ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a call to see rehabilitation and redemption as two sides of the same correctional coin—rehabilitation involving offender change, and redemption involving the rewarding of that change with acceptance into the community. Developing a theory of redemption has the capacity to provide direction in how offenders can escape the disreputable status, have incentives to move away from crime, and be freed from continued legal and social exclusion. Most obvious, candidates for redemption must remain crime free—have a spotless record for an extended period of time after correctional supervision ends. The very existence of a class of offenders who struggle to attain redemption can lead to the creation of special programs to support their access to this goal. The theory of redemption has certain persuasiveness because current practices of linking exclusion to an eternal criminal record make so little sense.
