Rehabilitation

Abstract

The word “rehabilitation” comes from the Latin prefix re meaning “again” and habitare “to make fit.” Therefore, rehabilitation is the act of restoring someone to their original state or making them whole again. The ability of the criminal justice system to rehabilitate offenders continues to be the subject of much debate among the public, scholars, politicians, and policymakers. Proponents of rehabilitation support the development and expansion of programs because they believe that these programs hold the most promise for reducing recidivism. To the contrary, opponents of rehabilitation claim that rehabilitative efforts do not significantly lower recidivism rates. Thus, they believe that rehabilitation should be abandon in favor of retributive forms of punishment to deter criminal behavior. However, rehabilitation continues to be embraced as the preferred method for correcting offenders. Recent rehabilitative efforts utilize evidence‐based research for the development, implementation, and continuation of rehabilitative programs.