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Effectiveness of Scandinavian prisons
Effectiveness of Scandinavian prisons
Canadian jail system essay
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Imagine waking up on a sunny day, disappearing outside and to tend to farm animals in the morning, in the afternoon going for a swim at the local beach, and in the evening sit around a table at your home playing cards with your fellow inmates. Yes, inmates! Well at least this is the kind of treatment inmates can find themselves in Norway2. This radical treatment is an intriguing new way that Norway and other European countries are implementing social reintegration of the inmates. By creating stronger rehabilitation programs while improving the quality of life of inmates, the government can help integrate individuals back into society, while saving funds for other assets and making the country safer. Assimilating these ideas, the government
Yet, it is occurring in prisons in Europe and Canada. In Canada, prisons are referred to as detention centres or correctional centres; hopefully where individuals can alter their conduct. However, are inmates learning from their mistakes and correcting their behaviour? In Canada, the Correctional Services of Canada states that each inmate serving two or more years will have 26 group sessions and up to 2 individual sessions, each lasting 2-2.5 and 1 hour respectively5. Contradictory to these undertakings, prisons in North America are made to have an unappealing and frightening appearance in order to scare individuals from committing a crime. The government cares more about punishing the offender than teaching him/her how to avoid committing the crime indefinitely. Arne Nilsen, a governor at Bastøy Prison in Norway intuitively remarked, “The punishment is that you lose your freedom. If we treat people like animals when they are in prison they are likely to behave like animals.9” In order to fulfil a humane sentence everyone “imprisoned” has access to personal televisions, computers, showers and toilets in Norwegian Prisons. Furthermore, a variety of daily classes are offered for general education and specific skill-training for occupations in
Yet this wage does not take into account inflation and minimum wage14. What is surprising is that federal corrections in 2013 spent $2.3 billion on public safety. This does not take into account provincial or municipal centres. Each prisoner in federal penitentiaries costs taxpayers on average $117,788 per year and it is increasing every year. The more severe the crime was, the more it cost taxpayers. Furthermore, in April, 2013, the annual cost of the 579 women that were incarcerated in federal prisons was $211,618 each. Shockingly, the average daily cost of a prisoner in a penitentiary was $32216. In Canada’s federal prisons, out of the more than 19,000 correctional service employees, 7,000 guards watch over 15,500 inmates17, 18. Therefore, there are roughly 12,000 support staff, which includes nurses, doctors, specialists, social workers, parole officers, and tradespeople. Albeit, the financial outcome in the Norwegian prison system is entirely different. For instance, inmates are paid 53 kroners ($10.20 CAD) just to leave their “cell”. As Høidal, governor of Halden prison, states, “If you have very few activities, your prisoners become more aggressive. If you stay in a box for a few years, then you are not a good person when you come out. If you treat them hard… well, we don 't think that treating them hard will make them a better man. We don 't think about
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
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...
For decades, prison has been signified as an unspeakably horrifying place for those who have done harm to our society. Nevertheless, in today 's society, shows like Wentworth, orange is the new black and prison break illustrate prison in an entertaining way. A way that is so detached from reality. However, in the article "Norway 's Ideal Prison," by Piers Hernu, he clearly reveals and gives us a vivid picture of what prison life is like in Bastoy, the home of Norway only prison. On the other hand, "The Prisoners Dilemma," by Stephan Chapman argues how in Islamic countries criminals are being cruelly handled and how flawed the American penal system is and needs to be adjusted. Even though there are many similarities in both articles on what
Cohen (1985) supports this sentiment, and suggests that community based punishment alternatives have actually led to a widening and expansion of the retributive criminal justice system, rather than its abolishment. The current criminal justice system is expensive to maintain. In North America, the cost to house one prisoner is upwards of eighty to two hundred dollars a day (Morris, 2000). The bulk of this is devoted to paying guards and security (Morris, 2000).
American prisoners receive free medical attention, housing, meals, utilities, use of exercise equipment, and laundry services. The cost of these services amount in the billions of dollars a year and government budgets are straining to accommodate these fiscal requirements. “There’s special urgency in prisons these days,” “As state budgets get constricted, the public is looking for ways to offset the cost of imprisonment” (Brown). This economic concern requires work programs to aid in the relief of financial burdens incurred from convicted criminals. Once found guilty of a crime the prisoner needs to take responsibility for the costs incurred. Prison labor has evolved from the day of hard labor, breaking rocks, and making license plates to manufacturing, data processing, electronics, farming, construction, and even customer relations. Prisoners in America need to work, not to be confused with slavery, for economical, recidivism, and responsibility concerns. Work programs are crucial if taxpayers are tired of paying the cost for prison's financial liability, prisoner's family support, and release support programs.
On an average nearly 688,000 prisoners are released back into society, and of which includes 433,000 prisoner's waiting for trial and convictions, and the remaining percentage of prisoner's are serving sentences for minor and non-violent crimes, although, in the attempt to ensure public safety. Prison overcrowding continues to be a grave concern to the safety and welfare of the general public in California today because consequently the percentage of juvenile offenders detained represents 12,000 for technical violations, and 3,000 juveniles are detained for status offenses costing the taxpayers on an average $31,286 annually, and currently, the number of offender’s incarcerated in State and Federal prisons today is an astounding 2.4 million
The past two decades have engendered a very serious and historic shift in the utilization of confinement within the United States. In 1980, there were less than five hundred thousand people confined in the nation’s prisons and jails. Today we have approximately two million and the numbers are still elevating. We are spending over thirty five billion annually on corrections while many other regime accommodations for education, health
In view of all the historical failures in Corrections and the changes with what is criminalized, should Americans transition to more probations and Community Correction programs for guilty offenders or continue the status quo? With the goal of corrections to being to control the unwanted action of the public, is incarceration the best means to insure compliance with the rules of society or could there be better ways to approach the problem? With a suffering economy, new ways must be sought to correct unwanted behaviors and treat offenders. Since corrections covers such a broad area, we will consider only the State of Alabama in an effort to narrow the scope of this document. For our purpose, a working definition of corrections
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
The overall goal of correctional facilities can be broken down into three main functions which are retribution, deterrence, and rehabilitation of the inmates. Today, there is much debate on rather private or public prison admiration is best to suit those goals. In a private prison the inmates are contracted out to a third party from either local, state, or federal government agencies (Smith 2012). Public prisons are where the government themselves house and supply the inmate’s basic needs with no third party involved. However, a large portion of the argument of private verses public prisons is over, which is best in achieving those goals more efficiently.
Prison has held a place in our society for centuries. Throughout history, prisoners have been incapacitated in a vicious environment and that still rings true today. A person’s experience in prison can greatly vary. It may be a place of solace for those that are homeless because they have three meals and a bed to sleep in every night. However, it can be a nightmare for others who feel as though prison will ruin their future. It is an environment where a person is stripped of their free will. Due to overcrowding in prisons, inmate’s psychological strain, and prison officer cruelty through gladiator games and drug smuggling, proves that prison continues to be a brutalizing and debilitating experience for adult males in the United Kingdom.
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.
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
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.
The origin of the word prison comes from the Latin word seize. It is fair to say that the traditional use of prison corresponds well with the origin of the word as traditionally prison was a place for holding people whilst they were awaiting trial. Now, centuries on, prisons today are 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 examine whether prison works, by drawing on relevant sociological factors.