Halfway House Programs: Community Resistance and Possible Solutions
Halfway houses are Community-Based Residential Facilities or Community Residential Centers. Additionally, volunteers or correctional officer's head this halfway house programs in a community-based setting. Halfway house programs provide an important role between institutional care and the community (Sechrest, 1991). This is because they offer rehabilitative and residential services to the designated community. In addition, they provide a chance for exceptional and creative programming aimed at solving the needs of the community and its residents at large.
In addition, the use of these programs is not a new idea because most of the offenders under observation, they are supervised in the community. Some of the offenders who receive community supervision include offenders under probation, those who receive a conditional sentence, and people who are gradually in the process of release into the community through a parole or a statutory release (Lindsay, 1991). It is important to note that many offenders under halfway house programs are there on day parole, some on temporary absences, full parole or statutory release.
In addition, most of the offenders chosen to serve under the programs are those who do not present a threat to the community before they complete their sentence. The National Parole Board will also refer an offender if the offender shows the capacity to contribute to the society's protection. However, a halfway house may reject an offender if it lacks enough resources and the offender-based is a probable threat to the community. Halfway houses must conform to standards including offer quality service, show responsibility, credibility, protection of officers, efficient planning and management, and appropriate...
However, some agencies wishing to establish halfway houses often face resistance from the community. To most of the citizens, the halfway house programs are among other government policies that suppress the freedoms/rights of the common people to the rights of special groups. For such citizens, they perceive the programs as being foisted on them without the government having asked for their opinions in where the houses will be placed or how the programs will run.
In addition, policy makers also contribute to the resistance they face from the community because they sometimes misperceive the communities attitudes concerning incarceration. For instance, these policy makers view the community as punitive suggesting that the community does not support rehabilitation and re-integration of offenders into the community. This perception is wrong. On the contrary, the community is in support of rehabilitation and inclusion of offenders (ICCA, 2010). Therefore, the perception and lack of including the community's views before judging them is partly a reason why agencies face resistance.
The community's efficacy is a significant predictor of its reaction to sitting issues. A good relationship between the society and bodies running the programs will have substantial influence on the quality of officers, the community and offenders. Although fear is among the factors that contribute to resistance, the agencies running these programs must recognize that it is natural (Krause, n.d). On the other hand, people perceive that the establishment of halfway houses has the capacity to stimulate crime leading…
