The Purpose of Prisons today, is recovery, deterrence, to deprive of ability, and these are all elements that provide a justice to society. Prisons are so post to be effectively doing its part by seeing that these elements are being met and successfully done. Without these elements what would a prison be good for? It is highly debated upon whether or not these elements are done properly. When a prisoner is sentenced to prison, it is presumed that he or she is guilty of the crime he was charged with. Prison has a responsibility by making sure the prisoner is not just rotting away. If that were the case, when the prisoner would be released, he would be released as the same exact person and will go back into doing the same thing he got put in for. This is when the prison steps in and starts the rehabilitation process. In prisons, there are many different types of programs that …show more content…
Prisoners have been watching T.V., eating a meal, and using exercise equipment while people on the streets are starving and living in the gutters. Prisoners even have their own magazines or other journal that is issued at regularly recurring intervals. They are dangerous criminals that are walking the streets and crime has been become a way of life too many Americans. In America, it seems that crime does pay because our nation’s prison system is not working.
The nation’s prison system have to be changed because of this major problem of overcrowding. Since 1980, the prison populations have grown by 172 percent. Overcrowding is both inhumane to the prisoner and dangerous to the prison staff. It is expensive to build more prisons and it does not solve anything. These problems can be solved by giving prisoners no chance for parole and violent offenders to be put through the death penalty. The non-violent offenders should put in a work program were they do more good for the community than
Furthermore, when our offenders reach prison, they are escorted to a room where they are stripped of all outside clothing, searched and given a prison suit. Next they are then taken to their cell, whether it is by themselves or bunking with one or more prison mates. Depending on the time of the day they enter, they will then be taken to the next meal, then afterwards maybe they return back to their cell or they have an activity of some sort. They get to sleep on a bunk, oftentimes, have a toilet and a sink in their rooms sometimes, and get to have pictures, buy from the canteen where they can buy anything from cigarettes to magazines, to even personal TVs or radios. Anything to make their life comfortable while they are there. Meanwhile, there are those in the US who work hard, never commit crimes,
The overpopulation in the prison system in America has been an on going problem in the United States for the past two decades. Not only does it effect the American people who are also the tax payers to fund all of the convicts in prisons and jails, but it also effects the prisoners themselves. Family members of the prisoners also come into effect. Overpopulation in prison cause a horrible chain reaction that causes nothing but suffering and problems for a whole bunch people. Yet through all the problems that lye with the overpopulation in prisons, there are some solutions to fix this ongoing huge problem in America.
The number of Americans that are in prison has elevated to levels that have never been seen before. Prisons in the US have always been crowded ever since the first prison was invented (Jacobs and Angelos 101). The first prison in the US was the Walnut Street Jail that was built in Philadelphia in 1773, and later closed in the 1830’s due to overcrowding and dirty conditions (Jacobs and Angelos 101). The prison system in modern US history has faced many downfalls due to prison overcrowding. Many private prison owners argue that the more inmates in a prison the more money they could make. In my opinion the argument of making more money from inmates in prisons is completely unconstitutional. If the private prisons are only interested in making
“Prison Overcrowding: The Problem.” American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC-American Legislative Exchange Council, 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
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).
It is said that prison should be used for more serious crimes such as rape, assault, homicide and robbery (David, 2006). Because the U.S. Prison is used heavily for punishment and prevention of crime, correctional systems in the U.S. tend to be overcrowded (David, 2006). Even though prisons in the U.S. Are used for privies on of crime it doesn 't work. In a 2002 federal study, 67% of inmates that
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. Everyone knows that you can’t help someone unless they want to help themselves. When the prison system was first established, the possibilities in rehabilitation were nothing like they are today. They could make prisoners go to daily consueling, have small groups, write in journals, plant flowers…maybe even go to yoga classes or have meditation time so that they could become one with their inner spirits and realize the error of their ways.
Firstly, in order to gain a better understanding of the problems that plague or correctional system we must fully understand the enormous overcrowding problem that exist in the majority of or state and federal prisons. Since 1980 the prison population has quadrupled and only the numb...
“The federal prison system has been unable to keep pace with the stream of inmates flooding its facilities over the last five years despite adding space for thousands of new convicts, according to a government report”(Overcrowding In Federal Prisons Harms Inmates, Guards: GAO Report Michael McLaughlin). Prisons are having more trouble putting the prisoners in the system. “With more prisoners confined to limited spaces, prison officials are forced to cut back the time inmates have in the cafeteria, recreation yards and television rooms. Two and three inmates are bunked in rooms designed for one prisoner or in common areas that were never meant to be used as cells” (Overcrowding In Federal Prisons Harms Inmates, Guards: GAO Report Michael McLaughlin).
In the case of prison rehabilitation most of these problems are mental. These mental problems can be caused by a variety of factors. These factors include social surroundings, the offender’s past, and biological defects. By being put in prison the social surroundings are changed to allow the prisoner to think for themselves. Since the prisoners now have fewer bad influences it is easier to introduce better influences.
Centuries ago, prisons were created to hold criminals in confinement to punish them for the crimes they committed. Prisoners are expected and forced to give up a significant amount of their basic freedoms. The criminal justice system determines the length of which a prisoner is sentenced to be incarcerated. Sentences range depending on the severity of the crime committed. Criminals are expected to give up a majority of their freedoms and privileges once they step inside the concrete walls.
Prison was designed to house and isolate criminals away from the society in order for our society and the people within it to function without the fears of the outlaws. The purpose of prison is to deter and prevent people from committing a crime using the ideas of incarceration by taking away freedom and liberty from those individuals committed of crimes. Prisons in America are run either by the federal, states or even private contractors. There are many challenges and issues that our correctional system is facing today due to the nature of prisons being the place to house various types of criminals. In this paper, I will address and identify three major issues that I believe our correctional system is facing today using my own ideas along with the researches from three reputable outside academic sources.
As human beings, we all have a moral and ethical obligation to care for the most vulnerable in society. Those who can be easily taken advantage of, or need help to control their own actions. The elderly, or the very young may come to mind as the vulnerable ones in society, but many who have been deemed to be criminals, also fit this description and are not being correctly taken care of. Many criminals simply cannot control their own actions, they easily lash out because of their lack of self control, a condition they wish they did not have; either it be because of their nature or nurture, they have found themselves to be in a position where they have not been able to control themselves. These same criminals are thrown into jail, jails which need criminals in order to get funding.
For many years, there have been a huge debate on the ideal of reform versus punishment. Many of these debates consist of the treatment and conditioning of individuals serving time in prison. Should prison facilities be a place solely to derogate freewill and punish prisoners as a design ideology of deterrence? Should prison facilities be design for rehabilitation and conditioning, aim to educate prisoners to integrate back into society.
“Of course, many of the people in prisons should have not been sent there in the first place to begin with.” If the person incarcerated is in there for an extremely little crime they should have a chance to prove themselves. Yes, they may have made a mistake, that does not mean they will do it again if they let them go. There is many alternatives besides just sending someone to prison. Judges could decide to make first time offenders serve community service such as, picking up litter, mowing lawns, or even just helping others out; doing those thing makes them learn to be thankful and it teaches them responsibility.