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American prison system problems
Problems in prison due to overcrowding
Problems in prison due to overcrowding
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Another problem with prisons are the terrible conditions and poor medical supervision that is provided. Diseases can be spread easily in highly populated prisons so it is highly recommended that prison facilities are clean and hold prisoners to their made capacity. These conditions can even affect prisoners long-term. Some prisoners have shown to have psychological problems because of the conditions they experienced in prisons. Prisons are created to reform prisoners, not harm them. Health care in prisons has been a problem for many years. It got so serious at one point, that in 1972, a Health Advisory Committee was set up to commend the matters affecting the health of prisoners. This committee gave prisons standards to follow, but prisons …show more content…
This is what Tommy Winfrey, an inmate from San Quentin State Prison, believes: “When society locks an individual away and doesn’t provide some means by which the offender can understand why he/she committed crimes in the first place, then there will be no corrective behavior. I never gained insight from being placed in a cell. Instead I just became defensive and tried to rationalize my behavior. That being said, I believe the success to rehabilitation begins with education. When I began to attend college, I started to discover some things about myself. I began to learn I didn’t have all the answers in life. Vocational training has also given me confidence that I do not have to depend on crime to support myself”. Educating prisoners would be the best way to lower recidivism rates and possibly crime rates. Prisoners need guidance and training so that when they are released they have a plan to follow. If prisons just continue to punish them, they will not learn what they should be doing and go back to their old habits. The must be given an opportunity to heal and learn so they could understand the dynamics in their life which led them to the crime they committed. There are countless interviews of ex-inmates and most of them believe education in prison is a necessity. They want a chance to learn and get a job so that they could provide for themselves. Exposing them to programs will benefit them because the recidivism rate will go down and potentially crime
As far as the benefits to the inmates, this education decreases their risks of returning back to prison and increases their chances of getting and maintaining a job once released. He touches on the funds these programs are getting and how they have been recently decreasing. What he also mentions is how the cost of these inmates’ education is far less than the cost it is to keep them incarcerated. This article will be useful to me in its many stats and numbers on education in prisoners and how the effects it can
Throughout the history of the United States and including the western world. Corrections have served the country by convicting and sentencing offenders depending on the seriousness of the crime. Along with that today, offenders are either placed in probation, incarcerated or taken to community-based corrections. Even though, corrections have always tried to find ways to deter crime by correcting criminals, the poor economy in our country has been the cause for struggles in the correctional system. Some of the causes of economic issues are the cut of budget, over crowing, lack of programs for people with mental illnesses, and lack of innovation.
According to Mark Early, president of the Prison Fellowship International, the Bureau of Justice Statistics report shows that there are 19 states that have prisons operating at 100 percent capacity and another 20 are falling right behind them. There is no wonder why the overcrowding of prisons is being discussed everywhere. Not to mention how serious this predicament is and how serious it can get. Many of the United States citizens don’t understand why this is such a serious matter due to the fact that some of them believe it’s not their problem. Therefore they just don’t care about it. Also, some Americans may say that they don’t care about what could happen to the inmates due to repercussions of overcrowding, because it’s their own fault. In order to cure this growing problem people have to start caring about what’s going on, even if it’s to people who might deserve it.
To Health Service In Correctional Evironments: Inmates Health Care Measurement, Satisfaction and Access In Prisons.” Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 50.3. (2011): 262-274. Academic Search Complete. Web. 5 May 2014.
The basic concept of educating prisoners while they are in prison is logical and simple. It makes sense to make convicts' time in prison productive. This leads to a person that, when he leaves prison, knows a better way of life than committing crimes which would inevitably send him back to prison. While making perfect sense, this solution drastically changes the concept of prison. The effects of social programs integrated with prisons start with helping direct the taxpayers money to more prolific uses, and expand to making people in America smarter, more educated, less dangerous.
In the United States, we have Americans that are waiting and wanting to destroy anything that has to do with our country and our western way of life, all in the name of “jihad” or holy war. Just in the past year and almost 10 years after September 11, 2001, there has been upsurge in jihadist recruitment and incidents within the United States. This seems to be a call out to all the homegrown jihadist sympathizers that were waiting to come into action. According a RAND Corporation report, “there were 46 reported cases of radicalization and recruitment to jihadist terrorism in the United States between 9/11 and the end of 2009” (Jenkins). Young men and women are being charged with the intention to harm innocent American citizens, and destroy the United States, all of them with the proclamation of being an Islamic soldier and dying for Islam as a martyr. Faisal Shahzad, the unsuccessful Times Square bomber from Connecticut who pleaded guilty June 21, said in front of a judge, “I am part of the answer to the US terrorizing the Muslim nations and the Muslim people, and on behalf of that, I'm avenging the attacks" (Scherer).
Throughout history into today, there have been many problems with our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, rape rates are off the charts, and we as Americans have no idea how to fix it. We need to have shorter sentences and try to rehabilitate prisoners back to where they can function in society. Many prisoners barely have a high school education and do not receive further education in jail. Guards need to pay more attention to the well being of the inmates and start to notice signs of abuse and address them. These are just a few of the many problems in our prison systems that need to be addressed.
One of the most complex aspects of counterterrorism (CT) for the intelligence community (IC), law enforcement (LE), and CT communities is the psychology of terrorism. In the broad study of the psychology of terrorism, a highly misunderstood and challenging subject area is the recruitment of terrorists. A “normal,” rational person would wonder why an individual would pledge to commit acts of terror that would inflict lethal or grave danger upon innocent civilians for a politically educed cause. When in matter of fact, that rational person could also be susceptible to recruitment by a terrorist organization based upon any anti-political ideologies they may hold against their respected government. There are many reasons an individual may want to join a terrorist organization which includes aspects associated to an individuals psychology, ideology, theology, and state of mind. It also includes factors like an individuals religion, culture, morals, influences, integrity, and environment. More specifically terrorists go through a top-down or bottom-up process to enter the life of a terrorist and either have a strategic choice or psychological forces which make them susceptible to terrorism and recruitment. For IC, LE, and CT professionals the psychology of terrorist group recruitment is gravely important because it will allow them to identify indicators of individuals who are at a particular point in the recruitment process, who are already recruited, and who may also be planning attacks against U.S. assets, infrastructure, and personnel. Terrorism is a serious threat to national and homeland security and it all starts with a terrorist recruitment. If an individual is identified, exploited, or neutralized before ...
Education is needed in prisons because a majority of the prisoners have a background of missing education, which means that they are not fully aware of the rights, wrongs, and positive opportunities that they did not have a chance to experience.
The “Tough on Crime” and “War on Drugs” policies of the 1970s – 1980s have caused an over populated prison system where incarceration is policy and assistance for prevention was placed on the back burner. As of 2005, a little fewer than 2,000 prisoners are being released every day. These individuals have not gone through treatment or been properly assisted in reentering society. This has caused individuals to reenter the prison system after only a year of being release and this problem will not go away, but will get worst if current thinking does not change. This change must be bigger than putting in place some under funded programs that do not provide support. As the current cost of incarceration is around $30,000 a year per inmate, change to the system/procedure must prevent recidivism and the current problem of over-crowed prisons.
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.
The amount th of money that has been spend on prisons is about 49 billion dollars the reason for this is because people are being sent to prison and some re offend and come back. The main purpose of going to jail is to never come back , but in some cases others don 't seem to learn from their mistakes. This is the reason why prison education would come in handy. In the article “Education and Vocational Training in Prisons Reduces Recidivism, Improves Job Outlook” its states that “Researchers found that inmates who participate in correctional education programs have 43 percent lower odds of returning to prison than those who do not”This quote is pretty much saying that the percentage of inmates that has education is less likely to come back. This is good because the amount of money that we would be saving would probably help us with debt that we face a lot in american. Education is the most important form of rehabilitation for
This paper explores the benefits provided by educational programs in jails and prisons. Included are the reasons inmates need education in order to successfully reenter society once they are released and use the knowledge and skills they have learned to obtain a job in order to support themselves and their families. Also examined in the paper are the financial benefits of incorporating educational programs instead of cutting them, as well as the effect these programs play on the recidivism rate. Lastly is a focus on understanding the importance of education and job training, even though the recipients are criminals.
In conclusion, educational programs in prison range from very good with programs like “Reaching Out the Write Way” and the programs North Carolina has to the ones that aren’t all that good like credits for cons. “Education, in combination with work programs, can give inmates the skills they need to be successful when they return to their communities...It can enable them to do a job that reduces prison costs, such as taking messages, running a library, like Andy in Shawshank Redemption, or reading recipes to work in the kitchen” (Young 2). Many people think that educating prisoners is “being soft on crime,” but when you think about it, all it really is doing is working to make sure that the “revolving door” will stop revolving (Young 1). If this door keeps going around in the circle it is now, it will come to cost the taxpayers up to if not more than one hundred dollars a day. “The cost of education is minute in comparison to its benefits” (Young 2).
Why should we care about education in prison? In today’s world people become more egocentric, so that no one’s longer care or even attempt to think about others problems and how to fix them. As a society, we have to begin to focus on the bigger picture, why so many people get behind bars in United States. All human beings should have an opportunity of better life even after committing mistakes before. Education is the key to success. By providing prisoners with opportunity to get education, our society will benefit everyone. Prison education should be provided to inmates for three significant reasons: reduces crime recidivism, gives job perspectives and helps prisoners to rehabilitate and commit themselves to a law-abiding life outside the prison.