Jessica Radcliff Persuassive Essay First Draft

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Prison Reform: Time For A Change Jessica Radcliff Grand Canyon University PHI 105 Critical Thinking Kristen DiCarlo December 24, 2023 1

Introduction The United States is not using the prison system to its fullest potential when it comes to reforming its inmates. For prison reform and helping educate people on what it will take to be able to make the necessary changes for our prison system to work to its fullest potential. The United States can improve its prison system through reform, the need for lowering the incarceration rate, repair the failing system, and alternative methods to rehabilitation. The Need for Lowering the Incarceration Rate At any given time and any given day, the United States is home to over 2 million prisoners. In comparison China has less than 1.7 million prisoners despite having over four times the population of the United States (Muenster, 2022). In past reform attempts have caused mass incarceration rates due to trying to focus on implementation stricter punishment, instead of looking at reforming to prevent the prisoner for repeating the cycle. When you look at the United States and China, the United States has over 629 prisoners per 100,000. China with less than 119 per 100,000. During the Trump administration the 1 st Step Act was enacted to try to reduce the rate of repeat offenders. With the 1 st Step Act, they were granting early release to qualified prisoners. The Trump administration created a PATTERN algorithm and an earned time credit system to predict the recidivism risk for each offender. The offenders being released were typically prisoners with non-violent crimes. The issue with this is where is the reform? They are releasing inmates constantly back into the same situations that they left, and they are not giving them the tools that they need for them not to continue to make the same mistakes that they have in the past. The 1 st Step Act focused on reducing recidivism, however it did not focus on fixing the rising issue of why recidivism is on the rise. Repairing the Failing System 2

With previous attempt at prison reform focusing primarily on implementing stricter punishment and the mass release of non-violent offenders during time of overcrowding, it is obvious why the prison system in the United States has been failing and is in need of reform now more than ever. On average 68 percent of prisoners are arrested within 3 years of release, 79 percent within 6 years, and 83 percent within 9 years (Loom & Bradshaw, 2022). Studies show that penal institutions can be more effective in reducing recidivism when they properly implement anger management, education, vocational training, and drug treatment (Lanagan, 2020). The Criminal Justice system is supposed to have four main objectives, which are deterrence, punishment, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. Throughout the years there has been a lack of reform to implement the four objectives. Recently the Supreme Court of the United States has taken notice that rehabilitation can play a huge role in reducing incarceration. With the Supreme Court realizing the need for change that is the first step in the right direction. Modern rehabilitation has primarily focused on changing behavior instead of character. Alternative Methods to Rehabilitation With using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to rehabilitate the offenders the focus will change from punishing the offender to now focusing on fixing the behavior of the offender. Through Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy there is a planned intervention that targets the change with the goal of changing the offender’s behavior in mind. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has shown promise in rehabilitating offenders in the United States as well as other developed countries (Cappellan, Koppel & Hung-En 2022). This also means that the offender must be assured that they will play an active role throughout the intervention process. With the offender playing an active role in the decision to participate in their treatment plan through Cognitive- Behavioral Therapy, they will be more likely to follow the course of treatment. Throughout the 3

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