Lior Gideon - Special Needs: Offenders in Correctional Institutions

L. Gideon

SPECIAL NEEDS
OFFENDERS in CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS

Lior Gideon

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

EDITOR

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O ffenders with special needs have always been part of the criminal justice system. However, up until recently their visibility in correctional institutions was very low. For several decades, not much attention was given to anyone who harmed society; they were considered castaways, people society was better off without. Usually they were sentenced to jail or prison, and that was itjustice was served. Recent years, however, have seen a fresh interest in what is going on inside our prisons, and in particular how offenders are (or are not) being rehabilitated. This interest followed a period of what could be called an obsession with crime, during which the number of people sentenced to do time steadily increased, and convicted criminals were simply warehoused, shut away from society behind massive walls and barbed wire. The policy was little more than lock them up and throw away the key.

In addition, people finally came to understand that about 90% of these incarcerated people would inevitably be released and return to the communities from which they originally came. This sparked an interest in understanding these populations, what was being done for them while they were behind bars, and how society could better prepare to handle these masses of released offenders. Once more, rehabilitationalong with its associated terms, reentry, and reintegrationbecame the buzzword of correctional practice. With that, scholars began to understand that simply incarcerating people does not make society any safer, and in many cases, it even causes more harm than good, by harming the offenders, their families, their communities, and society as a whole. Consequently, evidence-based research began to form around the question of just what are the best correctional and rehabilitation practices for reducing recidivism and promoting public safety. Such endeavors led scholars to understand that because not all individuals are the same, it would stand to reason that the same is true for incarcerated individuals. This in turn led to the development of intake methods that focus on identifying risks and needs for each incarcerated individual upon admission to a correctional institution, and often even earlier, during the sentencing stages.

This book focuses on offenders who have special needs within the corrections systemspecial groups with particular concerns and needs, or who present certain challenges to prison staff. What are their experiences behind bars, and how do these experiences contributeor notto the rehabilitative efforts made by correctional institutions? Each chapter of the book identifies and describes the characteristics of a particular group and explains why it should be considered a special needs case. The author then discusses the challenges such offenders face as inmates, as well as the challenges they pose to correctional management and the daily routine of the facilities. When relevant, such discussions turn to efforts at rehabilitation and preparations for the inevitable reentry and reintegration. At the end of each chapter, the authors suggest guidance for related policy, which may also be used by readers as further points of discussion.

The book has a total of 17 chapters, including the introduction. These are designed to fit a semester-long course, so this may also be used as a primary textbook. Or it can be used as a supplemental textbook for students to focus on a specific group of inmates (or several), as each of the chapters functions on its own, using original and up-to-date data and research. All chapters are followed by discussion questions to promote critical thinking and class discussion, as well as a list of supplementary suggested readings and websites to feed curiosity.

Astute readers will also notice the thread that flows through the pages of the book, guiding readers to think about rehabilitation, reentry, and reintegration of special needs offenders. Chapters of the book are ordered in such a way that more visible groups of inmates are presented and discussed first (. Ending the book this way seems fitting, as inmates with substance problems are in fact the majority of incarcerated offenders, so their needs are quite urgent.

A key feature of the book is an integrative conclusion that brings together the policy recommendations of each of the chapters. It is within this context that a theoretical model is presented to illuminate the need to assess each and every individual offender before he or she is sentenced and processed into the correctional system. It is hoped that this theoretical model will further the discussion on special needs offenders and the manner in which their multifaceted characteristics will be addressed. The goal is to provide not just much-needed intervention, but also a just form of punishment, one that is proportional to the offense and fits the offender without causing further and unnecessary damage that might prevent him or her from successfully reintegrating.

Lior Gideon

A s I taught a number of introductory and advanced courses in corrections, it became apparent that our system does not live up to societys expectations of correction. Offenders go in and come out in the same state, and at times in even worse condition. That led to the examination of rehabilitation, reentry, and reintegration, and ultimately to a previous book published on this topic: Rethinking Corrections: Rehabilitation, Reentry, and Reintegration (with Hung-En Sung). Through the pages of that book, a recurring theme was the need to individualize corrections-based intervention. Thus, to supplement this first discussion of the later phases of the corrections process, it was almost a natural step to initiate a discussion of the special needs of offenders earlier in the process, starting with sentencing and intake, and to acknowledge that although they committed a crime, they are still individuals, and as such have special needs.