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Lucy Weathers became a teen mother just at the age of fifteen to a baby girl; whom she would do anything for. Being a single parent is difficult, yet she managed to finish school and provide a decent life for her and her daughter. That is, until the day she turned eighteen, when a man broke into their home, holding Lucy’s daughter at gunpoint demanding Lucy to rob a bank in order to save her daughter’s life. Lucy, having the scariest situation did what any mother would do; she drove to the local BB&T Bank with the .45 handgun her father had given her for protection. She preceded to hand the woman at the cashier’s desk a note stating that she needed some money from the safe and that she had a gun. The cashier looked at Lucy terrified; and then went to unlock the safe, putting the money in a bag. As the woman did so, she snuck her hand to quickly press a button over by the safe that would alert the police. While …show more content…
Moreover, there would be a subsequent life altering impact on her life if she were to serve time for an armed robbery charge. The same circumstance goes for all convicted of a crime, future employers may not want to hire someone who has served a prison sentence. That problem affects that person’s life forever, making it more likely for them to commit another crime and end up in prison once more. And, for Lucy, she needs a job in order to support her young daughter that would be going into pre-school that year.
The consequences of committing a crime are a harsh reality; everything becomes much harder which needs to change. When a person is released from prison, employers need to hire them in order to keep them off the streets and committing another crime. Life is said to be all about second chances; if this is the case, then why is that ex-convicts do not receive another
Without these men getting to work and becoming productive members of society, they are barred from this opportunity and the economy suffers (Appelbaum, 2015). Devah Pager, who conducted the famous study “Mark of a Criminal Recod,” which unveiled apparent discrimination against ex-offenders in the job market, weighed in on the issue: “Prior to the prison boom, when convictions were restricted to a smaller fraction of the population, it wasn’t great for their rehab potential but it wasn’t having a huge impact… Now such a large fraction of the population is affected that is has really significant implication, not just for those people, but for the labor market as a whole (Appelbaum,
How does being sentenced to prison affect someone later in his or her life? Many people pose the question, but they have yet to form an immutable response. Oscar Wilde once said, “one of the many lessons that one learns in prison is, that things are what they are and will be what they will be”, this quotation engenders the philosophy of prison, which consists of one being held responsible for his or her wrongdoings. The book Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman explores how a once drug money launderer goes to jail for a crime which she committed almost a decade earlier. At the time she committed the crime, she considered herself lost and naive in regards to her life. Throughout the book, the audience witnesses Kerman’s struggles and how she ultimately overcomes them in order to better herself for the future. After examining the book, one can see that Kerman uses many rhetorical elements in her writing such as ethos, the rhetorical triangle, narration, and myriad others to make her memoir a timeless piece of non-fiction.
Once Olivia receives help, it is perhaps too late. In her senior year, she is sentenced to a juvenile camp, and is clearly out of place. “She is so different from the other girls (pg.312)”, her therapist says. “She was one of the rare kids we see who is focused on her future. I wish I could have started with her when she was twelve or thirteen (pg.312).” Olivia’s case illustrates a system that rather than providing guidance and support to abandoned children, it leads them into a criminal world.
When trying to find themselves in society, jobs may be hard to come by. When prisoners find a jobs, they are usually work in jobs that one doesn’t not have to have a high-skill set, such as food service, wholesale, and maintenance and repair. The number one reason why prisoners end up back in jail is not the lack of job opportunities but perceiving that job when returning home. “Service providers and community leaders consider employment to be the primary factor in a successful reentry” (Casey 2). When the lack of job opportunities come prisoners may feel the need to break the law and return to life of crime because they cannot support themselves, so they may turn to selling drugs to make a quick buck. Selling drugs is not an alternative for not being able to find a job, especially when one has just got out of prison because if they get caught they will find themselves back in jail. Recidivism is a topic that I do not believe anyone could solve, it is hard to comprehend why people look back to crime again and again after they get caught the first time. In the article Parole and Prison Reentry in the United States author talks about how when prisoners or released they usually end up failing to finish their release sentence and out of the parolees how many return back to prison when she states, “About half of parolees fail to complete parole successfully and their returns to prison represent about a third of
Convicts rarely serve their entire sentences in prison (Ross and Richards, 146). To alleviate the costs of imprisonment on taxpayers and lessen the staggering populations of prisons across America, it is simply prudent to let inmates out on parole. Unfortunately, the parole system is imperfect and often leads to many ex-convicts recidivating. With the various trials and challenges that ex-convicts are bound to face when rejoining society after prison, Ross and Richards provide valuable lessons in their book of how a convict might survive beyond bars.
Bureau of Justice Statistics studies have found high rates of recidivism among released prisoners. One study tracked 404,638 prisoners in 30 states after their release from prison in 2005. The researchers found that: Within three years of release, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested. Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested. Of those prisoners who were rearrested, more than half (56.7 percent) were arrested by the end of the first year. Property offenders were the most likely to be rearrested, with 82.1 percent of released property offenders arrested for a new crime compared with 76.9 percent of drug offenders, 73.6 percent of public order offenders and 71.3 percent of violent offenders. (Durose, April 2014) After being released most ex-cons describe the world as a place where laws have to be followed but you have some extent of freedom. While others feel it is the same inside or outside of jail the only difference is that jail does offer 3 meals and a cot. Most of the time the ex-cons feel this way because after getting out they cannot find a job, place to stay or even get meals; and this results back to their criminal
Rehabilitation also involves programs in prisons that have the goal of helping offenders return back to society (Goff, 2014, p.20). Prisons have also put in place programs to assist inmates, “the goal of these release programs are to ease the transition of offenders from the institution into the community while simultaneously promoting stable employment after release” (Cullen & Jonson, 2011, p.309). If a person has been in an institution for a long period of time it is often hard to adjust to life outside, which is why these programs are important in the justice
In most states ex-felons are not allowed to vote. This takes away a large portion of the voting population because of how many ex-felons there are right now and the many more that will be in the future. Ex-felons may also have a very hard time finding a job or a place to live. Legally landlords are allowed to deny an ex-felon. In Carbondale Illinois rental properties owners “Home Rentals” does background checks to make sure that none of their potential renters are felons. If they are felons Home Rentals claims that they will deny them the privilege of living in one of their properties. Ex-felons may also have a hard time finding jobs. Not many employers are willing to employ ex-felons for the fear of more crime or less commitment. Though denying these ex-felons jobs will not help the economy, only giving them jobs can help that.
Going to jail changes your life completely, during your sentence and after you get released. Prisoners who just get out of jail are dangerous and somewhat scary to the public, which could lead businesses/ companies not to hire people that have been in jail because of their lack of trust, causing ex-prisoners to be homeless. A study from 2007 shows the unemployment rates among ex-prisoners, “In 2007, the National Institute of Justice found that 60 percent of ex-felon offenders remain unemployed a year after their release. Other studies have shown that upward of 30 percent of released felons live in homeless shelters because they can't find housing; and those are the lucky ones. Many camp out on the streets.” (Unemployed ex-felons are ticking time
Where they grew up, kids as young as 8 years old were recruited into illegal operations; Wes and Tony included. Mary tried everything she could, but had lost her sons to the wonder and curiosity that money brings. The important place a mother should hold in her son’s life vanished and she was left to take care of their mistakes. Later in their lives, both boys were caught in a heist that set them up for an entire lifetime in jail. Their arrest sent “cheering responses” from everyone in their community. The boys were not only involved with a robbery, but a murder as well. The word spread quickly about their sentences and a “collective sigh of relief seeped through Baltimore. At home, Mary wept” (Moore 155). Many families go through traumatic experiences comparable to Mary’s situation. The choices her sons made left her alone, parallel to the isolation the boys were experiencing as
Former prisoners face larger barriers because US current policies are preventing or decreasing their chance of obtaining certain jobs that will dominate the market in the next twenty years. “According to the U.S. Department of Justice, nearly every person in jail, and 95 percent of state prison inmates, will someday be released; however, about 68% may return to prison” (goodwill). Former incarcerated individuals are often ineligible to obtain any financial assistance that will allow them to enroll in post-secondary institutions, which is required by many high demand industries. According to transitional jobs (2006), “…not only does steady employment have a tremendous impact on the financial status and self-respect of the individuals who are working, but it also has a host of positive benefits for their children and other family members”. Many current and former offenders have dependent children; therefore, increasing opportunities for employment will allow them to provide support without government assistance. Such opportunities will allow them to repair relationships with their families and promote a positive role model for children, since they will be able to obtain a career. According to Goodwill, “When people return to prison rather than successfully reintegrating into their communities, which are often high-poverty areas, those communities lose an estimated $11.6 billion per year due to the lost potential earnings that these people could have earned” (Goodwill). Business owners and hiring management must understand that providing them a second chance is not about rehabilitation, but to give them their right to earn wages, make their businesses more profitable, and stimulate their economy.
Why are formerly incarcerated individuals still being treated as incarcerated individuals instead of normal everyday citizens? Two thirds of released prisoners end up returning to jail within a year to three years. Mainly because they weren’t given the tools or programs to return to society when they were released. They are constantly discriminated against when it comes to obtaining a job whether it be because of selection, transformation, or credentials. This leads to them returning to a life of crime, which they were living before. Not only that, but families have a difficult time when it comes to coping with the stress of supporting these ex-convicts. There should be prisoner reentry programs not only for the former convicts, but the families as well. They carry most of the burden that comes with a loved one returning home from prison. Communities should also be allowed to put programs in place to help out these families as well as those returning, especially considering prisoners are being released just as often as they are being booked. If everyone works together and forms a solid plan, and works to put these programs in place there is no reason that we should have former prisoners falling through the cracks and returning to the system that failed them in the first
Because having a felony record makes participation in prosocial society so difficult, it is unsurprising that released felons often recidivate. Having a record is often used to disqualify candidates from employment, prevents felons from receiving welfare benefits such as food stamps, and disqualifies one from living in public housing. On top of this, there are often large fees and fines to pay as part of one’s punishment. Thus, in order to make ends meet released offenders return to the criminal underworld where they have connections and prior records of financial success. The issue with the implementation of programs to address this, such as education and job skills training for felons, are that they are expensive in an already over-budget
This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of ex-offender reentry. Factors contributing to recidivism include law enforcement officers mistrust for reentry prisoners; lack of familial and community support; difficulties gaining employment due to criminal background, obstacles pertaining to housing. Factors that may reduce recidivism, increase public safety and facilitate ex-offender reintegration transitions, as well as detrimental factors of recidivism are examined. Lastly, the important role of parole officers for ex-offenders and the level of supervision ex-offenders receive are also explored in this paper.
The opposing side contends that if society gives the low-skilled jobs to prisoners, they will be taking away possible job opportunities from the good people in the community. While this scenario may have some merit, in the long run, society as a whole will benefit financially from the prisoners working. By working, they will be reimbursing the taxpayers investment in them, as their labor will contribute to the overall community workforce. Studies have also shown that by allowing the prisoners to adjust to life outside of the penitentiary, there is a significant decrease in the number of inmates who will likely be incarnated once again, saving the general public money that would have been spent to keep returning inmates in prison for a second or third time around (Gilligan, 2012). More than four out of ten people are re-incarcerated, so additional money is being spent on the same person (Johnson, 2011). There is a greater chance of avoiding this outcome if the prisoner were trained to function in the real world, rather than being completely isolated in...