Are We Prisoners of Our Past? The Impact of the Past on Our Future

The United States has the highest prison population in the world, with over two million incarcerated (World Prison Brief, 2016), of whom many are juveniles. It is well documented that youths who enter this system are more likely to suffer a host of negative health and lifestyle outcomes, such as alcohol/drug abuse, high school dropout, and mental health problems. Such phenomena occur in stark contrast with the aims of the US juvenile justice system, which supposedly intends to help offending youths re-assimilate back into society as productive citizens. As previously mentioned, incarceration often leads to poor mental health, which when combined with the conditions of confinement significantly raises the rates of suicide and

Since the topic of this paper has been clearly been stated one of the first questions that may come to mind would probably be how did all of this come about. This change in our country didn’t occur immediately but was the product of a long time of planning and manipulation of state African Americans had been left. One of the first tools used keep black people from learning was the creation of the black codes. These were laws in put in place to keep African Americans in positions of menial labor and farm work. One of the biggest codes of the black codes was the vagrancy laws that were put in place mostly in the southern regions of the

Have you ever questioned about the justice in the United States? Stevenson states that, “Today we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The prison population has increased from 300,000 people in the early 1970s to 2.3 million people today” (15). United States is a modern country that doesn’t serve justice to her citizen? 2.3 million prisoners are just embarrassing the whole country. You might want to know how bad the justice system is and how the heck cause 2.3 million prisoners to be in prison. Our system is defined by an error; which serve justice to the rich and injustice to the poor. It’s common to know that poor and color people are more likely to be convicted if they commit a small crime. We created a system like “Three strikes and you’re out” to show how strong we can be, and as the result of that, we have created the mass incarceration that no other countries can’t do. We are no better than a beast. We condemned the poor because we know they are helpless and we condemned the color people because of racial bias. What does justice really stand for? The justice should be changed in order to prevent mass incarceration in the future and focus on a fairness when it comes to trial.

Have you ever question about the justice in the United States? Stevenson states that, “Today we have the highest rate of incarceration in the world. The prison population has increased from 300,000 people in the early 1970s to 2.3 million people today” (15). Is United States is a modern country that doesn’t serve justice to her citizen? 2.3 million of prisoners are just embarrassing the whole country. You might want to know how bad the justice system is and how the heck cause 2.3 million prisoners to be in prison. Our system is define by an error; which serve justice to the rich and injustice to the poor. It’s common to know that poor and color people are more likely to be convict if they commit a small crime. We created a system like “Three strikes and you’re out” to show how strong we can be, and as the result of that, we have created the mass incarceration that no other countries can’t do. We are no better than a beast. We condemned the poor because we know they are helpless and we condemned the color people because of racial bias. What does justice really stand for? The justice should be change in order to prevent mass incarceration in the future and focus on a fairness when it comes to trial.

in recent decades, violent crimes in the United States of America have been on a steady decline, however, the number of people in the United States under some form of correctional control is reaching towering heights and reaching record proportions. In the last thirty years, the incarceration rates in the United States has skyrocketed; the numbers roughly quadrupled from around five hundred thousand to more than 2 million people. (NAACP)In a speech on criminal justice at Columbia University, Hillary Clinton notes that, “It’s a stark fact that the United States has less than five percent of the world’s population, yet we have almost 25 percent of the world’s total prison population. The numbers today are much higher than they were 30, 40 years ago, despite the fact that crime is at historic lows.” (washington post) How could this be? Are Americans more prone to criminal activity than the rest of the world? How could they be more prone to criminal activity if crime rates have been dropping? Numbers like that should be cause for concern, because if crime rates are dropping then it is only logical for one to expect the number of incarceration to go down as well; unfortunately, the opposite is true. Shockingly, there seem to be a few people who actually profits from keeping people in jails. The practice of mass incarceration who most see as a major problem in the United States of America is actually beneficial to some. The prison system in the United States who was create to

Since 2002, The United States has had the highest incarceration rate in the world, and many of those imprisoned within the U.S. will be released and rearrested within three years (Langan & Levin, 2002). Unfortunately, research has been mixed shown that the time spent in prison does not successfully rehabilitate most inmates, and the majority of criminals return to a life of crime almost immediately. Most experts believe that many prisoners will learn more and better ways to commit crimes while they are locked up with fellow convicts. There is a combination of programs and environmental conditions that impact the recidivism rates. The majority of prisons exist to protect the public and punish the offender (French & Gendreau, 2006; Langan &

Preamble: Whereas at this time, many of the incarcerated men, women, and children of our great nation are not sufficiently educated to be employed by the various corporations in the United States of America. To further develop the potential workforce of America, these incarcerated peoples should become proficient in the reading and writing of the English language. This in turn will help reduce the tax rates of the Federal Bureau of Prisons by lessening the amount of people imprisoned. According to the article Educated Prisoners are Less Likely to Return to Prison found in the Journal of Correctional Education, the prisoners who undergo an educational program during their incarceration are far less likely to return than prisoners who did not received any education during their confinement. In the state of Ohio, the total rate of recidivism (an inmate 's relapse back into criminal behavior after they received sanctions or underwent an intervention for a previous crime) was 40 percent while the prisoners who had completed an academic program during imprisonment had an overall rate of 18 percent. When the recidivism rate is lowered, these aforementioned correctional education programs produce hundreds of millions of dollars worth of savings annually for the country. Additionally, the education of the incarcerated peoples of America will increase the national literacy rate and promote the general welfare of the country.

Everyone that has ever lived has a past. We all know this. Whether if it was filled with drug addiction, alcoholism, or abuse. Or if it was filled with supporting families, prosperous parents, or a happy childhood. Our outlook onto the world is most typically formed on what we have experienced in the past. But we cannot let this define us. In the glass castle, there are many examples of how a person’s childhood or past does not define who they become in the future.

Throughout recent decades in the United States, and other Western countries, the prison population has dramatically and exponentially risen from approximately 357,292 inmates in 1970 to 2,306,200 in the year 2014. This has been coined as the era of mass incarceration, with the United States becoming the largest prison nation in the world. Within these present statistics, one in seventeen white men, compared one in three black men will go to prison, illustrating the obvious inequality and racialized justice that is embedded throughout U.S. societal, political and legislative spheres. In the mid 1990’s the government, with the help of popular demand, enacted the ‘get tough’ prison ideology in which the “No Frills Prison Act” was passed (Johnson 1997). The idea behind this movement of a harsher prison environment, with the regulation and/or exclusion of certain amenities and recreational programming, further criminalized prison inmates while continuing to punish them once they were in prison. In present day, there have been many attempts to increase recreational opportunities and programs within prisons, including but not limited to sports, work, rehabilitation programs, educational programs and much more. Many researchers and criminal rights advocates have attempted to increase the awareness of the effectiveness from different types of recreational programs, with many resulting in positive outcomes. Through the combination of personal

Do events of the past affect an individual’s life? How important are memories of the past for people of the future? Does the past, even relate to the future at all? To figure out the answers to these questions, one has to understand the impact that past events can do to one’s future. Events in the past are essential to an individual 's development and can change their perspective of life. As a matter of fact, you can see these questions being answered in Classical Literature, Modern Literature, Current Events and even Visual Rhetoric.

Hey little brother sorry you can't call. I don't have any money on the phone. I haven't spoken with Mj in a month. I am so heartbroken. Your wife told me the great news and I am so happy for you both. Like I told Lamont I really don't talk to no one in Michigan. Kristy (1-2 times a week) Aretha and Fred (every other 3-4 months) maybe. Mom and Cass never. So that's that. You, Lamont and Mj are my concerns as long as you all let me be in your lives I will be. I love all my family dearly; however, along the way we have lost vital parts of who we are as a family. I think long incarcerations have made some feel that they are not family. Many people have forgotten who they are as simply Africans but on a basic level in this family we have forgotten

Incarceration has been the primary means of punishment for criminals who have been convicted of felony offenses. While prisoners are serving the term of incarceration they face many difficult situations. Some of these situations can include committing new crimes within the system which could lead to prolonging the current sentencing. Those who are able to make parole after meeting the requirements set in place by the court are faced with new difficulties when trying to reintegrate in society. While inmates complete sentences ordered by the court, they have the opportunity to take advantage of Federal Aid including continued education, job skill training, employment opportunities and support programs. These programs are designed to lessen the struggle offenders’ face as they reintegrate into society by offering a positive direction upon their release. The overall goal is to achieve a reduction in the rate of recidivism.

In this paper, I will be outlining the costs and benefits of social and technological fixes, and then I will be assessing the use of social and technological fixes of air pollution through the use of automobiles.

Memories of the past has influenced many of the early traditional historians in creating their ideas of early Texas History. Personal narratives passed on to historians became the foundation for many of the early writers in developing an early identity for the state. Unfortunately, many of the early histories supported and primarily Anglo culture and a Top-Down approach to history. Most of the early history was written relative to the Anglo viewpoint and biased opinions. Fortunately, many underrepresented cultures now have a voice and the capabilities to provide personal accounts and history as passed down within said culture. Now, new historians can use personal narratives and memories from within other cultures to validate or

Speech of Introduction General Purpose: To introduce myself through the use of two objects, a softball and a piece of clay. Introduction Someone once said that “the past is where you must learn the lesson and the future is where you apply the lesson. “ A. (Thesis Statement)