Parenting Programs in US Prison Systems - Essay Example

Ethical Issues The parenting Programs in US Prison Systems aim to assist male prisoners to be responsible towards their children. Besides, single parented children face innumerable number of problems in their childhood. The fathers’ role in the character development of children is noteworthy. There is high chance for a child to face problems from his/her friends, at school and in the society. The seclusion felt by a child can be reduced by incorporating different types of parenting Programs in prison systems. The Parenting Programs in US Prison Systems play an important role to reduce the distance between prisoners and their children. Thesis statement: An investigation into the Parenting Programs in US Prison Systems to assess the ethical issues of conducting these sorts of programs. Importance of parenting programs in US Prison systems The responsibility a father to lead his child to become a productive and able citizen in the society is significant. But in America, around 24 million children do not get enough care and attention from their fathers (Leving, 2007). Besides, our society is responsible to lead these children towards the right path in their future life. For instance the Council on Responsible Fatherhood situated in Illinois plays the crucial role by conducting parenting programs to tackle this challenge. This Council aims to help the children in Illinois to grow with their fathers. The council is planning to instill awareness among the mass by conducting a number of programs like Regional Meetings, Statewide Symposiums etc. One of the missions of the Council is to raise public awareness on the consequences of absence of fathers in a family, and its negative effect on children (Leving, 2007). The most important reason for the absence of fathers in families is short or long term imprisonment. This example proves the importance of parenting programs in US Prison systems. Parenting programs I. Marriage and Relationship Education Programs in Prison As prisoners lead an isolated life in prisons, it is important to implement Marriage and Relationship Education Programs under Parenting Programs in Prison Systems. Short or long term imprisonment badly affects father- child/ husband –spouse relation and it is the duty of prison authorities to implement effective measures to improve marital relation through educational programs in prison systems. In the US prison system, there are a number of Marriage and Relationship Education Programs. A. (PREP) The Prevention and Relationship Education Program or PREP helps couples to develop strong marriage bonds. The goal of PREP is to negative patterns in marital relationships and to inculcate individual, emotional and commitment safety among the families of prisoners. This official program is developed by Oklahoma Department of Corrections aiming to implement the same in state prisons. This program provides classes to prisoners and their partners by trained prison chaplains to develop communication skills. B. Group Classes Group Classes include prison education programs designed as a series of classes. Besides, Group Classes include incarcerated male prisoners and their partners. The group meetings are handled by clinicians and chaplains in prisons. The content area of Group Classes includes communication, problem solving techniques, conflict resolution strategies etc. Group Classes provide opportunity to couples to practice newly acquired skills through group discussions. C. Furlough Programs Furlough Programs aim to improve relationship among imprisoned fathers and their wives. The program includes visitation facilities and temporary release programs to prisoners. But this facility is limited to inmates who are with good history while they are in prison. Besides, family visits are allowed to the prisoners who are legally married. Furlough Programs provide the chance for prisoners to develop better family life by developing intimate relation with their wives and kids. D. Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants for Incarcerated Fathers and their Partners Funding is important for the smooth functioning of parenting programs. For instance, AFC, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families, and OFA, the Office of Family Assistance assist a number of organizations by the means of awards and grants. Economic support to government and private organizations is helpful to sustain warm relation among the families of incarcerated fathers. II. Parenting Programs in Prison The prison based parenting programs help the prisoners to feel themselves as the part of their families and as able members of the society. A. Group Classes Group Classes which are related to parenting aims to develop relation with children by the means of various techniques to manage anger and to enhance fathers’ involvement in the same. The classes include a number of child friendly activities like games and role play. The educational programs include structure classes with study materials and projects. B. LDD The Long Distance Dads or LLD program is based on educational support for incarcerated male prisoners. This program helps the male prisoners to be supportive towards their children. In addition, the classes are handles by prisoners who are trained to handle the same as group sessions. The sessions or classes are handled by dividing the prisoners into small groups. Besides, ample attention is given to empower these prisoners to transform themselves to be responsible fathers. C. HOPE Group Therapy includes counseling sessions for incarcerated fathers. The ultimate aim of counseling sessions is to promote positive attitude towards patenting attitude among incarcerated fathers. For instance, the program namely the Helping Offenders Pursue Excellence (HOPE) aims to inculcate warm relationship among fathers and juvenile offenders D. LIFE The allocation of more time for imprisoned fathers to lead more time with their children is really helpful to strengthen the bond of father/son, father/daughter relations. For instance, the program namely Living Interactive Family Education or LIFE is a visitation program which allows fathers and children to interact in a normal way. The LIFE program aims to improve relationships, cohesion and behavioral change in both the fathers and their children. III. Rehabilitation Programs Rehabilitation Programs leads to positive parenting. Besides, the effectiveness of Parenting Programs positively influence or benefit family and eventually the society as a whole. The educational programs helps individuals to increase their earning and it helps to reduce tendency to get indulged in criminal activities. A. BCT Behavioral couples therapy or BCT mainly focus on relationship among couples to help imprisoned husbands and fathers. The BCT therapy consists of one or one and a half month treatment and it allows the prisoner and his partner to undergo outpatient treatment. The BCT treatment is also conducted in groups which allow couples to attend a number of weekly sessions. The BCT sessions are most helpful for prisoners who are undergoing drug abuse treatment. B. La Bodega de la Familia This program is conducted in New York City, aiming to reduce the effect of drug abuse among prisoners. Besides, ample attention is given to gain support from the family members of prisoners to increase the effectiveness of the treatment. When their family members get involved in the process of treatment, there is high chance of the prisoners to gain confidence and to return to normal life. C. TCI Therapeutic community intervention or TCI is a substance abuse treatment program implemented among the prisoners. This program equips a prisoner to lead normal life in the society. The TCI program is helpful to reduce the possibility of indulging further crime after release and re-arrest among the prisoners. IV. Post-Release Family Programs The effectiveness of Parenting Programs in US Prison Systems is deeply indebted to Post-Release Family Programs which prepare prisoners to lead a normal social life after relieved from the prisons. Besides, ample importance is given to the role of families to empower the ex-prisoners to lead normal lives. A. Project Greenlight The Project Greenlight (New York City), which is a post release program for prisoners and their family members to integrate cooperation and to strengthen family relations. This program includes integration sessions for the prisoners’ families which primarily focus on couples. B. COR The Community Orientation and Reintegration or COR is a parenting Program formulated in Pennsylvania which aims to provide value education for prisoners to meet responsibilities towards their families. The Program basically focuses on parenting education and its influence extends to each and every part of social life of an individual. Program evaluation The process of evaluation helps to pinpoint the drawbacks of these programs and to inculcate innovation into the Prison Systems for further development. For instance, the success of PREP and Group classes prove that it helped the participants to increase cohesive feeling and to acquire communication skills. The Furlough Programs helps to change the mindset of prisoners and prevents their return to prison by committing further crimes. The evaluation of Marriage and Family Strengthening Grants makes clear that these grants are helpful to sustain warm relation among couples with children (Herman-Stahl et al., 2008). The LDD program helps prisoners to be responsible fathers and they feel satisfied with this program. Because of less number of researches, it is difficult to evaluate the value of the HOPE program. Group Classes which are termed under Parenting Programs are helpful to increase father- child relation (Herman-Stahl et al., 2008). The LIFE program and related parenting sessions are helpful to create mutual understanding among the families of prisoners, especially among children. The programs like Project Greenlight and COR make clear that these programs are capable to meet the needs of prisoners (Herman-Stahl et al., 2008). The BCT program reduces violence among the participants and it helps to inculcate innovation in parenting. The La Bodega de la Familia program is helpful to meet the unique needs of the prisoners, their pre- and post-release life. The TCI program proves that its effect on participants is long lasting. Summing up, the Parenting Programs in US Prison Systems are helpful to inculcate innovation in Prison Systems and to improve the lives of the prisoners. The Marriage and Relationship Education Programs, Parenting Programs, Rehabilitation Programs and Post-Release Family Programs are really helpful to back up the prisoners and their family members. The Marriage and Relationship Education Programs are helpful to inculcate cohesion among the prisoners and their spouses. The Parenting Programs help the prisoners to be responsible towards their families, especially to their children. The Rehabilitation Programs and Post-Release Family Programs helps the prisoners to lead normal lives like other individuals. So, Parenting Programs in US Prison Systems is ethically valuable because it helps the society to consider the prisoners as human beings, not as lifetime criminals. References Leving, J. M., (2007). The Illinois Council on Responsible Fatherhood 2007 Annual Report. Retrieved December 4, 2009 from . Herman-Stahl, M., Kan, M. L., & McKay, T. (2008). Incarceration and the Family: A Review of Research and Promising Approaches for Serving Fathers and Families. Retrieved December 4, 2009 from . Read More