Argumentative Essay: Are Prisons Effective?

Are Prisons Effective?

To diminish crime what should we do? Should we throw the criminal in prison so that when they get out they will think twice before committing another crime? Criminals in prison keeps them off our streets which makes society feel safe. Yet, is prison really the only solution for preventing crime? Or is there an alternative? Research has shown that prison is not effective as it does not reduce crime despite placing criminals in prison. It may be that offenders are encouraged to reoffend after finishing their sentence. However do they reoffend because of what they are surrounded by? More crime. What causes criminals to step forward and end their lives in prison? A tragic trend which has increased in recent years.

Put the

When criminals are put in prison, we expect them to learn their lesson and not reoffend. Research and evidence indicate that those who are surrounded by violence, even in prison, are more likely to duplicate what they see, which then leads to increased violence. ‘The Mirror’ newspaper has stated that prison violence has increased by 10% in 2015, compared to the year before with a massive 14,262 offences in 2014. Attacks on prison staff have soared by 36% for example a female officer was brutally attack by an inmate which led to severe injuries to the female officer. In a recent inspection at Glen Parva prison near Leicester it was branded as “unsafe” due to the incidents that had occurred between inmates and staff. Undoubtedly it seems that prison is potentially more dangerous for those who are there for a ‘petite’ crime, such as theft. When they are sentenced for a month or so they could learn enough to commit another horrific and more violent crime than before which just seems outrageous. Therefore, prisons could be viewed as an ‘initiation rile’. Prison violence is not only unsafe for staff but also for other inmates who are forced to share a confined space with inmates who are a hundred times more dangerous than themselves. This makes prison an unsuitable setting as the risk of violence is a serious

Well, certain countries like Norway believe that rather than punishing criminals they help recover the damage that has occurred during the crime. Less than 4,000 Norwegians were behind bars in August, 2014, despite the large population of five million. So what do they do to keep the numbers so low? Norway believe in a concept called ‘restorative justice’ which aims to repair the harm caused by the crime. Rather than punishing people, it focuses on rehabilitating prisoners. Such as Halden prison which is a seventy-five acres facility, which is built in a way which provides the feel of normality as possible which simply means that there are no bars on the windows; kitchen is fully furnished with sharp objects and the bond of friendship between guards and inmates creates a comfort and a safe surrounding. If this concept helps reduce crime and reduces the number of reoffenders, then why aren’t other countries using the same concept? The low number of inmates and reoffenders compared to our own would suggest that our way of keeping people locked up for years just isn’t