Essay On The Pros And Cons Of Incarceration

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Incarceration in the United States are at an all-time high and are the worst in the world. This contributes to state prisons becoming overpopulated and less efficient. First and foremost we incarcerate people for justice, we punish them to set things right and pay the debt they owe to the victims of their crimes and society. Incarceration seeks to fulfill four different purposes. The first purpose incapacitation, getting the offender off the street so they can no longer commit crimes, and so they can no longer be a danger to society. Secondly we incarcerate as retribution for the crime committed, the criminal needs to be punished for what they have done. Another purpose is deterrence, a strategy to stop criminal behavior before it happens …show more content…

In a data analysis study of three states, Florida, Maryland and Michigan looked at regular sentences and an increased sentence then compared the recidivism rates of the two. The study found that there was little to no evidence that longer sentences lowered recidivism rates. The study also found that inmates who were convicted of nonviolent drug offenses could have been released 3 months to as much as three years without any decline in public safety. The pros of longer prison sentences are that they keep the prisoner away from society for a longer time giving them more time rehabilitate. The cons of longer prison sentences increase taxpayer costs with little to no change in the amount of crime. The pros of shorter prison sentences are that it frees up room for other criminals who have committed worst crimes and helps with the overpopulation of state prisons. The cons of shorter prison sentences is that the criminal is let back into society sooner, which can cause emotional stress to the victim’s family, the criminals may get out and commit more crimes. Also studies have shown that prisoners released early will not use their resources and use what they learned from being locked

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