Recidivism or Reintegration: Which is the Problem?
1.
Recidivism is when a population recycles through
the system for various reasons, often due to circumstances outside their own. Reintegration
is when a portion of the imprisoned population attempt to reassimilate back
into society to lead a fuller life. Tragically, recidivism occurs when anyone trying
to reintegrate is rejected by society. This rejection takes many forms. It can
come from hiring refusals, landlords unwilling to rent, and other social services
that are either unavailable or denied due to technical reasons. “Recidivism refers to
rearrest, reconviction, or reincarceration for a new crime or technical parole
violation following a release from jail or prison, and recidivism measures
usually include a specified time component (e.g., 1–9 years) following release”
(Moore & Eikenberry, 2020, p. 345). When one includes mental illness and
substance abuse into the question, the answer is more apparent. It is the failure
in the process of reintegration that causes recidivism. Mentally ill inmates
leaving the criminal system rely heavily on reintegration programs. When the
reintegration process breaks down for either population, recidivism rates
increase. Recidivism rates are highest with comorbid mentally ill and substance
addiction. When used correctly in reintegration stages, mentally ill prisoners have
a higher chance of reintegrating into their communities successfully.
2.
Substance abuse, deinstitutionalization, no
support group, employment, part-time, full-time employment, peers, homeless, "frequent
system utilizers," mentally ill, uneducated, lack of skills, and health
issues are the obvious symptoms of this problem (Harding & Roman, 2017). Researchers
help to develop answers. Sociologists focus on groups but narrow it down to the
individual when necessary. Prison reintegration is an example of when zeroing
down to the individual level provides an expanded understanding. When the
mentally ill leave the institution, it must be completed in stages since change
and self-care is difficult for the mentally challenged. Jails rarely provide medication,
shelter phone numbers, counselor, or parole officer information. Davis et al. (2012)
identify six factors that lead to recidivism: substance abuse, lack of
employment, low family bonds, deviant friends, low motivation, and young age; where
is a mental illness in this list?
3.
Remembering the 1980s when Reagan "emptied"
the mental institutions and jails filled with crack dealers provided a good reference
point for the beginning of the problem, but not exactly. The mentally ill became
"frequent system utilizers" (Harding & Roman, 2017) after being pushed out of institutions
that provided a structured routine, daily medicines, housing, nutrition, protection,
sobriety, support, and an accepting community. Dlugacz and Droubi (2017)
provided a correlational history of overlapping mass deinstitutionalization of mental
institutions in the 1950s, rapidly increasing homelessness, and exploding incarceration
rates fourfold for over three decades. In the 1950s, the United States had over
half a million mentally ill patients. That number decreased to under 50,000 by
mid 2,000. Under the ADA, mentally ill prisoners are entitled to reintegration
programs tailored to meet their needs that the general prison population does
not receive. However, there are other prisoner protections provided under the
Constitution. For example, under the Eighth Amendment, prisoners are protected
from cruel and unusual punishment, yet the Deshaney Principle of 1989 clarified
that the Constitution only provided minimum standards while incarcerated and a
lack of rights upon release (Dlugacz & Droubi, 2017).
4. Statistics
representing who suffers from this problem are indeed significant, but it is whom
researchers have yet to identify that may be suffering under this umbrella of a
cause that is disconcerting. With our political environment changing, whether
the Eighth Amendment is recognized in prisons in the United States is
questionable (Dlugacz & Droubi, 2017). Supermax prisons house prisoners placed into solitary confinement
more consistently than other criminal institutions. Luigi et al. (2020) explain
that purpose of solitary confinement is to place highly disruptive individuals
into confined quarters for 22 plus hours a day for extended periods. Healthy-minded
individuals will succumb to the brain damage this will cause, and the mentally
ill will decline exponentially. Solitary confinement alone is an unusual and
extreme punishment for a seriously mentally ill individual and will increase recidivism
rates for the mentally ill population. In addition, solitary confinement will
add to the mentally ill population (Luigi et al., 2020).
5. Prevalence rates ebb
and tide depending on various logistic factors. Two key co-occurring prevalence
rates to study are mental illness and substance abuse at the time of arrest and
release from the institution without medication, housing, supervision, and a reentry
plan. National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI, 2020) reports that 21% of the
U.S. adult population in 2020 experienced mental illness. When pressures to
have social equity cannot be met, mentally ill individuals often self-medicate.
Societal pressures for reintegrating mentally ill inmates lead to isolation
from family members, turning to the wrong type of friends, poor self-agency, unemployment,
ceasing medications, missed doctors' appointments, and therapy sessions, leading
to additional health problems, homelessness, and recidivism. Wilson et al.
(2012) point out that 54% of inmates with strictly mental severe issues are
reincarcerated, 68% of inmates with serious mental and substance abuse are
reincarcerated, 66% of inmates with substance abuse alone, and 60% of inmates
with no issues listed. Wilson et al. (2012) can make a connection with those
statistics for the importance of the Olmstead Act (Dlugacz & Droubi, 2017).
6. Rather
than provide quantitative data, Davis et al. (2012) provided qualitative demographic descriptions
which include longitudinal changes. The individuals' demographics change as
they move through the system, especially "frequent system utilizers" (Harding
& Roman, 2017). Davis et al. (2012) use demographics to place
offenders into categories who face obstacles and how they meet those
challenges. There are six categories with two counterparts per category. For
the paper, it is essential to remember that Davis et al. (2012) * did not
include mental illness in their study. The six categories are (1) substance
abuse: continue or desist; (2) employment: lack of employment, half-time,
full-time; (3) family support: low family bonds; (4) type of friends: law-abiding
friends, deviant friends; (5) personal motivation to change: internal
motivation, low motivation, increased personal incentives; (6) age: young and
healthy, maturing with wisdom, aging with health conditions that make it
impossible to commit more crime. After reading the descriptions of these
categories, it outlines what types of individuals circulate through our mental
and criminal institutions, young risk-tasking individuals with low family
connections and high substance users. Advocacy research requires solid statics for
oppositional purposes to gain funding; however, research overwhelmingly proves
that our younger generation and mentally ill population cycle through our
institutions.
7.
a.
What could be a short-term problem impacting
individuals who reenter society is not having a plan in place before it occurs.
Mentally ill individuals must function on a strict routine that includes taking
medicine, sleeping, eating meals, and completing tasks on a schedule. The
mentally ill are not equipped to be self-advocates. After being incarcerated
for extensive periods, their self-agency skills decrease as their decision-making
skills significantly decrease. Wallace and Wang (2020) explain that many
mentally ill prisoners' general health declines post-release and ultimately causes
recidivism due to poor reintegration policies, including releasing inmates
without two weeks of medication or preparing them for post-release changes.
b.
Moore and Eikenberry (2020) find that more
research in local communities' Iowa Department of Correction is necessary to
establish the reintegration process for the mentally ill population. Overwhelmingly,
technical recidivism is the reason prisoners recycle through the system. It can
amount to leaving the county or state line without notifying proper
authorities, submitting a dirty urine sample, or being late to work too many
times. When a formerly mentally ill incarcerated individual suddenly is
responsible for time management and impulse control, and no one is there to intervene,
it becomes a battle between self-medicating or their medication, counselors,
and parole officers. According to Moore and Eikenberry (2020), research on supervised
releases increasingly supports reintegration success for mentally ill inmates.
c.
There is no short-term impact of the problem on society
anymore. Unfortunately, when a problem becomes systemic, it loses the power a
short-term problem carries. When patients receive treatment, a doctor does
triage, and symptoms with longevity get attention last. Mentally ill patients
began cycling through our court penal system in the 1950s, according to (Dlugacz
& Droubi 2017). Substance abuse peaked in the 1980s when crack cocaine hit
the streets. The United States is flooded with Fentanyl overdoses, and drug
trafficking continues. Despite the connection between crime and substance
abuse, Moore and Eikenberry (2020) discovered the importance of the release
process into prisoner integration for inmates with substance abuse issues,
including the mentally ill.
8.
a.
The long-term impact on the individual is becoming
one of society's "frequent system utilizers" (Harding & Roman,
2017). Imagine being placed in solitary confinement daily for twenty-two hours,
weeks at a time, for safety. Solitary confinement reduces disruptive and
violent incidents or high-risk individuals and maintains a safe environment. Additionally,
according to Luigi et al. (2020), administrative segregation is the strictest
form of solitary confinement, and the mentally ill are 1.62 times more apt to
be placed there or in solitary confinement than the general population. Regardless,
prisoners' treatment in Supermax prisons brings new problems to society. Solitary
confinement studies will ensue en masse due to Covid-19. Hopefully, this will
provide an opportunity to shine a light on what prisoners face in Supermax
prisons. Solitary confinement can destroy a healthy brain's functioning.
b.
According to Moore and Eikenberry (2020), the
African American population is 4%, and Iowa has the fourth highest
incarceration rate of African Americans in the United States. Interestingly, African
Americans are not at an elevated risk of overall recidivism in Iowa but are for
new recidivism. Moore and Eikenberry (2020) say that Native Americans and
African Americans have a higher recidivism rate in Oregon, and Asians and
Hispanics do in a county in Pennsylvania. They explain that the risk of
reincarceration increases when one lives in an area where reincarceration is
high. In other words, the problem remains a local problem. The individual
maintains the same lifestyle, which leads to recidivism in local communities.
c.
Dlugacz and Droubi (2017) provide an exemplarily
long-term problem society faces. In 1989, New York violated the ADA and
Olmstead by placing 4,300 individuals with mental illnesses into adult foster
care homes, making it impossible to interact with stable-minded peers. This
adult foster care placement mirrors what mentally ill inmates face daily in the
penal system. As Harding and Roman (2017) explain, "frequent systems
utilizers" churn through taxpayers' dollars as a burden using up hospital
beds, shelters, emergency rooms, psychiatrists, jails, prisons, public
libraries, and park benches as they loiter, use illegal substances, sleep, fight,
shelter, and commit a crime. The "frequent systems utilizers" also
remind the system daily that it is inadequate.
9.
Davis et al. (2012) explain the importance of
desistance in life course theory. For a prisoner to remain out of incarceration,
there must be self-agency. How much self-agency is necessary? What are other
factors at play? The problem in deciding whether to send mentally ill
individuals back to the penal institution or place them into adult foster-care
home is just the beginning. Although unfortunately, society has been at the opening
gate for seventy-plus years now, it has been a systemic problem for far too
long. Which is why society continues asking, "but why?"
From personal experience, I have several
relatives that served time in state prisons for murder. A cousin did time for
two murders; at seventeen, he served time in a juvenile detention center in
Michigan for a random murder, and at twenty-one, he served time for murdering
another stranger in Georgia. Later he was released on early parole in Georgia
and was reincarcerated for raping his niece a few months after his release. He
returned to Georgia lock-up for a few more months. Each time the system locked
him up, he was sentenced to his original forty years without early parole. It
is puzzling as to why he still is paroled. Each of his murders was unusually
heinous. Personal experience is the reason I believe people need to care about "frequent
system utilizers,” (Harding Roman, 2017.) We do not know who they are, but
we know they are out there.
References
Davis, C., Bahr, S. J., & Ward,
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prisoners reenter society. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 13(4),
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