Essay On American Prisons

In the essay "Prison "Reform" in America," Roger T. Pray points out the much attention that has been devoted to research to help prevent crimes. Showing criminals the errors of their ways not by brutal punishment, but by locking them up in the attempt to reform them. Robert Pray, who is a prison psychologist, is currently a researcher with the Utah Dept. of Corrections. He has seen what has become of our prison system and easily shows us that there is really no such thing as "Prison Reform"

In America, crime rates are going up and prisoners are being released from prison with a wrong sense of direction resulting in their finding themselves back behind bars within a short period of time after being released for an action that could have been prevented if the proper precautions had been taken. Prisons need to put forth the effort to resolve these issues and make America’s streets secure again. The criminal justice system in prisons is a rising concern in this country that is affecting many and it is time it was improved by reforming the inside of prisons, providing prisoners with more when released, and keeping them under surveillance after release to help ensure they will not return to prison, thus keeping crime at a lower rate.

“One out of every 31 Americans (7 Million) are in prison, jail, or some other form of correctional supervision. A high incarceration rate in the United States has led to the prison-industrial complex, which has provided jobs and profits to legions of companies and people. The field of corrections is big business.”1 I believe that this fact is the best way in which to start my paper. The main idea of corrections, as the name suggests, is to correct the behavior that has caused an offender to stray from the straight and narrow. However, as our prison population grows and recidivism rates increase we are not only seeing our prison system fail, but we are seeing a new and emerging industry take hold in this country. Increasing prison populations and the number of re-offenders is showing a relatively obvious failure of the current system. In my time as a criminal justice major I have taken a variety of classes on criminal justice, one of the most interesting for me (aside from this class) was restorative justice. In my restorative justice class I was introduced to the idea that the criminal justice system was taking the conflict away from the victim and the community and was focusing too much on punishment and not enough on rehabilitation. I understand that some people feel that restorative justice is too lenient, that by allowing offenders to bypass jail restorative justice gives them a pass and allows them to basically get away with an offense, however restorative

The transportation system that brought convicts into America was born out of new types and record levels of crime in England. (pg. 6) The crowded streets and overcrowding of the cities added to the increase in crime. England’s law enforcement and criminal justice system were ill-equipped to handle the dramatic increase in crimes committed in the city. The English penal system was in such a state of instability that new solutions had to be found for the increasing numbers of felons. The city jails were so unhealthy and disease-ridden, that many inmates died. The localities also lacked sufficient funds to care for the convicts in the already overcrowded prisons. Instead of spending money for more jails in order to accommodate more prisoners,

Serving time is not a waste of time. While an inmate is incarcerated, he or she has every opportunity to better themselves and prepare for their impending re-entry into society. Jails and prisons alike offer rehabilitative programs. These programs allow every inmate an equal opportunity to return to the outside world as a better and more productive member of society. Educational, vocational training, work release, drug-abuse, self-help, health care, religious, and finally recreational programs are just a few of the hundreds of correctional programs that inmates can participate in. Due to these programs, positive changes within an inmates life, as well as drastic changes in our society, are entirely within reach.

The United States Department of Justice has come forth with a statement that they will end the use of private prisons. Sally Yates, the Deputy Attorney General, stated that she has sent a communication to instruct prison officials not to renew any contracts with operators of private prisons or for the diminished use of contracts with already exist. This is the beginning of the process intended to cut and eventually end the use of prisons which are privately operated.

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

The United States prison system is an institution which has undergone dramatic changes in its history, from being a short detention center between a criminal and their true punishment, to what was thought to be a place for wayward souls to be rehabilitated through isolation, hard work, and religious repentance so they could reenter society without committing crimes again, to a place of overcrowded conditions, corruption, and prisoner abuse that existed solely for the sake of punishment. Since the prison system reached that point, there have been numerous attempted reforms of the system, and while they all ultimately failed at their goal of completely overhauling the system, they have all at least partly contributed to what we see in the United

Reform of the justice system is one of the most integral ways to help reduce the number of people who are addicted to drugs. The way that our criminal system is right now it focuses more on punishing those who are addicted to drugs than helping to rehabilitate them. People seem to think that putting someone who is addicted to drugs in prison for an offense that they committed can help them by forcing them to go cold turkey from the drugs that they were addicted to. When in fact, it is quite easy to come across drugs within the prison system; the flow of drugs is a common and consistent thing. Instead of throwing those who are addicted in prison we should focus on getting them the help that they need and making sure that it is something that

The Correctional System in American: A Historical Perspective The correctional system in American can date back to biblical times. In Luke 4:18 (The New King James Version) , Jesus said that “God has sent me to proclaim the release of the captives.” God had giving Jesus the spirit to gather the poor, give liberty to the captives, and offering the word of God to those that were in bondage.

Few states had life without parole (LWOP) statutes before the 1970s, when there was an emphasis on rehabilitation in criminal punishment and most states used indeterminate sentencing. Judges, prison authorities, and parole boards had broad discretion in sentencing and release decisions. Life sentences were parole eligible and either mandatory without a fixed minimum imprisonment term or indeterminate with a fixed minimum imprisonment term. Louisiana, as an example, had the “10-6 law” (R.S. 15:571.7) from 1926 to 1979 that authorized the warden of a prison and the governor to commute a prisoner’s life sentence after he had served at least 10 years and six months with good behavior. Throughout and beyond the decade, more states adopted determinate

There has been a huge debate on overcrowded prisons and the many issues that surround them. Some think we should open more prisons and some think otherwise. Some express their thoughts of treatment facilities and others think of how all effects the taxpayers. No matter what angle of this argument is being looked at, it is an issue that needs to be resolved with least consequences for everyone and to really consider all approaches with care.

The American correctional facility system has become an industry in the past few decades. While once, it was used to correct the truly malicious and dysfunctional, now has begun to meet quotas set by contracts between state penal programs and correctional companies who privately manage the prisons and probation offices. Americans complain about crime and the expenses it costs the general public, not realizing where the problem stands. But If Americans really want to make a resolve crime problem, we need to change the penal system, amend the laws and statutes, and enforce ethics in the legal system.

Do Prisons Work? Can Individuals be Reformed or Rehabilitated through Incarceration and Treatment Programs. Critically examine the Current Treatment Programs offered and Subsequent Impact on Recidivism upon Individuals being released globally and WA specifically.

Prisons have not always been used the way we use them today. On the contrary, the punishment for a criminal were public events. The punisher would be put to shame in front of others. For instance, the punisher would be lace on a ducking stool, pillory, or whipped. If the offense was beyond the communities’ forgiveness then the punishment would be death. Unlike today, prisons tended to be a place to hold people before their trial or their awaiting punishment. According to Ferguson, in his book Inferno he states that “no matter what the crime and no matter how deserved the sentence, prison means oppression to those confined within its walls” (Ferguson 164). Prisons today are used to punish the criminal and sometimes they are kept in prison