Best Practices in Corrections - Research Paper Example

This system is a sub-system of the wider system of criminal justice. The latter includes police, courts of law, and prosecution. Arguably, the most common and best-known correctional institution is the prison. This paper, however, focuses on reentry programs as a part of the correctional system. The aim of the paper is to undertake an exploration of best practices in reentry programs from existing academic literature. This goal will be achieved by first providing a description of the programs.

Next, key success elements or factors of the programs will be discussed. Thereafter, empirical support or evidence of the effectiveness of the programs will be analyzed. Finally, the role of the programs in complementing other correctional services will be discussed. Every year over 650,000 offenders are released from America’s correctional facilities alone (Office of Justice Programs, 2012). Research reveals that two-thirds of those released are likely to relapse into crime and offenses. For this reason, offenders who are released constitute a significant threat to public safety.

This is where reentry programs come in. The term ‘offender reentry’ refers to the return of offenders from correctional institutions into the communities they come from. Reentry programs are initiatives or partnerships forged by authorities to ensure a smooth transition when a prisoner or another offender completes their sentence and returns to the community. Reentry programs emanate from the knowledge that offenders who go back home after serving their jail terms encounter many challenges.

These challenges include lack of social acceptance, education, job skills, housing, and counseling. In addition, some returnees resort to substance and drug abuse. Reentry programs can also be seen from the point of view of law enforcement(Office of Justice Programs, 2012). In this view, the return of offenders from facilities of correction is a matter of the safety of the officer and the