Canadian Correctional System Essay, Research Paper

Canada’s Correctional System

The Canadian Correctional System is adequate in providing rehabilitation

for offenders and is proven to be successful.

The rehabilitation process for federal offenders has played a major roll in

Canada for several years. The Correctional Service contributes to the protection

of society by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding

citizens. For the last several years, the Correctional Service of Canada has been

involved in a review process to ensure that its programs are designed to maximize

effectiveness and that they keep the latest treatment techniques up to date for each

program area. These programs include: Prison Work Programs, which have a

27.8% reduction in re-admissions, Substance Abuse Programs, which show a 31%

reduction in new convictions, Anger Management Programs, which show at 86%

reduction in violent recidivism, Clearwater Unit Programs for sex offenders,

which show a 58.7% reduction in sexual recidivism, and Intensive Programming

for Violent Offenders, which show a 16.7% reduction in violent recidivism.

(http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/organi/organe01_e.shtml).

The rehabilitation process plays a major role in the future life of the

offender. In recent years, the process has improved in keeping offenders out of

further trouble, and helping them with the adjustment back into the real world in a

normal manor. “The success for day parole, full parole, and statutory releases are

among the highest in recent years. From a public safety perspective, offenders

granted a discretionary release and properly supervised in the community

demonstrate very high levels of success.” (http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/InfoSource/Info_3)

Public safety is addressed during the rehabilitation process and afterwards when

they are released back into the community. “A period of supervised transition

from prison to the community enhances public safety and the rehabilitation of

offenders.” (http://www.cjprimer.com/links1)

The rehabilitation process helps to heal the criminals mentally and

physically, and make them believe that committing crimes is wrong. It is giving

the offenders a second chance, and helping them along the way, while they are still

punished under prison conditions. This is very successful. “There were 93.9%

who did not recidivate including 99.3% without a new violent offence.”

(http://canada.gc.ca/infocenter) Almost all offenders will eventually return to the

community. The greatest protection that can be offered to the community at large is to

assist the offender, throughout the sentence, to change his or her criminal behavior and

to learn to live by the rules of society.

In the Movie, “Murder in the First”, which takes place in the early 1930’s,

Henry was a young boy when he was first convicted of stealing money from a store

to feed his younger sister, in the United States of America. From the one mistake

this boy committed, he spent a lot of his life in jail, in Solitary Confinement.

There was no windows or light, minimal food, a lot of abuse, and loneliness. This

movie is a good example of what would never happen in Canada. Prison is still a

punishment for committing crimes, but there is no death penalties or solitary

confinement like there was in those days. This is a good example of how

Canada’s Correctional System is working, in providing people with opportunities

to forget what they have done wrong in the past with rehabilitation steps to help

prepare them for the real world.

The Canadian Correctional System’s rehabilitation process is very important in

preparing offenders for the real world once they have finished their sentence in prison.

It provides offenders with a chance to reintegrate into the community, and it is very

successful at doing so.

1. http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/organi/organe01_e.shtml

2. http://www.cjprimer.com/links1

3. http://canada.gc.ca/infocenter

4. http://www.canada.gc.ca/infocenter/link3

5. http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/