t, behavioral responses and skill development, they also sought to increase the offenders reasoning skills, problem solving abilities and expand offenders empathy toward others. (Chavaria, p.57) Not only must a program address the values and compassion of an inmate, but it must also give the inmates a set of tools that will allow them to be successful. When inmates leave the confines of prison, they need to have some vocational skill that will allow them to gain useful and satisfying employment. Many of the skills offenders need, however, are more soft and not based on a specific job function, but are universal. Offenders need to be taught how to handle the difficult times they will run into beyond prison walls in a way that is acceptable to the community. If an offender does not have these tools, often they will relapse into their old ways in order to combat a problem. Having the skills to deal with individuals and problems increases the likelihood that an offender will have a smooth transition back into the community.Many programs attempt to induce these important changes in offenders behavior. All of these programs accept that some criminals acts are too abominable or an inmate is so hardened to the prison system that they are beyond change. First, these programs must focus their energy on offenders who can be rehabilitated and who have committed crimes that are not overly nefarious. Once an offender population is defined and a program is put in place, it must be objectively determined whether a program is successful. In order to evaluate effectively a programs ability to make changes to an offenders life and break the criminal cycle, appropriate measures need to be examined. A successful program would primarily reduce the chances that an offender would commit a crime. A reduction in recidivism would indicate that the reformed offenders had acclimated back into the community in an acceptable way. Changes in lifestyle, th...
