Similarities Between Prison And Prison System

General Purpose: To inform my audience of the similarities and differences between the American prison system and the prison systems abroad.

Thesis: Comparing the policies and regulations in the American prison system to prison systems abroad to understand how their similarities and differences may contribute to the successes or failures of each system.

Introduction:

I. Attention Getter: There are varied opinions of what the purpose of a prison should be. For example, some people may think that a prison’s primary function is to punish criminals, some may believe that it is to protect society from dangerous people and others may think that it’s purpose is to help these troubled individuals transform into better people. Whatever one may

Second, I will examine the various opportunities each prison system provides for their prisoners as a method for rehabilitation. C. Third, I will discuss recidivism-the likelihood of a past criminal to commit another crime in American prisons compared to that of international prisons.

Body:

I. Prison conditions include the health, safety and treatment of prisoners and is given more importance from country to country. A. American Prison System

Solitary confinement is more often used and for longer periods of time.

Many inmates do not receive the proper health care to treat their illnesses because of such large inmate populations.

“Among inmates with a persistent medical problem, 13.9% of federal inmates, 20.1% of state inmates, and 68.4% of local jail inmates had received no medical examination since incarceration” (Wilper, 2009, p.1). B. European Prison Systems

Corrections staff go through extensive training so that they can provide the best services for the prisoners.

Prisoners are unlikely to be put in solitary confinement, only in rare instances.

Prison guards knock before entering, prisoners can keep personal belongings, and they are free to decide their routine for the

“Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested”(National Institute of Justice, 2014)

B. Recidivism in Europe

The likelihood of an individual to commit a crime after release is lower than in the United States.

Scandinavian countries like Norway have recidivism rates of 20 percent (Deady,2014).

III. Conclusion

A. Review of Main Points: To put it all together, I compared prison conditions, opportunities provided to prisoners, and finally recidivism in the American prison system and the European prison system.

B. Restate Thesis: Comparing the policies and regulations in the American prison system to prison systems abroad to understand how their similarities and differences may contribute to the successes or failures of each system. C. Closure: Develop a creative closing that will give the speech a sense of ending. Refer back to your Attention Getter.

Now that I have provided you with a comparison of 2 prison systems that have strikingly different approaches to dealing with criminals, I’d like you to ask yourself, what do you believe the purpose of a prison should be? Punishment or Rehabilitation or maybe somewhere in the middle? do we need to reevaluate our current prison