Why Long Term Strategy Must Embrace Innovation To Achieve A Sustainable Rehabilitation
Presented by Avraham Hoffmann at the ICPA 19th annual conference, London, UK , October 2017
Rehabilitation programs have considerably evolved over the years, the community has evolved exponentially more. The changes in prisons haven’t kept up with the fast paced changes. For example, the judicial systems increased inclination to shorten the incarceration periods and to find alternatives to incarceration.
This is an example of the crucial need for radical changes. In face of the shorter incarceration sentences, prisons need to intensify the rehabilitation work done with prisoners to ensure they are ready to reintegrate society.
One way to deal with this could be to separate between minor delinquent prisoners who are motivated to rehabilitate and those who are recidivists and criminal leaders who are not willing to revert their ways. The first third of the incarceration term would be dedicated to the punishment and adaptation to the life prison. But by separating them from the second term, we prevent those who wish to rehabilitate from radicalizing, learning from “hard core” criminals and from becoming their “soldiers”. Prisoners should receive incentives to rehabilitate. Investing in a special “open” prison ward is needed. It shows them that the society’s believes in their ability to rehabilitate and it prepares them better for re-entering life in society. In such an “open ward” they must go to work outside prison, a work for which they earn a salary. After work, they receive social and individual therapy and meet with citizens who volunteer in prison. Their families should be engaged in their rehabilitation and as an incentive they could receive 25% additional family visits and prison leaves while also participating in family therapy. By treating both the prisoners’ spouses and children, as well as the family as a whole, toward the reunion after the release from prison, we prevent the prisoners from returning to crime as well as preventing their children from becoming delinquents in their turn. Instead of returning into the arms of the criminal community, they will return to a loving family. It offers the released prisoners an opportunity to see and experience their future reality outside prison, and deal beforehand with issues that may prevent them from integrating society.
Hence, the “rod” of the incarceration may become the rehabilitation “staff” they can lean on[1].
This kind of approach combines both a flexible thinking and an agile approach and response, while maintaining clear boundaries and rules. It balances the punishment function of the prison with the rehabilitation philosophy and goals – both the belief in the ability to change, the right to be given a second chance and seeing the rehabilitation as a way to make the whole society safer.
A changing world
Today more than ever before our world is rapidly changing. To keep up with the changes: economical, technological, demographic, scientific world and many more, we must embrace innovation to keep up with the fast paced world to ensure our rehabilitation programs are still relevant and delivering the same results and hopefully better ones. Programs that worked 20 years ago might need to change and adapt to the new circumstances, others maybe outdated. New ones may emerge from new scientific discoveries or from merging different perspectives and professional experiences.
However, at the same time we must remember that the human beings haven’t basically changed: both the released prisoners as the society they return to.
The Prisoners
Prisoners may return to a society that has changed, but their basic human needs are the same. As all human beings, they need to belong to a group and their return to society after being cut off is hard.
The therapy in prison, while being disconnected from society, only gives a momentary satisfaction to both the therapists and their patients, but leaves the patient in almost the same place. Maybe a little better, but not strong enough for the complex and harsh life that awaits them outside prison. People tend to forget that although prison denies liberty, it takes care of the prisoners subsistence, they receive food and a shelter, some good some less. For those who grew up in poverty or in abusive families, the prison’s harshness is often also the first time they are taken care of and where they experience empathy and understanding from their social workers. Even the cultural entertainment is taken care of. Those who didn’t receive proper education are often able to complete their education for free. As a result, often, the prison is like the cow that wants to nurse more than the calf wants to suckle.
Therefore social workers that invest so much in the prisoners during their incarceration, express their disappointment, when they see they are re-incarcerated. “You’re back again?! you had improved so much in therapy and we were convinced that you would never come back to prison”.
Hence the need to have the courage and agility to change the focus and find new ways to increase the chances of successful integration of released prisoners into society.
Society
Society has also changed in past years. One of the prominent aspects that has an important effect on prisoners’ rehabilitation, is that society, mainly in cities, is increasingly becoming alienated and more individualistic while being increasingly connected through the social media, both personally and professionally. And at the same time the long lasting fear from released prisoners is still prevalent and maybe even becoming stronger as society changes. As a result, it has become harder to find communities to help released prisoners reintegrate society. Released prisoners need a warm welcome, and if society doesn’t offer that, it is highly probable they will fall back into the seemingly warm hands of their former community of criminals.
Hence the increasing need to find innovative and creative programs to help released prisoners integrate society and to help society accept released prisoners. Programs that embrace the changes together with the unchanged human nature.
Here are a few programs we developed that show different ways of addressing these issues both in rural settings and in cities. These programs serve as examples of the way we, at the Israeli Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, addressed changes to find better ways to rehabilitate released prisoners by embracing innovative approaches.
The PRA
It is important to mention that when the Israeli Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority (PRA) was founded 33 years ago with the philosophy that every person has the right to a second chance, it challenged prevalent paradigms at that time, including that delinquents couldn’t revert their ways. With that spirit we developed innovative programs. We learned from experts in Israel and around the world encouraging multiple and opposing approaches from different disciplines, background and experiences, not being afraid of criticism and disagreements both with other agencies (e.g. prison services, probation services, police, ministry of justice and ministry of finance, academics and the community) and within the Authority, between program directors and social workers.
Always combining an open discussion as well as investing great advocacy efforts to engage the different agencies – those directly involved in rehabilitating released prisoners and their families as well as those influenced by the outcomes of rehabilitation, as the community and volunteer groups; political parties and the government, policy and legislation bodies.
But audacious innovative programs are not a goal. They are only the necessary mean to ensure continued and improved rehabilitation rates in the face of changes. Hence, to ensure the efficacy, every new rehabilitation program was assessed by a research to ensure they were having the desired results – reducing recidivism; that prisoners were given the best possible second chance; and succeeding in rehabilitating. Researches were conducted by other governmental agencies and academics to ensure their genuine results, sufficient budgeting and adequate ROI.
Innovation is not a goal but the best way to improve results.
One of our successful programs was the rehabilitation of released prisoners in rural settlements – Kibbutz and Moshav. It offered the released prisoners an opportunity to rehabilitate in a close and supportive community away from the temptation to rejoin their former criminal friends and community. An innovative approach at that time, breaking the belief that these relatively closed communities could act as change and supportive agents for released prisoner. We managed to engage these highly value based communities to adopt and integrate released prisoners and help them reintegrate society. Released prisoners were adopted both by the whole community as each one was adopted by a specific family to ensure their successful rehabilitation.
Another successful program was the 3-in-1 apartment program who helped young released prisoners by pairing them with two university students. The three of them lived in a shared apartment near the students’ university. The released prisoner engaged in social and leisure activities with the students and shared house chores. While the students were studying at university, the released prisoner were working. Hence this program had twofold outcomes: one was the rehabilitation of released prisoner while also growing our future leaders – the students – as change agents and community leaders that believe in the rehabilitation of released prisoner and its importance to society. By providing the students with scholarship, we offered them an incentive to overcome the economical burden of having to work so many hours while studying.
Not surprisingly – if for example a water tap would be damaged, the released prisoner would repair it, and hence his status is strengthened through the skills in which he is stronger than the students.
We must find new ways that are appropriate for the social and economic reality in each country, the main aim being to take the single prisoner from his previous delinquent background and offer him a social support combined with a breadwinning job and in a warm and supportive environment.
Employment is a crucial component and condition for a successful rehabilitation. However, many released prisoners are reluctant of authority, have a negative experience with perseverance at work, if any at all. Therefore, there is a crucial need for a “friendly employers”. Friendly employers are employers who are willing to employ released prisoner acknowledging their difficulties, showing them they are not enemies but open and supportive, and therefore important in reducing the released prisoners’ apprehensions. These employers receive support from the PRA social worker as difficulties occur. It is important to give these employers a public recognition. By thanking them publicly for their voluntary efforts we are also strengthening the public legitimacy of employing released prisoners.
Because the Israeli industry is strongly developed in the high-tech professions, recent years show that there is a shortage of manpower in the other industries and low-tech professions, such as building workers, plumbers, electricians, painters and locksmiths. The incarceration period could be an opportunity for vocational training that will ensure a safe income after the release from prison and a positive contribution to the whole economy and society.
These changes also require political support to obtain adequate budgets and large public support for increasing the efforts and success of rehabilitation and reintegration of released prisoners after their release from prison. Promoting a long term strategy of innovation to address our changing world and achieve sustainable results.
We are living in a new era. We cannot continue to hide behind walls of secrecy. Professional who wish to live in a closed professional community will fail. We must engage the society in all our actions: Through the media to – expose the successfully rehabilitated prisoners to the public. Publicising their positive behavior is of great importance both for motivating the released prisoners to rehabilitate as for their integration into society. And by engaging the community leadership – including local municipalities, business men, and professionals.
In the same spirit of positive psychology our sages said: “Run to pursue a minor commandment, and flee from a transgression. For a commandment brings another commandment, and a transgression brings another transgression. For the reward of a commandment is a commandment, and the reward of transgression is transgression”.[2] To break the vicious circle of recidivism, we must constantly find positive and innovative ways to achieve the desired changes in prisoners, released prisoners, the society and the professional community to ensure we keep up with our fast paced changing world in order to secure a continued and sustainable successful rehabilitation and a safe society.
[1] As King David wrote in Psalms (23: 4-5): “Even when I walk in the valley of darkness, I will fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff-they comfort me.”
That is, the punishment and rehabilitation of the released prisoner must be, according to King David” an integral part of the verdict. So incarceration must always be accompanied with rehabilitation.
[2] Ethics of the fathers (Pirkey Avot) 4:2.