Incarceration Vs Rehabilitation

During the 1970’s, the tough on crime movement contributed to a drastic increase in punishment for lesser crimes and led a massive increase in imprisonment, even though the crime rates stayed the same (Gascon 2014). It is disputed that even though the movement was attractive to voters, it is doing more harm than good. Ever since the 1960’s, the amount of individuals detained has increased roughly about ten times than normal (Gascon 2014). Expanding a prison population requires more places, such as prisons and jails, to detain prisoners and California had built “22 new prisons in just 30 years” (Gascon 2014). Building new prisons and detaining more prisoner’s costs money and this money will come out of taxpayers. Newt Gingrich and B. Wayne Hughes Jr. said in an editorial that “prison is for people that we are afraid of, but we have been filling them with many folks we are just mad at.” They also state if the proposition is passed it will bring some light on the face that over $60,000 is spent on one inmate alone per year, while less than $10,000 is spent on each student in schools (Gingrich and Hughes 2014). The American Civil Liberties Union, the Sentencing Project, and the Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice are also in favor of the proposition. Some of these groups agree with Gingrich and Hughes statements, the money

As the amount of nonviolent drug offenders increases, so does the amount of prisoners in jail. With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States has 25 percent of the world’s total prison population. Between 1980 and 2013, the amount of people in federal prison for drug offenses has increased from 4,749 to 100,026, and the total federal prison population as increased almost 790 percent. To manage the sharp increase in the inmate population in recent years, the bureau that manages the federal prisons has resorted to putting two or three bunks in a cell, and converting recreational spaces into sleeping quarters. As the prisons become increasingly overcrowded, it hinders correction officers’ ability to do there job and ensure that inmates are kept nonviolent and facilities are in safe conditions. Without the proper supervision of law enforcement, prisons become extremely dangerous for both inmates and officers. And as the number of inmates rises, so does the cost to house all of them. According to the National Institute of Justice, the cost of building a prison ranges from $60,000 to $75,000 per inmate, with the average prison’s operating cost being about $60 per day per inmate. Where does this money to house prisoners come from you may ask? The answer is simple: the federal budget, which is largely funded by you, the average taxpayer. Along with the issue of increasing prison-housing costs, the rehabilitation programs available to inmates are usually the first

One public policy issue that is attracting a great deal of attention is the matter of prison reform. While a great many members of the public support improvements in the safety, security and quality of life in prisons, few will endorse this at the expense of the same for law-abiding citizens. However, according to Koh (2013), Texas is currently facing one such dilemma. According to Koh, "prison reforms may result in better conditions for inmates, but those improvements come at the expense of welfare cash assistance and other government relief for the needy, according to a study released this month by Rice University and Louisiana State University." (Koh, p. 1)

The state of California spends about a fortune in state prison and parole operations, which is about $7.9 billion. But with the passing of The Three Strikes Initiative, such an amount can be reduced, and thus more money will be saved. In a fiscal report by the state’s legislative analyst, it is stated that “Net state savings related to prison and parole operations

Instead of using tax dollars to imprison more people that money should go to reducing jail size, and give prisoners a change tohave a lighter sentences.

The relentless fiscal challenges America has faced over the past few decades has quadrupled; galvanizing the probing of the U.S. government’s spending on corrections expenditures. Since the 1970s, the United States has been a substantial increase in incarceration rates, which has grown by more than 700% in the past 40 years. As a result, this inclination has been an imposing cost on American tax payers; who are responsible for the $39 billion price tag, which is 13.9% higher than the cost reflected in at least 40 states

In the early days of the Unites States criminal justice system, punishment and retribution were the only methods dealing with criminals. It was not until the Pennsylvania Quakers established the first prison in the United States in 1790 that introduced the principle of the rehabilitation rather than capital punishment. Later, other prisons followed the Pennsylvania prison model, and incarceration soon became the center of the country’s criminal justice system. However, it was not until the 1960s that the criminal justice systems started to experience a problem with overcrowding in prisons throughout the nation. Overcrowding became more of a problem as the criminal justice system began to take a more severe approach to deal with crime by incarcerating

As a result of the bill being passed those with history of incarceration for drug related charges will benefit the most from it. Most importantly, the Department of Correction will profit as well from the bill being pass since it will reduce the probability of repeated offenders as a result of them focusing on school. In addition, the cost of incarceration is right at $83.89 per day averaging to $30,619.85 annually. Further, the passing of the bill will not only serve as a benefit to the Department of corrections, it will also be beneficial taxpayers who taxes can be used for other causes(Office of the Federal Register,

A paramount issue regarding prison populations in America, are the finances associated with running institutions of such magnitude. The cost of operations for any kind of incarceration facility is beyond exorbitant. The public overlooks the expenses of training employees, providing programs for inmates (vocational training, education, etc.), legal and medical assistance for inmates, maintenance and facility upgrades and etc. The funding for all this comes from tax payers at the local, state, and federal levels with assistance from federal programs and Congress. A better explanation is that local and state facilities are paid for by local and state taxes along with federal aid whenever it is attainable. Federal institutions are paid for through

Each day in the United States, the correctional system supervises over six million of its residents. Approximately two million people are in prison or jail, while four million are on probation or parole. Thus, making the United States having the largest prison population in the world. In 1972, 161 U.S. residents were incarcerated in prisons and jails per 100,000. By 2012 that number had nearly quintupled to 707 per 100,000. The jail and prison population had grown to about 2.23 million people, yielding a rate of incarceration that was by far the highest in the world. We have determined as a society and as a country that the incarceration, supervision and the specific fines for a particular crime are that person’s debt to society. Most people

As the investigation is pushed from the police to the courts, the final judgment formulates into a punishment for the guilty. Under the Judicial Branch of the Federal court system is the American correctional sector. Each state in the U.S. has a different organization of prisons (federal crimes), jails (local crimes), and other federal correctional penitentiaries or detention centers (Kaufman, 1980, p. 32). There are numerous levels of security within prisons depending on the nature of the crime and the amount of criminal activity on record. At a state or local level the choice of probation and parole are given as alternative options to being incarcerated. Probation is given instead of jail or prison time and parole is early release from the

Impact of Rehabilitation Programs and Incarceration for Juvenile Offenders Discussing the Importance of Rehabilitation Program

Lee Tergeson, actor from the television show OZ said, “I know what it is like to be ignored, and I think that is the big problem about the prison system: These people are being thrown away. There is no sense of rehabilitation. In some places, they are trying to do things. But, in most cases, it is a holding cell.” (Tergeson, 2002) He speaks the truth.

This belief indicated that if offenders could not be rehabilitated then they should be punished and it was time to get tough on crime. Within a relatively short time parole was attacked and the individual approach of indeterminate sentencing, or release by the authority of a parole board was abolished in 16 states (Rhine, Smith, and Jackson, 1991) and some form of determinate sentencing was adopted in all 50 states (Mackenzie, 2000)].

Taxpayers are responsible for funding the county jail and this means they are funding a system that is simply a revolving door for offenders. All of the offenders in the case studies had previous arrests and had previously spent extended periods of time in jail. Rather than having taxpayers fund a system that has not been proven to be effectively rehabilitating offenders, taxpayers should be funding systems that address root causes of crime. I believe more taxpayer money should be invested in Chicago Public Schools, mental health facilities, and employment opportunities.