Information Synthesis Document
Conflict is Composed of Opposing Forces
While conducting our research, we found out that our conflict is composed of two opposing sides; the justice system and prisoner advocacy groups. The motive of Justice System aims to punish those who commit crime while prisoner advocacy groups focus on reducing recidivism by giving ex-offenders an education or by creating rehabilitation programs. Nico A. Pingaro, the writer of an article titled, “America's War on Recidivism: How Correctional Education can Save a Country,” states, ”Jails originated in order to detain criminals, and ‘workhouses’ were used to rehabilitate criminals.” The justice system was implemented to “rehabilitate criminals” so they can reflect on their mistakes so they don’t commit crime again. The justice system also has the duty to keep our cities safe from crime. In a prisoner advocacy group’s perspective, incarceration does not reduce recidivism, but instead increases it. For example two senators, Chris Coons, and Thom Tillis stated in an article by CNN, “We share a strong belief that America's criminal justice system is broken, focusing far too much on criminalization and incarceration and far too little on rehabilitation.” These senators are claiming that the justice system in America is too busy focusing on locking up prisoners and not focusing on providing rehabilitation or education programs for prisoners. In an article by Michelle Chen published by “The Nation,” it states, ”Though research on prison education is still lacking, studies that have tracked the relationship between recidivism and educational attainment generally point to reduced recidivism and better preparation for transition back into their communities and the workforce upon release.” This article states that studies have shown that prison education reduces recidivism. Education greatly increases the chances of an ex-offender to get a job. Therefore, the less likely they are to commit crime again. The justice system wants to incarcerate those who commit crime so our communities can be safe, but prisoners advocacy groups believe that rehabilitation and education programs should be available for ex-offenders, creating a conflict between these two sides.
Conflict May be Natural or Man-made
As we were doing our research, we discovered that recidivism originates as both a man-made and natural conflict. According to a news article, “Recidivism - Its Causes and Cure”, by John Dewar Gleissner, he explains, “A wise prison warden in 1912 set forth the requirements of a good prison system, but our society has not listened to his advice. Instead, prisoners get worse over time by learning sick prison values, the process of ‘prisonization’.” Prisonization is a process in which new offenders accept prison lifestyles and criminal values. These prisoners never learn to change because by accepting these prison values, they keep committing crime. According to the Huffington Post in an article written by Paul Heroux it states, ”It is an aspiration that is, however, undermined by housing complications upon release, drug and medical issues after release, the lack of employment after release, and criminal records.” Along with prisonization, there are many other challenges that prisoners face when they are released from jail, which causes them to commit recidivism. For example, they may face unemployment, because of their criminal records. Without a job, ex-offenders won’t be able to afford housing or even basic needs. Under all these complications, they are bound to go back to committing crime. Mental issues also play a role in recidivism. An ex-offender with mental issues may commit crime without the intention of doing so. Amanda M. Nadeau author of “A Study of Mental Illness as a Causal Factor in Recidivism among Adult Inmates at the Adult Correctional Institutions of Rhode Island,” claims, ”Biological and psychological factors also contribute, particularly due to the combined effects of substance addiction and mental illnesses. Mental illness has also been linked to an individual’s tendency to commit crime.” Mental illnesses impacts a person's ability to think properly, which as a result may lead to complications. Ex-offenders with mental illnesses are likely to commit crime again because they don’t know any better. In conclusion, recidivism is a conflict that is natural and man-made because of biological factors such as mental issues and hardships such as unemployment that converge to create recidivism.
Conflict May be Intentional or Unintentional
While conducting our research, we found some evidence that recidivism rates in American are unintentional. Recidivism is never intentional because it was never meant to happen. It is unintentional because some ex-offenders can suffer from mental illness, which is a biological factor. Someone with mental issues may accidentally commit a crime they didn't mean to commit According to an article by the organization, “NCBI,” the author explains, “We hypothesized that diagnosed mental illness is an independent risk factor for unintentional injury and it increases the risk of recidivism.” There seems to be a pattern where someone with mental illness may commit crime not because they meant to, but because they were mentally unstable. Thus, by being released from jail, they are likely to commit crime again. It is also unintentional because prisoners go through a process in jail in which they learn bad prison habits; like a prison code. They may also learn to accept the prison lifestyle and criminal values. Therefore, once prisoners have finished serving their time in jail and are released, they commit recidivism. According to a news article, “Recidivism - Its Causes and Cure,” by John Dewar Gleissner, he informs, “...prisoners get worse over time by learning sick prison values, the process of "prisonization." Prisonization is the prison code that most ex-offenders stick to, when they are released from prison. Although ex-offenders have the choice to let go of these prison values, they often choose to go back to committing crime. These prison values might even cause criminals to become even more dangerous. The prison system was meant to make criminals reflect on their actions so they don’t crime again, so the prison values that prisoners learn while being incarcerated, is unintentional.
Conflict May Allow for Synthesis and Change
Recidivism may allow for synthesis and change as we have observed while doing research. Since studies have shown that prison education reduces recidivism rates by over 40%, the justice system should implement as many education programs as possible in prisons. Not only will this change make the justice system benefit from seeing a decrease of recidivism, but ex-offenders will also see more job opportunities and their lives will be improved. Rehabilitation programs are also necessary for ex-offenders. According to an article by the National Reentry Resource Center, it states, “The new laws emphasized rehabilitation over incarceration for nonviolent offenders, and supervision and programs and services focused on addressing reentry needs. Experts projected that, once fully implemented, these policies would reduce the prison population by nearly 5,000 over 5 years, saving the state at least $264 million.” As the prison population goes down, recidivism rates go down as well. While conducting our student led research where we observed the states with the lowest and the highest recidivism rates, we came to a conclusion that the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs and each state's population, was important. Although states like California had 13 rehabilitation programs, it still had one of the highest recidivism rates in America. This is partly due to its population of 39.25 million, since a bigger population means more people likely to commit crime. It is also mainly due to the effectiveness of these programs. An article by the CSG Justice Center claims, “Programs that are effective at reducing recidivism have three core elements in common: they target people who are most likely to reoffend; they use practices rooted in the latest research on what works to reduce recidivism, and they regularly review program quality and evaluate how closely the program adheres to its established model.” These attributes as stated by the CSG Justice Center seem to be reasonable. By targeting those that are likely to reoffend, rehabilitation programs can be more effective because they won’t be focusing on the prison population as whole, but they will be focusing on those who likely to commit recidivism which saves time, and money. Using practices that have been proven to reduce recidivism is effective because these methods work and leave a lasting positive impact in the lives of ex-offenders, which reduces recidivism. By reviewing program quality, rehabilitation programs can see in what areas they can improve upon. The convergence of rehabilitation and education programs for prisoners ensures a decrease of recidivism.
Conflict is Progressive
In our research, we found trends displaying that recidivism rates have been increasing. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the author states, “Among, prisoners released in 1983, 46.8% were reconvicted within 3 years compared to 46.9% among those released in 1994.” The growing prison population might explain why recidivism rates have been found to be higher than in the past. In a video produced by CNN, it shows that in 2017, 60% of released prisoners return back to prison within 3 years. This shows that recidivism in America is progressive as recidivism rates keep on growing. In another way, recidivism is progressive because there was a pattern in which for every year that passes by when an ex-offender is released, the higher the chances are of that person being arrested again. In an article by the “Daily Beast,” it states, “The study, released Tuesday, tracked 404,638 state prisoners from 30 states who were released in 2005. It found that 67.8 percent of them were re-arrested within three years of their release and 76.6 percent were re-arrested within five years.” There was an increase in recidivism within those 5 years. What may have caused this increase could include hardships that ex-offenders could have possibly faced. If ex-offenders struggle in life they are bound to commit a crime again, as they may not be able to cope with the struggle.
While conducting our research, we found out that our conflict is composed of two opposing sides; the justice system and prisoner advocacy groups. The motive of Justice System aims to punish those who commit crime while prisoner advocacy groups focus on reducing recidivism by giving ex-offenders an education or by creating rehabilitation programs. Nico A. Pingaro, the writer of an article titled, “America's War on Recidivism: How Correctional Education can Save a Country,” states, ”Jails originated in order to detain criminals, and ‘workhouses’ were used to rehabilitate criminals.” The justice system was implemented to “rehabilitate criminals” so they can reflect on their mistakes so they don’t commit crime again. The justice system also has the duty to keep our cities safe from crime. In a prisoner advocacy group’s perspective, incarceration does not reduce recidivism, but instead increases it. For example two senators, Chris Coons, and Thom Tillis stated in an article by CNN, “We share a strong belief that America's criminal justice system is broken, focusing far too much on criminalization and incarceration and far too little on rehabilitation.” These senators are claiming that the justice system in America is too busy focusing on locking up prisoners and not focusing on providing rehabilitation or education programs for prisoners. In an article by Michelle Chen published by “The Nation,” it states, ”Though research on prison education is still lacking, studies that have tracked the relationship between recidivism and educational attainment generally point to reduced recidivism and better preparation for transition back into their communities and the workforce upon release.” This article states that studies have shown that prison education reduces recidivism. Education greatly increases the chances of an ex-offender to get a job. Therefore, the less likely they are to commit crime again. The justice system wants to incarcerate those who commit crime so our communities can be safe, but prisoners advocacy groups believe that rehabilitation and education programs should be available for ex-offenders, creating a conflict between these two sides.
Conflict May be Natural or Man-made
As we were doing our research, we discovered that recidivism originates as both a man-made and natural conflict. According to a news article, “Recidivism - Its Causes and Cure”, by John Dewar Gleissner, he explains, “A wise prison warden in 1912 set forth the requirements of a good prison system, but our society has not listened to his advice. Instead, prisoners get worse over time by learning sick prison values, the process of ‘prisonization’.” Prisonization is a process in which new offenders accept prison lifestyles and criminal values. These prisoners never learn to change because by accepting these prison values, they keep committing crime. According to the Huffington Post in an article written by Paul Heroux it states, ”It is an aspiration that is, however, undermined by housing complications upon release, drug and medical issues after release, the lack of employment after release, and criminal records.” Along with prisonization, there are many other challenges that prisoners face when they are released from jail, which causes them to commit recidivism. For example, they may face unemployment, because of their criminal records. Without a job, ex-offenders won’t be able to afford housing or even basic needs. Under all these complications, they are bound to go back to committing crime. Mental issues also play a role in recidivism. An ex-offender with mental issues may commit crime without the intention of doing so. Amanda M. Nadeau author of “A Study of Mental Illness as a Causal Factor in Recidivism among Adult Inmates at the Adult Correctional Institutions of Rhode Island,” claims, ”Biological and psychological factors also contribute, particularly due to the combined effects of substance addiction and mental illnesses. Mental illness has also been linked to an individual’s tendency to commit crime.” Mental illnesses impacts a person's ability to think properly, which as a result may lead to complications. Ex-offenders with mental illnesses are likely to commit crime again because they don’t know any better. In conclusion, recidivism is a conflict that is natural and man-made because of biological factors such as mental issues and hardships such as unemployment that converge to create recidivism.
Conflict May be Intentional or Unintentional
While conducting our research, we found some evidence that recidivism rates in American are unintentional. Recidivism is never intentional because it was never meant to happen. It is unintentional because some ex-offenders can suffer from mental illness, which is a biological factor. Someone with mental issues may accidentally commit a crime they didn't mean to commit According to an article by the organization, “NCBI,” the author explains, “We hypothesized that diagnosed mental illness is an independent risk factor for unintentional injury and it increases the risk of recidivism.” There seems to be a pattern where someone with mental illness may commit crime not because they meant to, but because they were mentally unstable. Thus, by being released from jail, they are likely to commit crime again. It is also unintentional because prisoners go through a process in jail in which they learn bad prison habits; like a prison code. They may also learn to accept the prison lifestyle and criminal values. Therefore, once prisoners have finished serving their time in jail and are released, they commit recidivism. According to a news article, “Recidivism - Its Causes and Cure,” by John Dewar Gleissner, he informs, “...prisoners get worse over time by learning sick prison values, the process of "prisonization." Prisonization is the prison code that most ex-offenders stick to, when they are released from prison. Although ex-offenders have the choice to let go of these prison values, they often choose to go back to committing crime. These prison values might even cause criminals to become even more dangerous. The prison system was meant to make criminals reflect on their actions so they don’t crime again, so the prison values that prisoners learn while being incarcerated, is unintentional.
Conflict May Allow for Synthesis and Change
Recidivism may allow for synthesis and change as we have observed while doing research. Since studies have shown that prison education reduces recidivism rates by over 40%, the justice system should implement as many education programs as possible in prisons. Not only will this change make the justice system benefit from seeing a decrease of recidivism, but ex-offenders will also see more job opportunities and their lives will be improved. Rehabilitation programs are also necessary for ex-offenders. According to an article by the National Reentry Resource Center, it states, “The new laws emphasized rehabilitation over incarceration for nonviolent offenders, and supervision and programs and services focused on addressing reentry needs. Experts projected that, once fully implemented, these policies would reduce the prison population by nearly 5,000 over 5 years, saving the state at least $264 million.” As the prison population goes down, recidivism rates go down as well. While conducting our student led research where we observed the states with the lowest and the highest recidivism rates, we came to a conclusion that the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs and each state's population, was important. Although states like California had 13 rehabilitation programs, it still had one of the highest recidivism rates in America. This is partly due to its population of 39.25 million, since a bigger population means more people likely to commit crime. It is also mainly due to the effectiveness of these programs. An article by the CSG Justice Center claims, “Programs that are effective at reducing recidivism have three core elements in common: they target people who are most likely to reoffend; they use practices rooted in the latest research on what works to reduce recidivism, and they regularly review program quality and evaluate how closely the program adheres to its established model.” These attributes as stated by the CSG Justice Center seem to be reasonable. By targeting those that are likely to reoffend, rehabilitation programs can be more effective because they won’t be focusing on the prison population as whole, but they will be focusing on those who likely to commit recidivism which saves time, and money. Using practices that have been proven to reduce recidivism is effective because these methods work and leave a lasting positive impact in the lives of ex-offenders, which reduces recidivism. By reviewing program quality, rehabilitation programs can see in what areas they can improve upon. The convergence of rehabilitation and education programs for prisoners ensures a decrease of recidivism.
Conflict is Progressive
In our research, we found trends displaying that recidivism rates have been increasing. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the author states, “Among, prisoners released in 1983, 46.8% were reconvicted within 3 years compared to 46.9% among those released in 1994.” The growing prison population might explain why recidivism rates have been found to be higher than in the past. In a video produced by CNN, it shows that in 2017, 60% of released prisoners return back to prison within 3 years. This shows that recidivism in America is progressive as recidivism rates keep on growing. In another way, recidivism is progressive because there was a pattern in which for every year that passes by when an ex-offender is released, the higher the chances are of that person being arrested again. In an article by the “Daily Beast,” it states, “The study, released Tuesday, tracked 404,638 state prisoners from 30 states who were released in 2005. It found that 67.8 percent of them were re-arrested within three years of their release and 76.6 percent were re-arrested within five years.” There was an increase in recidivism within those 5 years. What may have caused this increase could include hardships that ex-offenders could have possibly faced. If ex-offenders struggle in life they are bound to commit a crime again, as they may not be able to cope with the struggle.
Reflections 1-4
Reflection 1:
For the articles we have found so far, they talk about the rates of recidivism and the age recidivism is most likely to happen. It also talks about some possible ways to reduce recidivism in America. They relate to conflict because recidivism is a big conflict in America because recidivism raises crime rates and we do not want that. The articles connect to all the generalizations because they all follow the generalizations. I learned that there was a such thing as recidivism because before I did not know there was such thing. I also learned that about 2-3 years after release, age groups around 21 are most likely to go back to jail because they fail in education, they are mentally sick, or they are on drugs. In my exploration of the topic we changed our driving question because we thought that our diving question was to simple and we wanted it to be more complex. We hope to find statistics of recidivism in every state of America. Our collaboration is actually working well.
Reflection 2:
In our research, we found out that there is a lot of recidivism all of America and that it is increasing really fast. We changed our driving question because we thought that it was too bland. For the student-led research we are doing an observation. For the observation, we will research about recidivism in all of the fifty states in America and then we will compare and see which states have a higher rate and which countries have a lower rate. Then, we will see what we can do to reduce recidivism in America. This process has not been easy and in our next steps, we will make sure to research recidivism in all of fifty states and make sure that we get the information from scholarly or credible sources. As if right now, our collaboration is going just fine.
Reflection 3:
In our topic, we learned that the recidivism rates in America vary a lot in different states. We learned that California’s recidivism rates are really high and they are the third state with the highest recidivism rates. I learned that I like to get work done as soon as possible. Also I learned that I like getting ahead. I work better with others than when I work alone. For our tri-fold board, we decided to draw a man bending prison bars and in the middle, would be our driving question. This represents how we want to reduce recidivism, therefore by stopping prisoners from committing crime again. For our actual board, we will draw two jails on each side of the board and draw a bridge in the middle called, “The Bridge to Freedom”. This symbolizes that the prisoners are in freedom in a short period of time before they go back to prison. For our creative art piece, we will create a model of prisoners going around in a circle. They going into jail and out of jail; kind of like a never ending cycle. In my next steps I want to finish our SLR, ISD, and get our Relevant Revolutions Map approved. As far as our collaboration is going, it is going very well and everything seems to be going pretty good.
Reflection 4:
Our driving question is “How can the justice system diminish negative patterns of recidivism in America?” As we prepared and rehearsed, we basically choreographed what we were going to say so we do not cut each other off in the middle of a sentence. We learned if we said the correct things at the correct times, our presentation will sound better so if we add in all the details like, looking at the audience, speaking loudly, taking turns, and looking professional, our presentation will look and sound better. I learned that we need to use valuable and credible information. For example, our expert that we interviewed gave us credible and valuable information. I learned that when presenting to others to try to not stutter, to speak at an understandable speed, and to speak loudly. I think I collaborated well with my group. If I could have done anything differently was to try to finish my research and tri-fold board faster so we have more time to make a better supplemental creative piece. I learned that designing is hard and the creativity part is very time consuming. I would say to not get distracted, work hard, and good luck.
For the articles we have found so far, they talk about the rates of recidivism and the age recidivism is most likely to happen. It also talks about some possible ways to reduce recidivism in America. They relate to conflict because recidivism is a big conflict in America because recidivism raises crime rates and we do not want that. The articles connect to all the generalizations because they all follow the generalizations. I learned that there was a such thing as recidivism because before I did not know there was such thing. I also learned that about 2-3 years after release, age groups around 21 are most likely to go back to jail because they fail in education, they are mentally sick, or they are on drugs. In my exploration of the topic we changed our driving question because we thought that our diving question was to simple and we wanted it to be more complex. We hope to find statistics of recidivism in every state of America. Our collaboration is actually working well.
Reflection 2:
In our research, we found out that there is a lot of recidivism all of America and that it is increasing really fast. We changed our driving question because we thought that it was too bland. For the student-led research we are doing an observation. For the observation, we will research about recidivism in all of the fifty states in America and then we will compare and see which states have a higher rate and which countries have a lower rate. Then, we will see what we can do to reduce recidivism in America. This process has not been easy and in our next steps, we will make sure to research recidivism in all of fifty states and make sure that we get the information from scholarly or credible sources. As if right now, our collaboration is going just fine.
Reflection 3:
In our topic, we learned that the recidivism rates in America vary a lot in different states. We learned that California’s recidivism rates are really high and they are the third state with the highest recidivism rates. I learned that I like to get work done as soon as possible. Also I learned that I like getting ahead. I work better with others than when I work alone. For our tri-fold board, we decided to draw a man bending prison bars and in the middle, would be our driving question. This represents how we want to reduce recidivism, therefore by stopping prisoners from committing crime again. For our actual board, we will draw two jails on each side of the board and draw a bridge in the middle called, “The Bridge to Freedom”. This symbolizes that the prisoners are in freedom in a short period of time before they go back to prison. For our creative art piece, we will create a model of prisoners going around in a circle. They going into jail and out of jail; kind of like a never ending cycle. In my next steps I want to finish our SLR, ISD, and get our Relevant Revolutions Map approved. As far as our collaboration is going, it is going very well and everything seems to be going pretty good.
Reflection 4:
Our driving question is “How can the justice system diminish negative patterns of recidivism in America?” As we prepared and rehearsed, we basically choreographed what we were going to say so we do not cut each other off in the middle of a sentence. We learned if we said the correct things at the correct times, our presentation will sound better so if we add in all the details like, looking at the audience, speaking loudly, taking turns, and looking professional, our presentation will look and sound better. I learned that we need to use valuable and credible information. For example, our expert that we interviewed gave us credible and valuable information. I learned that when presenting to others to try to not stutter, to speak at an understandable speed, and to speak loudly. I think I collaborated well with my group. If I could have done anything differently was to try to finish my research and tri-fold board faster so we have more time to make a better supplemental creative piece. I learned that designing is hard and the creativity part is very time consuming. I would say to not get distracted, work hard, and good luck.
