California Prisons Have Lost Focus

The California correctional system has lost focus which will ultimately contribute to increased crime and violence in the community. This loss of focus is especially true with the so called “California Model” of corrections. California is failing and will continue to fail in its mission to serve the public if a change in focus is not implemented immediately.

Corrections has typically consisted of four different goals: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. Although each goal is important, they have received varied levels of public and professional support over time. One must understand all four goals are equally important and each goal supports the others. Recently California has put a laser-like focus on rehabilitation at the expense of other vital goals of corrections.

The Four Goals of Corrections:

Retribution

The idea of retribution explains a wrongdoer should be punished because the act deserves punishment. When a wrongdoer commits a crime, it is the responsibility of government to demonstrate the criminal activity will not be tolerated and will result in a punishment. Civil society prohibits victims to seek their own justice and we count on the government to seek that justice for the victim(s). A focus on retribution, and a belief the system works, is important to ensure victims of crime do not attempt to seek their own justice. Additionally, retribution helps maintain victim rights allowing a sense of justice for the victim or the victim’s family.

Deterrence

Corrections aims to support the judicial system with a focus towards deterrence. The threat of punishment, administered through the correctional system, helps to dissuade potential wrongdoers from committing a criminal act. Deterrence can be specific to the offender in that a wrongdoer will less likely re-offend after experiencing the punishment due to his/her criminal actions in the past. Deterrence can also be general in that the threat of punishment will keep potential wrongdoers from criminal activity. The importance of deterrence has been important to the criminal justice system going back to the Enlightenment-era with scholars Bentham and Beccaria writing to the need for general deterrence.

Incapacitation

Protecting society through incapacitation is the most visible goal of corrections. Having offenders contained in prisons, away from society, makes it difficult for these wrongdoers to continue to harm society. A focus on incapacitation means having secure perimeters to remove offenders from the public until the offenders are ready to return to the public. Prions are built to keep the offenders on the inside and with a strong focus on incapacitation, the correctional system should attempt to keep the offenders on the inside until the threat to the public is removed.

Rehabilitation

It is understood most offenders will be released from prison to society. A focus on rehabilitation is to provide programing and behavioral changes to the offenders before they are released. Public safety is negatively impacted when offenders are released from prison with an intent on future wrongdoing. Correctional focus on rehabilitation seeks to find the reasons wrongdoers committed crimes and implement programs to minimize the desire for offenders to commit future crimes.

What are the goals of the California prison system?

Mission Statement

The mission statement for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is as follows:

“To facilitate the successful reintegration of the individuals in our care back to their communities equipped with the tools to be drug-free, healthy, and employable members of society by providing education, treatment, rehabilitative, and restorative justice programs, all in a safe and humane environment.”

CDCR falls under the executive branch of government. (This is not true for all correctional systems.) As part of the executive branch, CDCR should have a primary desire to serve public safety. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is the state’s, and one of the nation’s, largest employers of law enforcement officers. Public safety should be primary to the Department’s mission. Public safety should be implemented through a focus on the four, equally important, goals of corrections.

Unfortunately, California has seemed to put public safety, and victims’ rights aside to focus too strongly on rehabilitation. More impactful, California has recently moved through extreme measures to release inmates from prison as early as possible without real consideration of the impact to public safety.

California Model

The recent adoption of the “California Model” of corrections further solidifies the state’s desire to ignore the needs of society and focus, almost exclusively, on the offender’s needs. In reality, the California Model appears to be a poor attempt at incorporating some of Norway’s corrections philosophies to California. Norway accomplishes correctional programs with swift, harsh punishment for bad decisions coupled with a large amount of freedom for good behavior. California appears to be ignoring the punishment side of Norway’s model to give much more freedom and benefits to the incarcerated population and call it “rehabilitation”. Little is being done understand the criminology of why and individual deviate from the law, but much is done to gift California inmates with fun, freedom, and increased happiness.

According to the CDCR website, the California Model aims to bring life in prison as close as possible to life outside of prison. This does little to support the punishment the department is designed to apply to the offenders. Additionally, a stated pillar is the California Model seeks to promote positive relationships between staff and offenders. Although relationships are necessary and should be professional, a push to make positivity the most important measure undermines the control needed in a prison environment and allows for an easier path towards over familiarity.

Change Needed

The correctional system does need improvement. Recidivism numbers show the system does fail its rehabilitative goals. However, programs to increase rehabilitation should never be at the expense to retribution, deterrence, incapacitation. The movement to the so-called “California Model” will further remove CDCR from its intended goals and decrease public safety. 

It should be noted, according to a recent report by the Public Policy Institute of California, crime rates are increasing in the state. A recent review showed California’s violent crime rate increased by 5.7% from 2021 to 2022. Robbery (theft with force) and aggravated assault increased by 9.9% and 5.2% respectively. In order to protect the citizens of California, evidence-based correctional programs should be implemented. Correctional programs implemented based on good feelings is a determent to the people.