Pros And Cons Of Incarceration

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As previously stated, the US contributes to more than a quarter of the global population of incarcerated people. European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands have decreased their incarceration rate to 79 and 82 people per 100,000 compared to the United States rate which is 716 per 100,000. A report created by the Vera Institute of Justice claims that Germany and the Netherlands were successful in reducing incarceration rates because they are focused on resocialization and rehabilitation rather than America prisons which focus on punishment and isolation. In Germany and the Netherlands people are given fines rather than prison sentences for nonviolent crimes. Those who do receive prison sentences for nonviolent crimes are incarcerated for less than two years compared to the five plus years in the United States. Overall because Germany and the Netherlands send less people to jail each year, they are able to enroll every prisoner into a rehabilitation program which greatly reduces the risk of re-incarceration. Through these rehabilitation programs, prisoners not only receive free health care and therapy for possible mental illnesses but also receive jobs in which they work to help better their
No longer can people make money on the punishment of others. Privatized jails results in the inhumane treatment and torture of millions of Americans (who are mostly juveniles.) By eliminating privatized jails, we would not only end the horrid treatment of thousands of prisoners but we would also be setting a standard of all American prisons. Standards such as free healthcare for both physical and psychiatric problems would implemented to all american prisons. These new standards would allow convicts not only basic human rights that they are currently being denied, but also drastically decrease the US’s high recidivism rate as convicts would have the proper tools to function in

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