Human Behavior

People have always had diverging opinions on whether one’s behavior can change depending on situations one is subjected to. Since time of immemorial, human beings have exhibited divergent behaviors which have been attributed to different reasons one of them being the cultural background as well as the behavior of the society they are brought out in.  It is thus paramount to appreciate these opinions since they form the basis of understanding how human beings respond and behave when they are subjected to certain conditions. We cannot wholly remove human beings from the environment they live in since it has a bearing on their general behavior and conduct. There is always a reason why people behave the way they behave. Prison have for a long time tried to put in place rehabilitation programs that are aimed at changing the bad behavior of the offenders in an attempt to make them better persons. My own stand on rehabilitation programs is that they can change the behavior of the offenders if well administered. This paper seeks to have an in-depth look on how rehabilitation programs can be effective in changing behavior of the offenders and make them better persons once they finish their sentence.

In yester years, prisons were widely viewed as a place that was aimed as punishing the law breakers with a view of making them pay for their bad deeds in the society, country and world at large. This concept has changed gradually with prisons being mandated to come up with rehabilitation programs that are targeted in improving and shaping the law offenders in such a way that they can fit well in the society once they finish their jail term. The main question here is looking at the effectiveness of the rehabilitation programs that are on increase in prisons across the globe.behaviour is

A number of rehabilitation have designed and implemented in most prisons across the world and their main purpose being to enhance and inculcate good behavior that is within the laws that govern the country. The prisoners are normally expected to fit well in the society and change from their bad ways of conducting themselves and abiding by the law to become better citizens. This change is expected to be reflected on their behavior change as well as preventing them from re-offending again. Learning is said to take place when there is change in behavior. Some theories support the assertion that ones’ behavior can change based on stimulus that are presented. Borrowing from a number of behavioral change theories that have been tested for a number of decades, it is true to say that behavior of a person can change. It is important to know that for behavior to change, number factors come into play. The desired behavior needs to be reinforced over a period of time before one gets conditioned to such reinforcement. One of the widely used theories that are associated with behavior change is the Pavlov conditioning theory. According to this theory, positive reinforcement brings about behavior change. Some opponent of the effectiveness of prisons’ rehabilitation programs have used statistics that indicate around 90% of prison convicts are likely to commit crime again once they are released to the society. The weakness of looking at the rehabilitation program in isolation is the fact that one cannot convincingly tell where the problem lies. The challenge that most convicts face once they get out of the prison is dejection from the society. The society should be ready welcome such people back to the society, give them the support they need in order play part in reforming such convicts. More often than not, society tends to delink itself from non-law abiders and this frustrates the convicts, making them feel less welcomed individuals in that society. This means the problem is not with the rehabilitation programs offered but rather a de-link on the chain of the reform program that is supposed to extend to the society and country at large. Some prisoners are reported to behave well while serving their sentence, only to have adverse change once they go back to the society. This therefore point out on the assertion that rehabilitation program contribute to behavior change. The stumbling block in rehabilitation program is the manner in which they are implemented. Taking note of the ever increasing number of law breakers, it becomes difficult to effectively administer the rehabilitation programs to such big population making it lack the effectiveness that it was designed for. To overcome this challenge, the implementers of the rehabilitation programs should look forward to inculcate the knowledge to the convicts on importance of changing their uncoming behavior regardless of the population the handle. This means they need to collaborate with government in order to be given adequate human resource who can assist in disseminating knowledge to the convicts.

 The adage that an old dog cannot be taught new tricks is misused by opponents of prisons rehabilitation programs. The facts is that an old dog can still learn new things and tricks, the only that than might be affected is the rate at which it can assimilate the new concepts.

Environment has been associated to playing a pivotal role in development of human behavior. It has been found that our interaction with the environment determines the manner in which we behave and goes further to point out that even observation alone can make an individual change the way he behaves. This forms an important basis for program designers for rehabilitating prisoners to pay attention to. By this, the rehabilitation program will focus to an individual rather than having a blanket program for all prisoners. For behavioral change to take, the background of a person is important so as to understand the main key factors that could have contributed towards a certain behavior. Early interactions like peer group, school attended and society at large help in shaping ones’ behavior either positively or negatively. This affirms that rehabilitation programs in prison can change behavior of the convict to the desired one if well administered. This theory therefore supports the assertion of being in a position to change behavior of a person regardless of the age, though it does not underscore the fact that children have more brain cells than grown ups, meaning it is easier to change behavior of young people than that of adults. The blue print identity theory as put forward by…. Presupposes that, as early as during the child birth, every individual has got distinct characters that are brought forth by genetic make-up.  It further notes that such behavior like aggression, humble and politenesses are observable at an early stage. This theory can therefore be used to group offenders in various distinct classes depending on the nature of crimes they committed. This will aid in understanding their behavior and which programs can be suitable to suppress such unacceptable behavior.