An Understanding of the History of Incarceration and Participatory Defense in the US Assignment | Get Paper Help

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An Understanding of the History of Incarceration and Participatory Defense in the US

Question 1: What is the role of rehabilitation in reducing recidivism among ex-convicts in the US?

Source 1: Cullen, Francis T., and Karen E. Gilbert. Reaffirming rehabilitation. Routledge, 2012.

In 2012, the writers did this second edition to the book “Reaffirming rehabilitation” after publishing the first edition of the text in 1982. They study the area of rehabilitation by prisons in the US. The period between 1982 and 2012 carried a variety of issues regarding rehabilitation. The debate as to whether rehabilitation should be encouraged or discouraged had its share of theatrics. However, an essential aspect that the authors bring out in their work is the essence of having rehabilitation in the prisons. They used data collected during the 30 years to test their hypothesis that rehabilitation plays a vital role in reducing recidivism. They sampled information from the prisons department and talked to various ex-convicts in coming up with this study. They made the finding that in the years before 1972, when the rates of rehabilitation started declining, there were meager rates of crime in society. They also found that after the 1980s and going forward, ex-convicts had a 75% chance of committing another offense after being released.

The authors employ various ways to conduct their study. They have many years of research in the area after publishing their first edition of the book in 1982; they had observed too much change in society to inform their authoritativeness. They hold the view that judges and correctional officials have abused their discretion, which they had been under the rehabilitative setup to prescribe the best ways to cure the offenders. They heavily borrowed from the work of Karl Menninger (1965), who argued that rehabilitation is critical to every correctional facility. With it came all sorts of good things that enabled the convicted people to have a conducive environment to change.

The authors plead to society at large to review their views on rehabilitation. The shade a picture of early times when rehabilitation was given priority. They rely on a national poll conducted in 1968 by Louis Harris, who asked the public what they thought the purpose of the prison was. According to the survey, 48% believed that the prison’s work was to rehabilitate the offenders sent there; 24% thought that the prisons existed to protect society from bad people. In comparison, another 13% believed that the prisons existed to punish the offenders. Even so, an overwhelming 75% of the people felt strongly that the prisons’ primary objective should be to rehabilitate the offenders. The authors reminisce of these days; they urge the people to remember that if they locked up hundreds of thousands of people, that would reduce crime to an extent, but beyond the incapacitation, nothing more is gained.

The views and thoughts of the authors resonate with the current situation. Florida Weston fears that he will not cope in prison and learn to reform and help society if he does not join the group. The fact that the group was created to teach the community how to receive their mates back in society points out that the convicts were not taught while in prison on how to cope in society as an ex-convict. This calls for a reaffirmation of the importance that rehabilitation plays in a criminal justice system. This is an informative source that, when explored, demonstrates to the people that the reinvention of the prisons can mitigate the crime rate through rehabilitation.

Question 2: Does the Participatory Defense Movement diminish the role of public defenders?

Source 2: Godsoe, Cynthia. “Mercer Law Review Vol. 069, Issue 03-037, pg. 0715-Participatory Defense: Humanizing the Accused and Ceding Control to the Client.” (2018).

The author is a former public defender who undertook a study on the novel and fast-growing participatory defense movement. She was interested in finding out the extent to which the Movement has disrupted how public defenders perform their tasks. Similarly, she researched the implications of the humanization of the accused person on the resulting criminal justice system. She based her research on previous cases that had been determined with the influence of participatory defense. She interviewed founding members of participatory defense to understand what drove them into coming up with the Movement. Her findings were that the Movement had been initiated to train the families of the accused persons and the communities to participate actively and help the public defenders adjudicate the case. She further found that most public defenders had resisted the Movement’s growth because they feared that it might diminish the essence of their work.

She used the case of a person she kept synonymous by referring to her as “Julio” who had committed an offense that attracted a life sentence. She demonstrated how Julio’s parents and the community used participator defense to aggressively defend Julio, leading to her case being dropped by the prosecutor. Having been a public defender, she was convinced that the work that the Movement did was going to shake up the attorney-client relationship because it shifted too much autonomy to the client. In yet another case of McCoy v. Louisiana, she demonstrated how the court had given priority to the client’s views more than those of his attorney. The court had overturned a decision that was reached pursuant to the attorney’s admission of the client’s guilt when the client had objected. This illustrates the impact that the shift of autonomy to the client is likely to cause.

She implores public defenders and the entire system of professionals that work in the criminal justice system to open their arms and welcome the Movement. She is convinced that the benefits of the Movement far outweigh the cost paid by the public defenders in having the Movement in place. She explains that the accused person gets more quality services through the Movement because initially, the public defenders are usually demotivated from putting up a watertight case for the accused person. She quotes Stephen Pepper (1986), who explains that given the structure of criminal justice and the poverty levels of most defendants, the public defendants are usually less accountable. She applauds some public defender offices that had already shown interest in working with the Movement for the delivery of justice.

Florida Weston wishes to join the Movement because he believes the group will help him reform. This desire that he harbors agrees with the findings of the author of this work. From her interviews of the group’s founders and further based on the reviews of the cases that have benefitted from the group’s work, it is evident that winning a case is not the only driving force behind the group. They are more interested in being the agents of change. They have taken upon themselves not only to save the defendant from serving a term but also to save the rest of the years the defendant has to live by helping them live rightfully and avoid breaking the law. This work agrees with Cullen and Karen’s (2012) work on the importance of rehabilitation in reforming offenders. In this context, the rehabilitation is done by outside members and not by the prisons as suggested by Cullen and Karen (2012.)

Question 3: Are there any differences in the integration level between ex-convicts who are with families and other responsibilities and those who do not have any responsibilities?

Source 3: Behrens, Angela. “Less than the average citizen’: Stigma, role transition and the civic reintegration of convicted felons.” After crime and punishment: Pathways to offender reintegration 261 (2004).

The authors undertake the study of different levels of integration of ex-convicts into a society based on their levels of growth and responsibilities. They proceed from the premise that ex-convicts who usually have existing families or responsibilities are easily integrated into society than those who do not have such responsibilities. Upon their research, they conclude that a person’s self-concept as either a deviant or a law-abiding citizen is the primary link between adult role transition and desistance.

The authors rely heavily on various interviews with ex-convicts from whom they gathered the information necessary for their research. They also rely on several researchers who have done fundamental research in this area. They cite Sampson and Laub (1993), who had been aware that desistance for crime among ex-convicts is directly linked to the successful transition to adult roles. Based on the research, they appealed to the public to understand the ex-convicts who had not developed a sense of responsibility and urged them to help the members to feel responsible.

In coming up with the research, the authors interviewed various ex-convicts to support their hypothesis. Further, they borrowed from other scholars who had extensive knowledge on the topic like Shover, (1996) who had suggested that governments should be keen on social-psychological processes that underlie the internal transitions among offenders because according to their research, it had become very critical when researching on the desistance process. They authoritatively observe that civil integration should be included amongst the list of the re-integrative domains. These include the family and work, which were identified as the two main domains.

The public must understand the dynamics involved in the reintegration process. Florida Weston is afraid that the community might be taking back criminals into society and therefore needs the participatory defense system to train the community. However, both the community members and the representatives of the Movement must understand the desistance process. This will enable them to apportion their attention according to the individuals that require more assistance.

Question 4: How are recidivism levels affected by the preventive measures in place?

Source 4: Griffiths, Curt Taylor, Yvon Dandurand, and Danielle Murdoch. The social reintegration of offenders and crime prevention. Vol. 4. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: National Crime Prevention Centre, 2007.

The authors set out to investigate whether crime prevention was sufficient to reduce cases of recidivism. The authors considered various aspects, including social integration, which they said was necessary for any attempt to prevent the ex-convicts from relapsing. Their focus was on finding the effectiveness of the mechanisms that existed to ensuring that they reduced the numbers of repeat offenders. Based on the data produced by the authors, a majority of the people currently serving a jail term have been convicted of at least one prior offense during their youth. They stated that among the recidivists, approximately one-third of them have a previous record of a conviction, while 75% of them have multiple convictions. This demonstrates that most offenses committed are likely to be committed by the same people over and over.

The authors used several interviews with ex-convicts and gathered data from the department of justice to compile their research. They were assured of the credibility of the information because they got it from the ex-convicts themselves. They also borrow from works of other scholars who have researched on the topic including Rakis (2005), who was of the view that for any crime prevention system to be considered adequate, it must be able to address factors that cause high numbers of recidivists and why they fail to reintegrate. This premise was the foundation of the research by the authors and, therefore, extensively informed their work. Upon the completion of the research, the authors concluded that the government together with the respective bodies and the society needs to put up mechanisms that holistically address all the factors likely to predispose the ex-convicts to criminal behavior and that they should major on the provision of physical and social needs of the offenders before and after their release.

This is directly relevant to the situation at hand because Florida Weston wishes that there could be mechanisms to help the offenders in society. He believes that these could significantly reduce the number of crimes that occur because the offenders are usually motivated by various factors which can be curbed in advance.

Question 5: Could effective regulation of alcohol sales reduce the occurrence of crime?

Source 5: Stockwell, Tim. “Regulation of the licensed drinking environment: A major opportunity for crime prevention.” In R. Homel (Ed.), Policing for Prevention: Reducing Crime, Public Intoxication, and Injury. 1997.

The authors considered at length the mannerisms of people under the influence of alcohol. They concentrated on assaults, drink-driving, and alcohol-related crashes. Since they focused on the regulation part of the research, they limited their research on a comparison between individuals who consumed alcohol from a licensed entity and those who consumed them elsewhere. The authors worked hand-in-hand with the police department and the liquor licensing authorities to get detailed data to aid their research. Upon their investigation, they found that people who consumed alcohol from licensed entities had significant chances of committing an offense.

The authors collected a series of 2,166 cases of individuals who had failed breath tests conducted over six months by the roadside. In this test, the police were required to go to the scene of any road accident and test the respective drivers of alcohol content. Upon the testing, they would then ask the drivers where they had had their last drinks. The authors found that 51% of non-accident drinkers had consumed their previous drinks at a licensed entity, while only 39% of those who engaged in an accident had their drinks in similar places. This was an indication to the authors that even though the percentage of those who caused accidents were severe, that of who did not cause the accidents after drinking from regulated places were even higher.

The authors also engaged in research on the behaviors of people who consumed alcohol by studying a variety of problems associated with intoxication. Random people took part in the survey and were randomly asked to state some of the problems they had encountered in the recent past. 74% of the respondents who were found to have been in breach of the law, which caused assault, violent arguments, or fights, were found to have been under the influence of alcohol. This demonstrates that there is a high likelihood of people under the influence of alcohol to commit crimes and especially if they had alcohol from unregulated premises.

Florida Weston states that people under the influence of alcohol or substance abuse have high probabilities of committing an offense. This view has been validated by this in-depth research, which has demonstrated that alcohol users are more prone to committing criminal offenses.

Works Cited

Behrens, Angela. “Less than the average citizen’: Stigma, role transition and the civic reintegration of convicted felons.” After crime and punishment: Pathways to offender reintegration 261 (2004).

Cullen, Francis T., and Karen E. Gilbert. Reaffirming rehabilitation. Routledge, 2012.

Godsoe, Cynthia. “Mercer Law Review Vol. 069 Issue 03-037 pg. 0715-Participatory Defense: Humanizing the Accused and Ceding Control to the Client.” (2018).

Griffiths, Curt Taylor, Yvon Dandurand, and Danielle Murdoch. The social reintegration of offenders and crime prevention. Vol. 4. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: National Crime Prevention Centre, 2007.

Laub, John H., and Robert J. Sampson. “Turning points in the life course: Why change matters to the study of crime.” Criminology 31.3 (1993): 301-325.

Menninger, Karl, and Bernard H. Hall. “A psychiatrist’s world: the selected papers of Karl Menninger, MD.” A psychiatrist’s world: the selected papers of Karl Menninger, MD. 1965.

Pepper, Stephen L. “The Lawyer’s Amoral Ethical Role: A Defense, A Problem, and Some Possibilities.” Law & Social Inquiry 11.4 (1986): 613-634.

Rakis, John. “Improving the employment rate of ex-prisoners under parole.” Fed. Probation 69 (2005): 7.

Shover, Neal. “Aging criminals: Changes in the criminal calculus.” In their own words: Criminals on crime: An anthology (1996): 57-63.

Stockwell, Tim. “Regulation of the licensed drinking environment: A major opportunity for crime prevention.” In R. Homel (Ed.), Policing for Prevention: Reducing Crime, Public Intoxication and Injury. 1997.

Final Annotated Bibliography Project

Assignment:

Over the course of the quarter you will draft and revise a total of TEN annotations of scholarly and popular sources. Your annotations will unpack and illuminate each of your chosen sources in service to understanding your incarcerated or non-incarcerated autobiography for the Prison Coalition Project. Meaning, each of the TEN sources that you choose to annotate will in some way contextualize the historical and other disciplinary lenses that inform your actions and choices as an advocate for prison abolition, either behind or beyond bars. Alternatively, you may choose to adopt the persona of a police person, a prison guard, or someone else who has authority over other people. Either way, you will be working with a few other classmates on the group portion of the Coalition Project, and your research will need to illuminate the mechanisms of violence alongside factors that have led to your incarceration or position of authority.

Due Dates:

1. Preliminary Research Questions for Annotated Bibliographydue Sunday, June 28 (Week 2)
2. Mid-quarter Annotated Bibliography check on five sources due Sunday, July 19 (Week 5)
3. Peer Review Draft of completed Annotated Bibliography isdue Sunday, August 9 (Week 8)
4. Peer Review commentsdue Wednesday, August 12 (Week 8)  
5. Final Annotated Bibliography Projectdue Sunday, August 16 (Week 9)

All FIVE assignments must be uploaded to get full credit for the Annotated Bibliography Project.

Instructions for Annotated Bibliography Project:

• Compile TEN source annotations that focus on addressing your vital research question or questions. Make sure that you annotate a diverse array of sources, including three scholarly peer-reviewed sources, a book-length work, a podcast, a documentary, and a mixture of historical or current popular or advocacy related sources or artifacts.
• Each source annotation should include your research question and the MLA formatted citation of the source at the top of the page.
• It should be 1.5 to 2 pages double-spaced.
• The annotation should provide:
  • the full name and credentialsof the writer/researcher/journalist/artist/group, including other important works they might have published and a description of their main focus of study and length of time they’ve been investigating the issue.
  • a summarization of the main point orargument of the source. What is the vital thesis of this work? What information and analyses are they bringing into the conversation through the evidence and artifacts they provide?
  • an understanding of how the author develops credibility. What strategies does he/she use? Do use notice authoritative language, unique rhetorical choices, the use of statistics, or references to a variety of secondary sources? What constitutes credibility and how does the source define its own standards for credibility?
  • an assessment of how the author addresses an audience and makes appeals. Where, why, and how does the author appeal to the reader’s emotions? Who is the author’s implied audience? Look to terminology that points to a certain group of readers. Look for emotionally couched rhetoric and anecdotes.
  • an assessment of how the source contextualizes and/or clarifies your vital research question or questions. What is it about this source that illuminates for you a deeper understanding of who you are? (In terms of the Prison Coalition Project or your regular life.) How does this source compare or contrast to the other sources you are choosing to annotate? Why is this source important to your work this quarter?

Guiding Questions for Annotated Bibliography Project:

—How do you read or watch a source to assess the vital thesis of it? What conditions do you need inside of yourself to be able to do this type of deep reading?

—What are the source’s deepest underlying intentions? Its more surface or basic intentions? How do these intentions affect you?

—Who IS the person who is composing the source and putting it out into the world? Who ARE the people communicating their visions and analyses with you, their audience? How do you relate to the creators of the source?

—Where do you fit into your critical assessments of the sources as a researcher? What type of researcher are you? How did you develop into the researcher you are right now? What type of researcher do you think you’ll become in the future?