The main problem that emerges in the department of corrections is what do they do with these criminal offenders. Should they get tough and lock them up and throw away the key in hope that this will serve as an example to potential criminal offenders. Should they just simply lock up the criminals and isolate them from the rest of society. These are valid options that have been previously experimented with in the United States and to a certain extent are still being experimented with. The trouble with these options is that they create sever overcrowding of our prisons, which in turn digs deeper into the pockets of law abiding citizens. On average it cost about $56 per day for each inmate, which is a little over $20,000 a year. (1999 corrections yearbook) The United States prison populati

on is about 2 million inmates. Multiply 2 million by $20,000 plus the cost to run the correctional facilities. That is a lot of money that is charged to tax payers. Why invest so much money into an institution that just keeps growing in size and cost? Why not invest the people's money into programs that could help lower the population of correctional institutions and rehabilitate criminal offenders so they could be productive citizens in society?

Rehabilitation may not work a hundred percent, but it does rehabilitate some offenders. That is more than any of the other correctional approaches could do. The United States has adopted a retribution policy towards criminal offenders. The United States believe that we should just lock offenders up and throw away the key. This approach has made the United States number two in prison population, just behind Russia. Putting offenders away is not going to lower the amount of criminals. It is having a counter effect by raising the amount of criminals. If the rehabilitation approach just rehabilitates 30% then at least that is better than none.

The better educated a person is then the better the likelihood that the person will get an honest job and earn a living. Cognitive-behavioral therapy programs are another form of effective rehabilitation. Cognitive-behavioral therapies comprise a number of different approaches which attempt to change behavior by changing the dysfunctional ways an individual thinks -- their attitudes, beliefs, and thinking patterns (Porporino, Fabiano, & Robinson, 1991). Mahoney & Lyddon (1988) suggest that there are about 20 different types of cognitive-behavioral therapies which generally fall into two different areas; moral reasoning and development, and inf

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Approximate Word count = 1178
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)