Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 1) | Page 93

Re-entry and Integration

Revisiting Diversion
There is now a range of specialist courts that handle offences by categories.
For example, drug offenders may be sent to special courts that divert non
violent drug abusers to treatment instead of prison. Drug courts have led to
the formation of others such as domestic violence courts that aim to address
problems rather than dispense punishment. These are attempts at addressing
the underlying causes of offenders committing a crime.
Revisiting Policing Strategies
Over the years, police work has also gotten more sophisticated and more
targeted. Police in many cities and areas do more than just policing of “bad
neighbourhoods” and stopping and frisking residents. They target micro hot
spots, such as drug corners, and small groups of violent actors, such as gang
members. Police in these cities have become more selective about who gets
arrested and put into the criminal justice system.
Revisiting Re-entry
For a long time, prisoners were released into society and it was thought that
the reflection and isolation in prisons would have done the work of leading
them to repentance. In the US, as many as two-thirds of prisoners were
rearrested within three years. A number of programs aim to improve the
odds that a released prisoner will have other options besides unemployment,
homelessness and a return to crime. Some feature pre release counselling
and the enlisting of family members to ensure a safe landing. To increase
the chances of employment, there was an initiative called “Ban the box” to
encourage employers to eliminate the box on job applications that asks if you
have ever been arrested. A criminal history can still count against the person
in hiring, but it doesn’t eliminate the person from consideration.

So what is it that we can learn about re-entry and
aftercare?
To begin to speak about aftercare, we need to consider some of the goals of
our criminal justice policy as they give the precursor to the discussion about
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