld federal sentencing guidelines imprisoned indefinitely if it was determined that that removed the goal of rehabilitation from serious they had not been “rehabilitated.” consideration when sentencing offenders. Future The medical model ultimately fell out of favor due sentencing practices would only have to consider to the convergence of a series of events. The inhu- the crime, with little concern for factors such as mane nature of many of these practices, accompa- amenability to treatment or social and familial nied by an increasing concern with prisoners’ rights history. However, in spite of this political climate, and a dearth of evidence on the effectiveness of inter- some people continue to believe in the importance ventions, led many experts to critique the rehabilita- and possibility of rehabilitation in incarceration tive ideal. At the same time, in response to an policy and practice. For example, the language of increase in crime across the country, opponents the mission statement of the Federal Bureau of argued that the medical model was too soft and inef- Prisons reflects a strong emphasis on societal pro- fective. For many, the death knell of the rehabilitative tection and safe and humane confinement, while ideal finally came about from the publication of an still promoting “work and other self-improvement article by Robert Martinson in 1974. In what turned opportunities to assist offenders in becoming law- out to be a politically important essay that had a swift abiding citizens” (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2002). and discernible effect on policy, Martinson con- Although not couched in medical or rehabilitative cluded that “with few and isolated exceptions, the terminology, the federal prison system continues to rehabilitative efforts that have been reported so far offer a variety of programs directed toward this end, have had no appreciable effect on recidivism” (1974, including work, occupational and vocational train- p. 25). As the title of his article suggested, he ing, parenting classes, recreation and wellness appeared to be arguing that “nothing works.” activities, and substance abuse treatment. R-Bosworth.qxd 11/16/2004 2:45 PM Page 833 Rehabilitation Theory———833 Current efforts in some states also indicate that the participate in rehabilitation programs, and they are tide may be turning once again toward rehabilitation unlikely to do so without the benefit of incentives that as renewed efforts are being seen through revamped the prison administration offers them in exchange for educational and vocational training. This type of pro- participation. These include such considerations as gramming differs greatly from that seen in earlier early parole, better living conditions, and increased periods and is now much more closely linked to train- inmate pay. While prisoners have the right to refuse to ing for specific types of employment, as evidenced by participate in intervention programs, the idea of early existing programs in Oregon, Pennsylvania, Ohio, release is

Load more