Abstract
Violent crime is a horrific burden on society; it effects families, communities and neighborhoods and costs taxpayers every time a violent crime is committed. In 2018, there were over one million violent crimes committed in the U.S., with the financial burden of these crimes falling on hospitals, healthcare systems and the communities affected by these crimes (America's Health Rankings, 2019). With violent acts, comes incarceration for those who are convicted of these crimes. While violent crime rates have dropped steadily across the United States in the last 25 years (Kearney, et al, 2019), we are still the country with the highest incarceration rate in the world, as well as the highest recidivism rates for offenders released to community supervision (probation or parole). Each time an offender is incarcerated, it costs that state thousands of dollars to house the individual and that cost, is felt by communities and taxpayers. This secondary research project explores the positive correlation between therapeutic programming during incarceration and a decrease in offender recidivism rates in the State of Indiana. Research has shown that the use of therapeutic programming during incarceration, can greatly reduce the number of offenders being returned to prison for parole/probation violations, or committing a new crime. In addition, reducing recidivism rates can greatly reduce a state's expenditures when it comes to housing repeat offenders.
The intention of this project is to provide the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) with a plan to implement a robust, reentry, therapeutic program, geared towards rehabilitating offenders convicted of violent crimes. Existing therapeutic programs within the IDOC, the author's own corrections case management experience and information found during the literature review, assisted with the design of the proposed, reentry therapeutic rehabilitation program for the Indiana Department of Correction.
