Joe is a prisoner in a United States penitentiary convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery. Johan is a prisoner in a Norwegian Correctional Facility also convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and attempted robbery. After eight years of serving their time in custody, they are released back out into society, the world beyond their prison walls. During the following month after their release, Joe has once again been arrested for assault and attempted robbery while Johan has started making a quiet living as a deckhand on the coast for a small fishing company in Kopervik. Now both men have the same background and have come out of the same circumstances but yet only one reverts back to a life a crime, why?
The United States prison system is devoted to justice by hammering out retribution to those who violate the rules of the law. Though this is indeed the just and correct thing to do, crime should be and is followed by punishment, but what then? After serving their time, inmates are returned to the streets knowing only the torment of life. It seems the Scandinavian prison system has tried to change that, and has succeeded with the rehabilitation of inmates by putting rehabilitation over retribution, in order to directly address recidivism. By supporting the philosophy of ‘gentle justice’, the United States may not be able to remove crime entirely but it can definitely cut down on recidivism, and inmates who return to a life of crime. This investigation of the facets of prison life in the United States and Scandinavia is to show how the United States can give social stability by cutting down on crime rates, save money in the long run, and morally and ethically make a difference in the lives of troubled men and...
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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.
After examining the websites for the New York State Department of Corrections (NYSDOC), the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ), and Kriminalomsorgen (Norwegian Correctional Services), we are given a comprehensive overview of the many similarities that each organization shares. For instance, despite the “tough on crime” approach, rehabilitation remains an integral component for all three organizations. It is important to note that although Norway places a greater emphasis on rehabilitation, each department shares similar visions, goals, and values. However, each organization also possesses a variety of opposing punishment guidelines and security procedures. An example of one of these well-known differences in sentencing is the fact that Texas still imposes capital punishment. Of course, New York does not support the death penalty, and Norway’s maximum sentence is far more merciful than either Texas or New York. As we continue, we will further examine the mutual aspects that each department has in common, the ...
Throughout his novel, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, author and professor Robert Perkinson outlines the three current dominant purposes of prison. The first, punishment, is the act of disciplining offenders in an effort to prevent them from recommitting a particular crime. Harsh punishment encourages prisoners to behave because many will not want to face the consequences of further incarceration. While the purpose of punishment is often denounced, many do agree that prison should continue to be used as a means of protecting law-abiding citizens from violent offenders. The isolation of inmates, prison’s second purpose, exists to protect the public. Rehabilitation is currently the third purpose of prison. Rehabilitation is considered successful when a prisoner does n...
The United States has a larger percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is growing exponentially. The expense generated by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. While people are incarcerated for a number of reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. The ineffectiveness of the United States’ criminal justice system is caused by mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, racial profiling, and a high rate of recidivism.
The differences between the German and the American correctional systems are far-reaching. Simply by looking at recent incarceration statistics, one can tell that practices must vary greatly. In 2011, the Department of Justice in Washington reported a total prison population of 2,239,751 prisoners and detainees in the United States ("International Centre for Prison Studies", 2011). This translates to a prison population rate of 716 per 100,000 of national population. The prison occupancy level based on official capacity was determined to be 99%. In the same year in Germany, the State Ministries of Justice across the 16 G...
Throughout history, it has become very clear that the tough on crime model just does not work. As stated by Drago & Galbiati et al. In their article: Prison Conditions and Recidivism, although it is...
Harris, H. (2017, March). The Prison Dilemma: Ending America's Incarceration Epidemic. Foreign Affairs, pp. 118-129.
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).
In Western cultures imprisonment is the universal method of punishing criminals (Chapman 571). According to criminologists locking up criminals may not even be an effective form of punishment. First, the prison sentences do not serve as an example to deter future criminals, which is indicated, in the increased rates of criminal behavior over the years. Secondly, prisons may protect the average citizen from crimes but the violence is then diverted to prison workers and other inmates. Finally, inmates are locked together which impedes their rehabilitation and exposes them too more criminal
This is why it is extremely important that we realize that eradicating private prisons has a huge benefit for American society. According to the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation, Sweden does not have any private prisons and all of their prisons follow four basic principles: imprisonment as a last resort, which rejects the idea of lobbying for Minimum Mandatory Sentencing Laws, normalization, which promotes reentering society and reform while reducing recidivism rates, proximity, which is when a prisoner is placed in an area that encourages change, and cooperation, which is when all parts of the justice system work together to charge on a one-size-fits all plan without According to the same source, the Swedish believe that the government is the only entity capable of ensuring those four values and main goals of all prisons internationally. And according to the Institute for Criminal Policy Research, countries without private prisons have the lowest incarceration and recidivism rates. American society is looking for change, and the change can be found in the bright future of eradicating private prisons.
Although it may not seem like a major problem to most people in the United States, prisons are becoming overcrowded, expensive to maintain and have little to no effect on the moral discipline of inmates. The current prison system is extremely inefficient and the purpose of prisons has been completely forgotten. According to Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, the primary purpose of prisons is to punish, to protect, and to rehabilitate. Not only is there an increase in prisoners, but there is a rise in the number of repeat offenders. Alternatives such as counseling, drug rehabilitation, education, job training and victim restitution must be better enforced and organized. People do not understand the severity of the problem mainly because
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.
The origin of the word prison comes from the Latin word to seize. It is fair to say that the traditionally use of prison correspond well with the origin of the word; as traditionally prison was a place for holding people whilst they were awaiting trail. Now, centuries on and prisons today is used as a very popular, and severe form of punishment offered to those that have been convicted. With the exception however, of the death penalty and corporal punishment that still takes place in some countries. Being that Prison is a very popular form of punishment used in today's society to tackle crime and punish offenders, this essay will then be examining whether prison works, by drawing on relevant sociological factors. Furthermore, it will be looking at whether punishment could be re-imagined, and if so, what would it entail?
Many people idealized the relevancy of living in a civilized world, where those who break the law are reprimanded in a less traditional sense of punishment in today’s standard. Instead of just doing hard time, programs and services could and should be provided to reform and rehabilitate prisoner. Despite standard beliefs, many individuals in prison are not harden criminals and violent offenders, many of these people suffer mental illness and substance abuse Hoke