Ian Hacking's Looping Effects

The United States prison system struggles eminently with keeping offenders out of prison after being released. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than third of all prisoners who were arrested within five years of released were arrested within six months after release, with more than half arrested by the end of the year (Hughes, Wilson, & Beck, 2001). Among prisoners released in 2005 in 23 states with available data on inmates returned to prison, about half (55 percent) had either a parole or probation violation or an arrest for a new offense within three years that led to imprisonment (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder, 2014). Why are there many ex-offenders going back to prison within the first five years of release? Are there not enough resources to help offenders before or/and after being released from prison.

One might wonder why is this, namely, offenders are being released with no bearing as to what to do with themselves once they are released due to lack of education, coping skills, lack of obtaining employment due to their criminal background. Another factor of ex-offenders re-offending is due to the time of their conviction. If one has been sentenced to a lot of time one may be disconnected from love ones in the addition, to the era of the times of their release.

They re-enter society at a disadvantage because some have spent nearly two decades behind bars and the world looks foreign to them because so many things have changed. They return back to the same poverty-stricken communities with the willingness to change but aren't given the chance to because employers aren't lined up at the door to hire ex-convicts; and because of that, they may result to doing the same criminal activities they participated in to get them locked up in the first place. Government officials should look at reforming drug laws, especially for non-violent offenders, and create safe space in those communities so that offenders won't

In fact, they actually have a higher chance at returning back jail because they lack so much freedom and rights they have nothing to lose at that point. People find it hard to give ex-convicts a second chance back in life, after so many times of being denied employment they turn to criminal actions for money. If people could agree on something that could be equal to everybody the crime rates could decreased enormously. Coming back to society is step that takes time for individual for forgive themselves and ask for a second chance at

While a majority of this is due to funding, it’s hard to put a stop to such a cycle (criminal behavior from ex-prisoners) when they are unable to survive when they are released from jail. In order to survive one must obviously need a job to support his or her self. Without a job, an individual will be driven to financial problems and the inability to provide themselves and sometimes their families with the basic living necessities (food, water, etc.). Rehabilitation programs are put into place to help with the transition between prison life and regular society, however, when rehabilitation programs are cut due to lack of funding, the transition for prisoners is nearly impossible. They are unable to transition and adapt to present day society when they are unable to participate in such programs, and are unable to secure a job due to their criminal history. So the sad cycle repeats itself because the same offenders who were convicted for drug dealing and/or drug use, return to their same old behavior as a way to make fast money to support themselves. This is also true for prisoners who were not previous drug dealers and/or users, who just need to make fast money when they are released from prison. Whether dealing or not, some will begin to use as an outlet to not facing their financial struggles, which is extremely sad. This prison systems expects the prisoners who are released to learn from their mistakes, and do their time behind bars, but doesn’t emphasis post prison transitioning enough, nor does a very good job of making job accessible to past prisoners so that they can survive and live a functional life outside of the barbed

This research paper is focused on released convicts and the struggles they face to become active, progressive members of society. Sadly, these released offenders regularly face discrimination in their job searches, in attempts to secure housing for themselves and their families, and to be accepted by their communities. Without the right support structures in place upon their release, these former prisoners may very well fall back into lives of crime. Without a suitable place to stay, these released offenders may become recidivists, falling back into their familiar roles as law breakers, if only to provide the basic necessities for themselves and their

Although one would think that the effects would be beneficial as a criminal is off the streets, this is not necessarily the case. The members of the community feel as though the criminal justice system and perhaps other government institutions are biased and designed against them, and begin to question their legitimacy. This is very common among people who live in inner cities in the United States of America, especially when there are multiple incarcerations among community members. The mistrust for the government can lead to mental health issues among the people as they live in constant worry and are paranoid around the people who are supposed to make the feel safe. People of the community begin to feel as though they are being targeted and are under attack and might begin to rebel against the government. Additionally, the economic viability of the community is reduced as those who earn an income are incarcerated and taken out of the community. The government would no longer put money into improving these communities, as they do not believe the communities are not worth investing in. Also, assuming that those returning from prison are more likely to commit offences than they would if they were not incarcerated, the community to which they return become less safe (Clear). The communities are also perceived to be less safe by those who do not live in it. The fact that an ex-convict

The stigma of incarceration follows the released individual, even though they have served their time and, generally, prompts people to perceive the individual through a negative lens. In fact, it has become generally understood that individuals in any stigmatized group are viewed as of lesser value and their person, discredited, resulting in further social exclusion. This invisible punishment leads formerly incarcerated individuals to experience ostracism and alienation from the community, instead of support. As individuals begin to feel more shame, their self-esteem lowers and the alienation can have a dehumanizing effect. These negative experiences have the power to shift a once positive mindset, aimed towards successful reentry, to a negative one where individuals begin to exhibit behaviors of silence and concealment. One commentator aptly observed that, “the status as ex-offender is only one part of a person’s identify, yet it can become the most prominent defining characteristics for representing self.” The effects of being in a stigmatized group, however, are not limited to the formerly incarcerated individual alone. These perceptions can trickle over into how the family is perceived.

Individuals with a criminal record re-offend mostly because of status discrimination which in turn leads to high unemployment rates. Having a criminal record in today’s society is damning when trying to find employment. Opportunities for an education are slim due to this, leaving them only their shot to gain entry into the workforce. A slew of jobs requiring specific things like licenses are barred from the formerly incarcerated. When released back into society prisoners have to once again try to adapt to a society that has been changing in their absence. Put back into the world with only their clothes and little money they might have had. Often at times with little education or employment prospects it seems that they would just end up back in jail. They head somewhere familiar ensuring that they will be accepted and taken in. Back to their neighborhood and back to old friends they haven’t seen in years. Convicts return back to those bad influences. In order to combat this drug treatments, housing, job training, classes and peer groups are established to assist them. Once released, convicts have many tools at their disposal for getting the help they need but it depends on what state they’re in and on the person. Will they seek help though? Will they themselves willingly avoid what got them into trouble in the first place; from returning home only hoping for the best without trying? With the fear of constant failure and

Resettlement has been an important element in prison life throughout England and Wales for many years. It is when “prisoners and their families receive assistance and support from the prison and probation services and voluntary agencies to help them prepare for life after prison” (Justice, 2002). The objective is to hopefully lead prisoners towards recidivism, which will hopefully return ex-offenders to normal life, employment and housing. Criminological and social research done by Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) identified the following factors to be what influenced reoffending. These are; education, employment, drug and alcohol misuse, mental and physical health, housing, financial support, debt and family networks. The aim of this essay is to discuss the impact that resettlement has in imprisonment today by looking at the factors within prison life and also looking at the effects that resettlement has on the prisoners.

There is no single exact reason for the cause of recidivism and why prisoners return to a life of crime living with imprisonment, but some of the reasons do include the following: lack of socialization, inability to reintegrate into society after returning from prison, antisocial attitudes, association with other criminals, lack of support, substance abuse, neglect or abuse of parents of guardians.( http://study.com/academy/lesson/recidivism-definition-causes-prevention.html). According to The Daily Beast “One of the biggest factors is age. The prison population is getting older,” (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/22/america-s-recidivism-nightmare.html) In a recent

Despite offering possible treatment or programs, Americans place the responsibility of the crime on the person and they believe it is up to the person to pull by their bootstraps back into the society with no or little help. The society shuns the ex-convicts because people after being exposed to media which put the convicts in a bad light, believe that all convicts are dangerous, crazy, and liable to bite back.

These men and women are then released back onto the streets, back into our communities. Prison has not changed who they are, their violent behaviors, or their part in a street gang. They go back to the life they knew before prison, and the life they kept up while in prison. The most dangerous aspect of this cycle of crime is that these men and women return to prison again and again each time thinking they are a little tougher and their position in the gang a lot stronger. Their return trips to prison may ease the fears of the community for a few months or a few years, and each time the job of a correction officer becomes more difficult and more dangerous.

In this world we live in many feel that prisons exist to punish, not counsel, offenders. That may be true that Prisons exist for punishment, but they also have an important contribution to make to reducing re-offending by engaging prisoners in rehabilitation programs and purposeful work. Society is flawed in its thinking that by putting criminals in a place away from society we would be better off. To make it worse I am sure that more that 60 percent of Americans are against social reform because they have made up their mind that once a crook, always a crook. This is flawed mainly because it seems to assume that showing people that what they've done is wrong will always accomplish something, that punishing those who commit crimes

Prisons not only rehabilitate, but they also deter people from going to prison. The fear of going to prison is a great deterrence for a perspective criminal. Hard life styles along with loss of freedom tend to push the criminal away from the chance of being incarcerated. Numbers show that there are fewer rapes, and fewer murders, each year, all an obvious product of prison deterrence. After all, if a person has a friend who just got out of jail, and hears all of the war stories, that person would surely not want to go to prison and end up like his friend. By making life in prison hard, the prison is doing a great job in getting the word out. Prison is no joke! They are doing their job in deterring criminals from wanting to enter the gates of hell.