Three Kinds of Programs Implemented to Rehabilitate Offenders
Review the following sources for this Individual Project.
Improving offender success and public safety through system reform: The transition from prison to community initiative.
Missouri Department of Corrections Missouri Reentry Process (MRP)
Missouri Governor’s Report 2018
In your paper, address the following questions:
What are three types of programs used to support the victim and rehabilitate the offender?
Review information from your state and compare three types of programs used to support the victim and rehabilitate the offender.
In your opinion, which do you think will best serve the victims? Why?
What do you think could improve or add to any of the existing programs?
Individual Project Rubric
The Individual Project (IP) Grading Rubric is a scoring tool that represents the performance expectations for the IP. This Individual Project Grading Rubric is divided into components that provide a clear description of what should be included within each component of the IP. It’s the roadmap that can help you in the development of your IP.
Expectation Points Possible Points Earned Comments
Identified three types of programs used to support the victim and rehabilitate the offender.
25
Compared the three types of programs selected which will support the victim and rehabilitate the offender.
30
Identified the program that will best serve the victims and explained why it provides the best support.
30
Identified areas that could be improved or expanded in the existing programs.
30
Professional Language: Assignment contains accurate grammar, spelling, and punctuation with few or no errors.
10
Total Points
125
This study focuses on three kinds of programs implemented to rehabilitate offenders and offer support to the victims. The victim impact panels, victim and offender mediation, and community reparative boards. On the victim impact panels, these forums offer safe, interactive spaces. However, the victims do not have direct interaction with their offenders, but offenders can meet their victims’ close ones. Offenders get to understand what conditions they exposed their victims to and what impact their actions had on the victims (Holtfreter & Wattanaporn, 2013). In recent times, there has been a developing pattern in the utilization of victim impact panels as a base of judgment choice for domestic violence and local misdemeanor offenses. They are court-ordered panels and comprised of at least three victims who openly share their experiences. Observation finds that these panels have positive impacts on both the victims and offenders because offenders who had attended these forums had a less likelihood of being arrested for similar crimes compared to offenders who had not participated in these forums.
In the second program, the implementation of victim and offender mediation. These forums offer a direct interaction of offenders with their victims and have two objectives. The first objective is to hold the offenders responsible for their actions and make them understand the impact of their actions. This interaction helps in conjuring ways to make peace between the victim and the offender. The second objective is to cultivate a feeling of empowerment and satisfaction for the victim (Missouri Department of Corrections, 2018). This forum is structured to adopt compassion in the offender and address the victim’s emotional needs because, in this interaction, offenders and victims express their feelings and thoughts, offering answers to the victims. In turn, both parties develop mutual designs to formulate a solution that addresses inflicted harm.
The third program, the creation of a community reparative boards program, focuses on nonviolent offenders and is constituted of groups of skilled persons who lead public meetings with offenders who are ordered by the court to participate. These meetings analyze the nature of crime and the consequences. The goal of this forum is to allow the community and victims to confront the offenders respectably, creating opportunities for the offenders to take responsibility for their actions and consequences. There has been contention on the effectiveness of reparative boards regarding the interaction of victims, the community, and offenders. However, it creates a platform that analyzes the magnitude of the offense on a broad level.