Jay Evensen
  • Front Page
  • Opinions
  • Second Thoughts
  • Portfolio
  • Awards
  • About

Rehabilitation beats new prison construction

3/18/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
What in the name of the Birdman of Alcatraz is going on here? I thought prison was where society sent troubled young people so they could be taught how to become better criminals. And if they got caught three times, they would be called out on a third strike and sent up the river for the rest of their lives.

At least, that’s how it has worked in much of the country since the 1990s, when getting tough on crime was the one thing politicians could agree on, their only disagreement

being over which of them was toughest.

Now it turns out this is old-fashioned thinking. States today are finding ways to effectively deal with bad boys and girls without forcing them into an unwanted relationship with a cellblock bully. We used to call this “coddling.” Now we call it effective rehabilitation, and it seems to be working.

Utah lawmakers should take note. If they sent any message loud and clear during the just completed session, it is that they want the state prison moved from Draper. The House and Senate passed a joint resolution, with only token opposition, that concludes it is in the state’s best interest to do so. The only thing they don’t seem to know is where to move it.

When I spoke with Gov. Gary Herbert during the session, he was less enthusiastic about moving the prison, saying, “It’s about prison reform first, and economic development second.” Turns out he was onto something.

A new report  by the Pew Charitable Trusts uses statistics from the FBI and the Bureau of Justice to show that, in most states, crime rates are on the decline, and so is the rate at which criminals are being sent to prison.

For years, the reduction in crime rates was thought to be at least partly the result of laws that put more people behind bars. The thinking was that if you removed the criminal element from the streets, there would be no criminal element on the streets.

Turns out this is old-fashioned thinking, too. Most of the criminal element was going to find its way back to the streets sooner or later. When the recession hit, it became difficult to come up with the $52 billion the states combined paid for corrections.

The Pew study credits three factors for the current trend. One has to do with spending money on treatment and diversion rather than on building new cells. Texas spent $241 million in these programs. Since 2007, the state has seen a 39 percent drop in the prisoners who fail at parole, crime has fallen to levels not seen since hippies roamed the earth and taxpayers saved $3 billion in unspent prison construction.

States find it more effective to shorten prison sentences for lesser offenses and steer people toward programs rather than hard time.

The second factor has to do with strong public support. People want low-level offenders to stay out of prison because they don’t want to pay for them to be there. What people want eventually ends up finding its way into political platforms.

Third, states are using actual research to drive the kinds of alternatives offered to inmates. Things like “cognitive-behavioral therapies that improve impulse control,” with tough consequences for those who violate rules and rewards for those who do well, seem to work.

California, of all places, is leading the way. In 2012, it housed 26 percent fewer prisoners than in 2007, the Pew study found. Its crime rate also fell by 11 percent during that time. Fourteen other states saw an inmate population drop of 10 percent or more during the same time. Only 15 states increased their prison populations, and most of them also saw a reduction in crime.

Give all that is at stake, Utahns should begin asking why its incarceration rate hasn’t dropped along with the crime rate. It’s not just a factor of the state’s high growth rate. Yes, Utah was the third fastest growing state from April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013, but Texas was second, and its incarceration rate is down 11 percent.

Moving the Draper facility may be an inevitability. But putting more resources into reforms, as other states are doing, may pay off more handsomely in the long run.

1 Comment
suvitas hyderabad link
5/28/2016 03:53:03 am

Moving the Draper facility may be an inevitability. But putting more resources into reforms, as other states are doing, may pay off more handsomely in the long run.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Search this site


    Like what you read here?

      Please subscribe below, and we'll let you know when there is a new opinion.

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture

    The author

    Jay Evensen is the Senior Editorial Columnist of the Deseret News. He has nearly 40 years experience as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in Oklahoma, New York City, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. He also has been an adjunct journalism professor at Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

    Archives

    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012

    Categories

    All
    Campaign 2012
    Congress
    Crime
    Culture
    Iran
    Oil And Gas
    Poverty
    Steroids
    Taxes
    Utah
    Washington
    World Events
    World Events

    Links

    Deseret News
    Newslink
    Marianne Evensen's blog

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.