What are diversion programs?


Posted February 14, 2014 by sarahcoolen

According to the law, diversion programs are legal alternatives to prison. Such programs are part of the criminal justice system and apply to criminals whose offenses can avoid criminal charges.

 
Lots of individuals are prone to committing crimes because of their low incomes, mental status, family problems or simple curiosity. Fortunately for some of them, and also for the society, they can be easily rehabilitated through some diversion programs that are legal alternatives to prison.

People who suffer from depression and who already have a negative state of mind and commit a crime influenced by their state should be integrated into a diversion program, instead of being incarcerated, because the prison could only deepen their problems even more. However, not all criminals can choose alternatives to prison, but only those who commit nonviolent offenses.

Generally, a diversion program means a series of classes aimed at bringing the criminal into a better state of mind and transforming his behavior into one that could actually be helpful to society. A criminal that successfully completes such program can benefit from a sentence reduction. If he does not fix his behavior, the program is considered unsuccessful and the criminal has to go to prison.

Psychologists say that a person who has once committed a crime presents a high probability of committing another crime in the future, again. Statistics shows that this is true, since more than 50% of ex-criminals return to prisons in a very short amount of time after being released for a previous crime.

Diversion programs can prevent this from happening, because they are designed to help problematic individuals understand that they are much useful to the society as moral and legal citizens, not as criminals. However, to be part in such a program, offenders must comply with all the requirements imposed by the law.

It is important for a society to use such programs to rehabilitate youthful offenders. If young people start to lead a criminal life and see that this kind of life provides a lot of benefits to them, although temporary, they will continue to lead the same life immediately after getting out of jail, because jail is a regular element in the life of these people.

Fortunately, if young criminals are integrated into a diversion program, they have much more chances of letting that former life behind and start to lead a better life. It is considered that young delinquents who receive punishments and serve time are more likely to turn into career criminals that no rehabilitation program could help.

While in a diversion program, criminals are kept at a safe distance from people that may have a negative influence on them. In most cases, they have to complete community service hours and participate in educational projects aimed at preventing them from having a harmful behavior in the future.

Nonviolent offenders can be rehabilitated if they are included in diversion programs http://www.CriminalRehabilitation.com meant to transform their undesirable behavior into a moral and legal one. Such programs are alternatives to prison http://www.CriminalRehabilitation.com and are run by the police in collaboration with the criminal justice system. If you want to take part in a program like this, call us today or enter our website to learn more about the services we provide.
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Issued By sarah
Website What are diversion programs?
Country United Kingdom
Categories Lifestyle
Tags diversion programs , alternatives to prison
Last Updated February 14, 2014