Prison inmates should be able work and spend time doing community service to contribute to society to repay for their wrong doing and develop a better character. This practice is available in some prisons and has so far, been proven effective. Labor for inmates should not be mandatory, but should be something the inmates are allowed to consider. By being able to function in the workplace, inmates will overtime develop a better sense of common knowledge in regards to being responsible and doing the right thing, be able to function in the workplace and in society, and get paid after their sentence for all of the work they’ve done. Responsibility is an attribute most people lack. Inmates have obviously all made mistakes. That is why they are in that situation. …show more content…
When people gain these attributes, it’s more encouraging to the family, seeing their family members are bettering themselves. Family members may not be accepting of the inmates decisions but by working, they will be in a better position. Inmates should be allowed to work. Not letting them work will not make anything better and will not likely change their mindsets from when they were first convicted. Family can always visit and talk to their relatives and ask how it’s going and being able to say that work is going good would be such an amazing opportunity. Working inmates should also be paid for their work, if done correctly. This goes hand in hand with the negotiation of incentives. There’s so many people who were convicted of a crime, served their sentence, and were left out on the streets with nothing. By getting paid for working, the money will provide them a way to get back on their feet, if they are willing to spend it
To begin with, while many of these other people are in jail or prison, we do not see or know what all these inmates go through on a daily routine. In jails and prisons, two out of three inmates end up going back to jail
Without these men getting to work and becoming productive members of society, they are barred from this opportunity and the economy suffers (Appelbaum, 2015). Devah Pager, who conducted the famous study “Mark of a Criminal Recod,” which unveiled apparent discrimination against ex-offenders in the job market, weighed in on the issue: “Prior to the prison boom, when convictions were restricted to a smaller fraction of the population, it wasn’t great for their rehab potential but it wasn’t having a huge impact… Now such a large fraction of the population is affected that is has really significant implication, not just for those people, but for the labor market as a whole (Appelbaum,
I believe that instead of incarcerating them they should be put in facilities that will help them get treatment for their disabilities, disorders, and drug addictions. If they are being rehabilitated the right way it will help prevent further crimes and also will help the offender go back into society and live a crime free lifestyle. For Christel Tribble being locked up actually helped her out to realize that she doesn’t want to be a delinquent. She was motivated by her mother to continue her education and to realize that it’s not worth being in the court system at such a young age because it will be a never ending cycle. For Keith Huff, he went to Kentucky State prison five times serving a total of 27 years in the criminal justice system. He was incarcerated for drug problems, which in the long run won’t help him. It would be more beneficial for him to receive help to prevent him from using drugs. If they sent him to a rehabilitation center where he can receive the appropriate help he need it would prevent him from future imprisonment. As for Charles McDuffie he was an addict and a Vietnam veteran suffering from PTSD. He was sentenced to prison, which was no help for him in his situation dealing with PTSD. He needed mental health treatment to help him deal with the tragedies that he was remembering from the Vietnam War. Luckily when McDuffie got out of prison his friends, who
Why are formerly incarcerated individuals still being treated as incarcerated individuals instead of normal everyday citizens? Two thirds of released prisoners end up returning to jail within a year to three years. Mainly because they weren’t given the tools or programs to return to society when they were released. They are constantly discriminated against when it comes to obtaining a job whether it be because of selection, transformation, or credentials. This leads to them returning to a life of crime, which they were living before. Not only that, but families have a difficult time when it comes to coping with the stress of supporting these ex-convicts. There should be prisoner reentry programs not only for the former convicts, but the families as well. They carry most of the burden that comes with a loved one returning home from prison. Communities should also be allowed to put programs in place to help out these families as well as those returning, especially considering prisoners are being released just as often as they are being booked. If everyone works together and forms a solid plan, and works to put these programs in place there is no reason that we should have former prisoners falling through the cracks and returning to the system that failed them in the first
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.
Spending time in an overcrowded cell really lowers your social stability throughout time. Many of the prisoners tend to turn anti-social because they do not want to put up with the conditions in which they live. According to Terence T. Gorski the prisoners tend to develop an illness known as Post Incarceration Syndrome which is something developed through extreme confinement and lack of opportunity. The inmates are more often than not given very little opportunities to rehabilitate themselves with everyday things such as working and receiving an education in the overcrowded prisons. These prisoners are not given enough opportunity to assemble with one another because time is very strict and limited inside the prison walls. Resources are often stretched out to accommodate to everyone’s needs.The inmates tend to get treated in a very inhuman way, resulting in negative consequences. Dealing with the overcrowdedness of the prisons leads to the build-up of stress. Like every human being the prisoners will eventually get very tired of dealing with these conditions and will reach their melting point. When something like this occurs the inmate will most likely receive negative consequences such as complete solidarity. On the contrary being in an isolated cell for about 23 hours a day allows for the prisoners to ponder upon the choices
Well I am for the idea of prison, but I don't support the way our prisons in North America are being run. These people deserve to be punished! I don't want them to waste our money, get "paid" for television interviews, book rights and all the other goodies that come from doing a crime. And then slapped on the hand saying: "You be a good boy/girl now" and sent them off to a place we call prison, but in reality, some of the prisoners, find prison to be just like a strict camp. I have personally talked to some people who had gotten out of prison a few weeks prior to our talk, and they where telling me how they learned how to make certain crafts, learn how to sow, and many other things.
can become a major source of income, not only for the inmate, but also for
The population of people entering the prison systems nationwide is increasing exponentially. Often times, it is due to the living conditions in which they return to such as facing the same poverty, limited prospects and minimal network connections that make them turn to crime to survive. For obvious reasons, income is the solution to many of their problems which can only be obtained with their “by any means necessary” mindset. Prison has almost become a second home for recurring inmates a...
In today's society, we are facing many changes. Our own family, neighbors, and countrymen are afraid of many dangers which influence their lives. Although many people have fear which resonates in their consciousness and unconsciousness, the United States has a comparatively low crime rate. Despite this low crime rate, America incarcerates it's citizens five times the rate of Canada and seven times that of most European democracies.(Slambrouck, Paul. 24) Our society needs to be changed. We cannot blame the individuals involved in wrongdoing but we can blame our society who raised these criminals. Of course someone who kills another human being needs to be put away in some form; but we need to make changes. We need to help as many maladjusted people as we can. There are some steps which really seem to work. There are many prison inmates who come from broken homes and have low self-esteem. What needs to be done to help these insecure people, who are at war with themselves and society, is to rehabilitate them. The problem is the prison officials do not try to teach the prisoners how to learn from their mistakes.(McGovern, Celeste. 42) What actually happens is that criminals tend to be better thefts, and have the ability to out smart the police. Our politicians need to stress how important vocational, educational, drug-treatment, and religious programs are, in order to improve the attitude and demeanor of these convicted felons. This is the only way to keep ex-con's from jail.(DeLuca, H.R. 38) Another problem with America's prison system is overcrowding. There is a huge amount of young conscienceless offenders who are entering today's prisons. Imagine trying to compact eight gallons of water in a five gallon con...
Prison labor is hard because prisoners received violence and low wage. However, these are worthy of punishment precisely because severe. Therefore, prisoners should do hard labor because that labor will benefit for us. Simon McCormac wrote, “Currently, we are forced to work in the blazing sun for eight hours. We run out of water several times a day. We ran out of sunscreen several times a week. They don 't check medical backgrounds or ages before they pull women for these jobs. Many of us cannot do it! If we stop working and sit on the bus or even just take an unauthorized break, we get a major ticket which takes away our 'good time '”. In this way, prison labor is suitable for punishment because that is hard to
Part of the punishment is the elements prisoners must endure while imprisonment. The conditions in prisons can be characterized as harsh and unbearable at times. Cold daunting cells and prison overcrowding evoke mediocracy living conditions (Herzing 2015). Yes, payment for crimes should match the crimes committed. Murders, rapes, and all other odious crimes should evoke a place of lack luster conditions to those of such criminal background (Washington 2016). The amenities once enjoyed by an individual in society should be taken away, if convicted of a crime. The freewill to go to the store, or a movie, to live in certain neighborhoods, should be entities lost due to criminal behavior. Besides the loss of freedoms, how should the prison system effect prisoners?
90% of the money that pays for prisons, comes out of our taxes. So why should we America have to pay for others wrongdoing, when people out there have kids they have to support through school. Giving incarceration more money give us less money to invest in to American education. Already schools are cutting sports programs so they can afford the cost to run the school, which can be very expensive depending on the size of the school. Schools should be able to give kids opportunities that will help them figure themselves out. If schools are losing programs kids will not be able to explore their interest, which will later help them in deciding what they want to do with their lives. So we need to provide these funds so those opportunities can be given to kids in school now and in future
Private prisons were made because of the overcrowdings in public prisons. These prisons are run by main corporations that are getting paid by the government to bring in prisoners and make sure they are in a good and stable environment. They are owned by correction corporations of America (CCA), Management and Training Corporation (MTC), and The GEO Group in which combined they own over 200 facilities. Private prisons do not help Americans, but it benefits the government in many ways and that is one of the reasons why the private prisons are still open. These private prisons bring profits and helps the government save money. If the government helps fund private prisons, then they should also implement labor laws to improve an inmate’s ability
With that being said, should inmates be made to work for their keep? I am torn between my answer. Most inmates