Efforts to reduce recidivism include crime victim mediation, career and educational programs, special courts for those with substance abuse or mental health issues, and comprehensive legal aid services. Programs also focus on teaching offenders job skills while incarcerated and offering placement services after release. Special courts exist for mentally ill or substance-dependent offenders. These efforts aim to reduce crime rates and help offenders maintain good relationships within their communities.
In many communities, citizens are concerned about efforts to reduce recidivism in order to reduce crime rates within communities and avoid the problem of criminals becoming trapped in a life of crime. Efforts to reduce recidivism include crime victim mediation, career and educational programs, as well as special courts for people with substance abuse or mental health issues. Additionally, workers in the criminal justice system, such as parole and probation officers, can also offer more comprehensive legal aid services to assist those with a criminal record in developing good relationships within their families and communities. so that they are motivated to stay out of prison and to maintain their connections with their neighbors, loved ones and workplace.
Many sociologists and criminal justice experts acknowledge that it is difficult for someone with a criminal record to stay out of trouble if they are unable to make a living. Therefore, some programs to reduce recidivism focus on teaching offenders job skills while they are incarcerated and, in some cases, offering placement services after the offender has been released into society. While in custody, a prisoner may be provided with literacy lessons and the opportunity to earn a secondary education diploma or even a higher education diploma. Additionally, these inmates may be offered the opportunity to learn job skills while incarcerated, often by working in one of several prison industries operating in a correctional facility. After release, some programs help offenders improve their job skills, by helping to match offenders with jobs and in some cases by inviting an offender to participate in a business run by and on behalf of offenders who are re-entering society.
In some areas, special courts exist to try cases where the defendant is mentally ill, a drug addict, or a combination of the two. These courts recognize that individuals who are mentally ill or substance dependent have special needs that can make it difficult for them to respond well to typical recidivism reduction programs. Judges and judicial officials are trained on the special needs of these populations and work to reduce recidivism by structuring the judicial process and supervision of an offender to meet the needs of those who may have difficulty following instructions or who are attempting to reach or maintain sobriety. These special courts are not available in all areas, although there is evidence that they reduce recidivism in the communities where they exist.
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