OFFENDER INTERVENTIONS2Thought Paper: Prison and Community Offender InterventionsEvery individual who finds their way into the justice system is automatically givenresources and interventions to reduce the chances of reoffending. While traditional forms ofincarceration focused on punishment, the new focus is on rehabilitation of offenders. Prisons andcommunity supervision have a common goal of reducing recidivism; they have interventions setin place to rehabilitate offenders. Rehabilitation can begin at incarceration and continue intocommunity-based supervision or it can begin only at community supervision depending on thesentence an offender receives. While the goal of intervention techniques is to reduce reoffendingrates, it is also utilized to help assist offenders transitioning back into society without incident.Most offenders who receive a sentence after committing crime will be released back intosociety, it is important for the offender to start the rehabilitation process upon entry into afacility. With the many risk factors an offender faces, specific interventions are important toaddress; these factors include substance abuse, unemployment, lack of self control, lack of lifeskills and prosocial support, and lastly mental illness (Gideon & Sung, 2011). These factors arestatistically associated with a likelihood of reoffending if not addressed before release.Interventions that are in place in facilities include therapeutic communities (TC), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), educational opportunities and case management services.Therapeutic communities, also known as communal living as therapy, is a new design ofan ancient concept that began many years ago (Gideon & Sung, 2011). Through personalexperience, I have seen how a therapeutic community runs. There are many offenders all livingtogether in a large room, they follow the same rules, have the same expectations, they work
