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Americans Favour Rehabilitation for Prisoners
(Angus Reid Global Scan) - Many adults in the United States believe prisons should not focus solely on punishment, according to a poll by Zogby International for the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. 87 per cent of respondents are in favour of rehabilitative services for confined persons.
In 1994, a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which followed former inmates for three years after their release, found that 67.5 per cent of them were arrested again, and 51.8 per cent were back in prison.
The U.S. has the highest proportional prison population of any nation in the world, with 686 sentenced prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2002, 2,166,260 persons were held in prisons, jails and juvenile facilities.
Polling Data
Are you in favour of rehabilitative services for prisoners, or a punishment only system?
Rehabilitative services | 87% |
Punishment only | 11% |
Not sure | 2% |
Source: Zogby International / National Council on Crime and Delinquency
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,039 likely American voters, conducted from Feb. 15 to Feb. 18, 2006. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.