When you think of sending some one away for a wrong they committed against society and/or the too often used term “humanity”, we expect them to be locked away for a period of time then get out a changed man or woman. But think of it this way. When a dog has an accident on the carpet, you toss it into its kennel, and then let it out ten minutes later, yet the dog has another accident on the carpet a week later. Same goes for these criminals. Why would they change, when thrown in jail for a crime they committed. Many times when a person is sent away to a prison or jail they have that internal want or need to defend themselves or push every one away. So how would this help by tossing these people in a cage. Now don’t get me wrong I’m a huge supporter of more jails and prisons. Make these criminals work for their keep in jail. This shouldn’t be the country club they are used to. Many times inmates have great living conditions, top of the line health care and even cable TV. Heck it doesn’t sound too bad. But once these inmates get out, they are a changed person. They went from a life of crime inside of prisons and jails, needing to fight for everything they have, to a humane society that looks down upon social offenses. How is it we expected them to change when, the change they did do in prison was in the wrong direction. I’ve heard the phrase many times “I had to go to prison to learn to be a criminal”. Something is wrong here.
How we punish:
“When you think about the evil of someone killing someone you love, you are kind of staring Satan in the eye," says Sage, a soft-spoken Houston native and lifelong Catholic. "I became a prisoner of all those emotions--anger, revenge, just wanting to hurt somebody” Allessi (2013). This stateme...
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...e have in place no matter what they are, rehabilitation or punishment is an issue that everyone has to deal with. We all are punished by a few who cannot be trusted and left alone in society. We pay for the treatment and correctional locations threw our hard earned tax dollars. I still believe that many people deserve to be locked up, it’s just my train of thought. There are bad people in this world, and we have good people to control them.
Works Cited
Alessi, Scott (2013) Vol. 78 Issue 3, p12-17. Kaplan Library. Retrieved from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/detail?vid=2&sid=49f2639d-6b56-4e40-ba0f-fefd7d35909c%40sessionmgr4004&hid=4102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=f5h&AN=85603052
Hillman, Susan (2011) Examiner, Rehabilitation and prison: Does it work. Retrieved from: http://www.examiner.com/article/rehabilitation-and-prison-does-it-work
There has always been an opinion on the correct way to deal with criminals. This will be yet another, but by me. The ways of dealing with criminals is not easy, and there is technically not a definite way to do so. But in my opinion, among the many goals of corrections, the ways I can agree on are a combination of rehabilitation and deterrence. These two things are completely opposite of one another, but used at the appropriate times, to the appropriate inmates, it could work in a positive way.
Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.
Many changes are made inside the justice system, but very few have damaged the integrity of the system and the futures of citizens and prisoners. Although the story seems to focus more on lockdown, Hopkins clearly identifies the damaging change from rehabilitation in prisons to a strategy of locking up and containing the prisoners. To the writer, and furthermore the reader, the adjustment represented a failure to value lives. “More than 600,000- about 3 times what it was when I entered prison, sixteen years ago. In the resulting expansion of the nation’s prison systems, authorities have tended to dispense with much of the rehabilitative programming once prevalent in America’s penal institutions” (Hopkins 157). The new blueprint to lock every offender in prison for extended sentencing leads to an influx in incarcerated people. With each new person
Instead of prisoners just sitting in a cell doing nothing, why not put them to work, "Every inmate that works saves taxpayers $5,000 a year"(Smith). There are prisoners that work in greenhouses, that generated $57 million in revenue. As budget cuts rise working prisoners become more and more valuable. Inmates are finding ways to save money by recycling there old mattress, that would of end up in landfills. Some prisons even have their inmates help clean up dirty parks around them. While the prisoners are doing this they are learning skills , that will help them with different jobs. Prisoners that do a good job get rewarded with money bonuses. Prisoners learning how to be more responsible and understand how to become a better person will help them in the up coming future. With the prisoners getting paid for bonuses for good work this will make it feel as if it’s a real job. The experience that the inmates are receiving will help them with jobs once they are released from prison. Prisoners will strive to do better with the bonuses they are receiving, and will understand again what its like work. Now with this happening this will ensure the prisoners will have a better and healthier
I believe that instead of incarcerating them they should be put in facilities that will help them get treatment for their disabilities, disorders, and drug addictions. If they are being rehabilitated the right way it will help prevent further crimes and also will help the offender go back into society and live a crime free lifestyle. For Christel Tribble being locked up actually helped her out to realize that she doesn’t want to be a delinquent. She was motivated by her mother to continue her education and to realize that it’s not worth being in the court system at such a young age because it will be a never ending cycle. For Keith Huff, he went to Kentucky State prison five times serving a total of 27 years in the criminal justice system. He was incarcerated for drug problems, which in the long run won’t help him. It would be more beneficial for him to receive help to prevent him from using drugs. If they sent him to a rehabilitation center where he can receive the appropriate help he need it would prevent him from future imprisonment. As for Charles McDuffie he was an addict and a Vietnam veteran suffering from PTSD. He was sentenced to prison, which was no help for him in his situation dealing with PTSD. He needed mental health treatment to help him deal with the tragedies that he was remembering from the Vietnam War. Luckily when McDuffie got out of prison his friends, who
We live in a society today filled with crime and fear. We are told not to go out after a certain hour, always move in groups, and even at times advised to carry a weapon on ourselves. There is only one thing that gives us piece of mind in this new and frightening world we live in: the American penal system. We are taught when growing up to believe that all of the bad people in the world are locked up, far out of sight and that we are out of reach of their dangerous grasp. Furthermore, the murderers and rapists we watch on television, we believe once are caught are to be forgotten and never worried about again. We wish on them the most horrible fates and to rot in the caged institution they are forced to call their new home. But, where do we draw the line of cruelty to those who are some of the cruelest people in our country? And what happens when one of this most strict and strongest institution our nation has breaks down? What do we do when this piece of mind, the one thing that lets us sleep at night, suddenly disappears? This is exactly what happened during and in the after effects of the Attica prison riot of 1971. The riot created an incredibly immense shift and change not only in the conditions of prisons, but also in the security we feel as American citizens both in our penal system and American government. The Attica prison riot brought about a much-needed prison reform in terms of safety and conditions for inmates, which was necessary regardless of the social backlash it created and is still felt today.
It doesn’t fix the prisoner behavior. The results of the solitary confinement indicate that a weak developmental for youth, Extreme loneliness that can put prisoner’s mental health at risk, and as a matter fact that as human being we strive to be loved not tortured. Most prisoners that go though solitary have been neglected some time in their childhood. Not only that, majority of juveniles and adults that commit crime come from dysfunctional families with less care, nurturing, or love and poorest neighborhood. Considering that Humans beings are social creature they won’t reciprocate isolation. In fact, As we all know people have the capability to build something bigger than life if they cooperate and interact with each other. Example of that are computer, nuclear power. Let not take away what makes us human. By all the means, lets punish the criminal, but not where they have to lose their mind. Let’s create Prisons to help the criminal and protect the
There are several fundamental problems within America’s penal system. First, the name “penal” system indicates that the main focus is punishment. Punishment is meant to “teach them a lesson,” i.e. deter the convicts from future crime. Reasonable or unreasonable, punishment often results in the punished resenting and holding negative feelings for the punisher. If society is the punisher, inmates will not be motivated to go back into the general populace as a valued and productive member of society. Furthermore, prison has been commonly known to be both a training ground for more sophisticated crime as well as psychologically hardening nonviolent or innocent inmates that were falsely accused.
For centuries, prisons have been attempting to reinforce good behavior through various methods of punishment, some more severe than others. There are several types of punishments which include “corporal punishment, public humiliation, penal bondage, and banishment for more severe offenses, as well as capital punishment”(Linklater, V). Punishments in which are more severe pose the question “Has it gone too far?” and is stripping away the rights and humanity of a criminal justified with the response it is for the protection of the people? Is justice really served? Although prison systems are intense and the experience is one of a kind for sure, it does little to help them as statistics show “two-in-five inmates nationwide return to jail within three years of release”(Ascharya, K).
Maybe if I saw more reports on how prison has improved our society and the criminals who live among us, I would see why we should work on reforming our prisons. Until then, it does not seem to be working. We trust in the government to provide for our safety, but we must take responsibility among ourselves. To understand that the current system does work and that its intent is not to provide a safe society. History has shown us that. What we have done or continue to do will not make this a safer place to live. The problem is not to reform our prison system, for this won't stop criminals to commit crimes, but to find ways and means to deteriorate them from doing the crime.
There are many people who are critical of the US‘s prison sysetm; the idea of locking up those who commit crimes against a society simply to keep them from doing harm. Many say that more rehabilatation is necessary to improve these individuals and, therefore, society as a whole. What are some ways of doing this? Do you agree/disagree with this view and why? Is the prison system currently in place the best option for society? 2 pages, double spaced, 12pt. font.
As the current prison structures and sentencing process continues to neglect the issues that current offenders have no change will accrue to prevent recidivism. The issue with the current structure of the prison sentencing process is it does not deal with the “why” the individual is an social deviant but only looks at the punishment process to remove the deviant from society. This method does not allow an offender to return back to society without continuing where they left off. As an offender is punished they are sentenced (removal from society) they continue in an isolated environment (prison) after their punishment time is completed and are released back to society they are now an outsider to the rapidly changing social environment. These individuals are returned to society without any coping skills, job training, or transitional training which will prevent them from continuing down th...
In today's society, we are facing many changes. Our own family, neighbors, and countrymen are afraid of many dangers which influence their lives. Although many people have fear which resonates in their consciousness and unconsciousness, the United States has a comparatively low crime rate. Despite this low crime rate, America incarcerates it's citizens five times the rate of Canada and seven times that of most European democracies.(Slambrouck, Paul. 24) Our society needs to be changed. We cannot blame the individuals involved in wrongdoing but we can blame our society who raised these criminals. Of course someone who kills another human being needs to be put away in some form; but we need to make changes. We need to help as many maladjusted people as we can. There are some steps which really seem to work. There are many prison inmates who come from broken homes and have low self-esteem. What needs to be done to help these insecure people, who are at war with themselves and society, is to rehabilitate them. The problem is the prison officials do not try to teach the prisoners how to learn from their mistakes.(McGovern, Celeste. 42) What actually happens is that criminals tend to be better thefts, and have the ability to out smart the police. Our politicians need to stress how important vocational, educational, drug-treatment, and religious programs are, in order to improve the attitude and demeanor of these convicted felons. This is the only way to keep ex-con's from jail.(DeLuca, H.R. 38) Another problem with America's prison system is overcrowding. There is a huge amount of young conscienceless offenders who are entering today's prisons. Imagine trying to compact eight gallons of water in a five gallon con...
Prisons are not places where nonviolent offenders can serve time and then be released a better person, more fit for society. The prison environment is wrong, and as a result a nonviolent offender will leave unimproved. It is my belief that the alternatives of community control programs, rehabilitation programs, and restitution programs are the answers to the sentencing of nonviolent offenders.
All over America, crime is on the rise. Every day, every minute, and even every second someone will commit a crime. Now, I invite you to consider that a crime is taking place as you read this paper. "The fraction of the population in the State and Federal prison has increased in every single year for the last 34 years and the rate for imprisonment today is now five times higher than in 1972"(Russell, 2009). Considering that rate along crime is a serious act. These crimes range from robbery, rape, kidnapping, identity theft, abuse, trafficking, assault, and murder. Crime is a major social problem in the United States. While the correctional system was designed to protect society from offenders it also serves two specific functions. First it can serve as a tool for punishing the offender. This involves making the offender pay for his/her crime while serving time in a correctional facility. On the other hand it can serve as a place to rehabilitate the offender as preparation to be successful as they renter society. The U.S correctional system is a quite controversial subject that leads to questions such as how does our correctional system punish offenders? How does our correctional system rehabilitate offenders? Which method is more effective in reducing crime punishment or rehabilitation? Our correctional system has several ways to punish and rehabilitate offenders.