The document discusses the purpose and goals of the prison system and rehabilitation of criminals. It notes there is disagreement around whether the purpose is punishment or rehabilitation. Rehabilitation aims to address the underlying causes of criminal behavior and reintegrate offenders into society by providing treatment programs, education, job skills training, and counseling. Effective rehabilitation programs have been shown to reduce recidivism rates. The goal of rehabilitation is to treat offenders and enable them to return to a crime-free lifestyle.

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Introduction:
Prisons are closed institutions. They are established and funded by governments to hold people
against their will, but why punish? There is a disagreement about the purpose of the prison
system. On the one hand, the regulations of the prison system seek deterrence, incapacitation, or
retribution to avoid appearing too soft on criminals. But on the other hand, the regulations of the
prison system seek to opportunities to resocialize prisoners or to effect changes in the character,
attitudes, or behavior of the convicted offender. However, correction system has embraced as an
important goal the transformation of law breakers into the law-abiding—that is, "rehabilitation"
or "treatment." Rehabilitation is the re-integration into society of a convicted person.
When society locks an individual away and doesn’t provide some means by which the offender
can understand why he/she committed crimes in the first place, then there will be no corrective
behavior. The concept of rehabilitation rests on the assumption that criminal behavior is caused
by some factor. This perspective does not deny that people make choices to break the law, but it
does assert that these choices are not a matter of pure "free will." Instead, the decision to commit
a crime is held to be determined, or at least heavily influenced, by a person's social surroundings,
psychological development, or biological makeup.
Methods of Rehabilitation of Criminals:
The rehabilitation model "makes sense" only if criminal behavior is caused and not merely a
freely willed, rational choice. If crime were a matter of free choices, then there would be nothing
within particular individuals to be "fixed" or changed. But if involvement in crime is caused by
various factors, then logically re-offending can be reduced if correctional interventions are able
to alter these factors and how they have influenced offenders.
Prison inmates, are some of the most maladjusted people in society. Most of the inmates have
had too little discipline or too much, come from broken homes, and have no self-esteem. They
are very insecure and are at war with themselves as well as with society. Most inmates did not
learn moral values or learn to follow everyday norms.

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Also, when most lawbreakers are labeled criminals they enter the phase of secondary deviance.
They will admit they are criminals or believe it when they enter the phase of secondary deviance.
Some believe that if we want to rehabilitate criminals we must do more than just send them to
prison. For instance, we could give them a chance to acquire job skills; which will improve the
chances that inmates will become productive citizens upon release. The programs must aim to
change those who want to change.
Our society has some expectations for the criminal justice system is to punish and rehabilitate
individuals who commit crime. Rehabilitation is one of the four acknowledged objectives of the
criminal justice system. The Positive School of Criminology uses the practice of rehabilitation to
reduce recidivism. A successful rehabilitation of a prisoner will stated if-
 They are not placed in unhealthy conditions,
 They would have access to medical care and are protected from other forms of serious ill-
treatment,
 They are able to maintain social ties to the outside world, like family, friends;
 They learn new skills to assist them with working life on the outside,
 They should be treated like a ‘normal person’ rather than a ‘criminal’,
 Experts should help restore a person’s innate goodness and pride,
 They should have get psychological help,
 They have to avoid any kinds of drugs.
There are also many researches on rehabilitation system. Research over the last twenty-five years
has shown that some programs are more effective than others. Research conducted by Doris
MacKenzie and others find that rehabilitation programs that have shown to be effective include
the following:
• Academic education
• Vocational education

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• MRT (Moral Recognition Therapy)
• R&R (reasoning and rehabilitation)
• Cognitive restructuring
• Cognitive behavioral treatment for sex offenders
• Behavioral treatment for sex offenders, hormonal
• Surgical treatment for sex offenders
• MST for juveniles (Multi-systemic therapy)
• Drug courts
• Drug treatment in the community
• Incarceration based drug treatment
These kinds of programs would provide skills and habits and replace the sense of hopelessness
that many inmates have. Moreover, another technique used to rehabilitate criminals is
counseling. There are two types of counseling in general, individual and group counseling.
Individual counseling is much more costly than group counseling. The aim of group counseling
is to develop positive peer pressure that will influence its members. Group problem-solving has
definite advantages over individual problem-solving. The idea is that a wider variety of solutions
can be derived by drawing from the experience of several people with different backgrounds.
Also one individual's problem might have already been solved by another group member and can
be suggested.
Conclusion:
When society locks an individual away and doesn’t provide some means by which the offender
can understand why he/she committed crimes in the first place, then there will be no corrective
behavior. Rehabilitation is a central goal of the correctional system. This goal rests on the
assumption that individuals can be treated and can return to a crime free lifestyle.

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References
 Edwards, J.A. (2007). “Rehabilitation Potential in Prisoner Inmates as Measured by
MMPI.” The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Political Science.” Vol. 54, No.
2. p. 181-185.Rotman, E. (2008). “Do Criminals Really Have a Constitutional Right to
Rehabilitation?” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Vol. 77.
 No. 4. p. 1023-1068.Tittle, R. (2006). “Prisons and Rehabilitation: The Inevitability of
Disfavor.” Social Problems. Vol. 21, No. 3. p. 385.U.S. Department of Justice. “Prison
Statistics, Summary Findings.” Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs.
 Cadigan, Brian. 2011. “Correcting Our Flawed Criminal Justice System, One Private
Prison at a Time.” The Bottom Line UCSB.
 Dutta, Sunil. “How to Fix America’s Broken Criminal Justice System.” The Christian
Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor.