Prison Pros And Cons Essay

Although the United States composes a mere five percent of the world’s population, it holds twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners (13th 0:01-0:05). In recent years, mass incarceration, or the practice of arresting vast amounts of people, has become a relevant issue within the United States. As rising amounts of individuals, primarily minorities, are arrested, for both serious and petty crimes, government spending on jails and inmates has undergone a drastic increase as well. The large sum of money that has been directed toward correctional facilities has initiated a great amount of controversy, as many believe that it should be used to cover the rising cost of education instead. Since the majority of inmates are currently minorities,

Another report from the National Institute of Justice claimed that illiteracy was the primary cause of crime. And it’s no wonder; if one cannot learn, where can he or she turn in order to survive? A recent study of juvenile offenders placed them, on average, at a third grade reading level. Jobs were simply not an option; they simply did not have, and could not learn, the necessary skills. And thus they were absorbed into the gangs, and the attendant drugs and crime. Higher education in penitentiaries used to be ordinary, but in 1994 Congress eliminated federal funding for inmates to go to college and many programs were abolished. The reasons were: why should the government give free college educations to inmates when there are so many unconvicted students who cannot afford it? One of the best ways to rehabilitate criminals is through educating them while they are in prison, but most people do not want to pay for prisoners to go to college when even they have trouble coming up with money for their own kid’s education. We’re hung up on solving problems by “Getting Tough” and place too little value on “Getting Smart.” Not only must we educate the prisoners, we must also take the time to educate the police officers. We must begin this educational rehabilitation process by rating the prisons the same way we rate our schools: By their success rate.

A tremendous obstacle for many inmates is a lack of funding available for them to continue their education after they have received their GED (or entered CDOC already having their high school diploma and maybe some college experience). College Correspondence courses, completed entirely on paper, via Prisoner Distance Learning programs are expanding. Adams State University has been recognized as having one of the largest prisoner education programs in the country. It is fantastic that inmates are beginning to have access to these programs. Offenders are able to obtain degrees such as an Associate of Arts or Science, a Bachelor’s

The prison system realizes that an immense majority of inmates will be released; we need to prepare them for outside life. Without the efforts of educational programs, a prison can become a “revolving door, with inmates having nowhere to go but back” to the prison with no future (Young 1). A majority of the states offer a GED program, but North Carolina profits from a Community College system that offers classes in academics, auto mechanics, masonry, wiring, plumbing, and computer literacy. The Community Colleges offer two-year degree programs in many areas. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers business association classes to inmates over twenty-five years of age. Because of the excellent programs they have to offer, more than five thousand of about thirty thousand inmates are in the education program and these numbers continue to grow.

Education has played a prominent role in our correctional institutions over time. Unfortunately, there are many prisons which have failing programs with high drop-out rates, poor participation, and weak or non-existent postrelease support. In addition, funding cuts in all levels of government have forced many to reduce their offerings or close programs altogether. It has become apparent that there are

The article "The Impact of Career and Technical Education Programs on Adult Offenders: Learning Behind Bars" by Howard Gordon and Bracie Weldon (2003) studies of how prisoners receiving educations in prison reduces the recidivism rate. Gordon and Weldon studied the inmates who were participating in the educational programs at the Huttonsville Correctional Center in West Virginia and claimed that inmates who participated in the educational programs were less likely to recidivate once released back into the population as compared to inmates who did not participate in these programs (Gordon & Weldon, 2003). This study provides valuable information as to the effectiveness of educational programs in prison and how they affect prisoner's lives

A provision in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 banned access to Pell Grants for incarcerated adults. At the time, Pell grant usage among inmates constituted less than 1 percent of Federal Pell spending, but its removal all but eliminated postsecondary opportunities for inmates. Since that time, research has found that access to correctional education (i.e. adult education, postsecondary courses, and workforce training) correlates with significantly reduced chances of recidivism, increased employment prospects, and greater public safety. Under the Obama Administration the Department initiated a pilot program reinstating some incarcerated individuals’ access to Pell Grants to pursue higher education. Do you have an opinion on whether providing postsecondary for prisoners helps reduce recidivism, increase employment, and

Incarceration rates have increased from 400,000 people in 1975 to 2.1 million in 2003; a fivefold increase, making the United States a leader in rates compared to other nations (Morenoff & Harding, 2014). These numbers bear a great burden on individuals, families, and communities in various ways. First, with 700,000 individuals being released from prison annually comes difficulty in reentering society both socially and economically; difficulty finding work, education, strained relationships, and social stigma (Morenoff & Harding, 2014). Second, the increasing rates of incarceration are disproportionately and unfairly impacting minorities, specifically African-Americans, and poor urban communities (Morenoff & Harding, 2014). A New York Times article by Furman and Holtz-Eakin (2016) states that $80 billion dollars--$600 per household--is spent on corrections annually, or a 1,700 percent increase in the federal prison budget in just thirty years. These increases have a deep historical background, many complex and interweaving factors, and require urgent reform.

Many programs have been initiated to help the problems of overcrowding and negligence. These include education, rehabilitation programs, work-release programs, and other preventative measures. Numerous education programs are offered to inmates. Some prisons even mandate the completion of a GED if the offender never finished high school. Many colleges in the prison’s community partner together with each other to enable higher learning as a possibility for offenders to obtain college credit. These services help inmates succeed in an inmate’s preparation to reintegrate into society with less chances of being arrested again. Offenders that are more prepared to leave prison are not as likely to commit a crime which improves the safety of the public and also saves money from taxpayers. (Office of Vocational Adult Education, 2009)

In the 1970s and 1980s, a massive amount of inmates began fillin up the United States prison systems. This huge rate of growth in this short amount of time, has greatly contributed to the prison overcrowding that the United States faces today. In fact, the prisons are still filled to the seams. This enormous flood of inmates has made it practically impossible for prison officials to keep up with their facilities and supervise their inmates. One of the main reasons why many prisons have become overcrowded is because of states’ harsh criminal laws and parole practices (Cohen). “One in every 100 American adults is behind bars, the highest incarceration rate in the world” (Cohen). The amount of inmates in corrections systems, throughout the

Prisons and jails hold some similar characteristics but are completely different models in which they serve in the criminal justice system. Some of the types of crimes that America faces today are: violent crimes, property, white collar or organized crime, and public order crimes (Worrall, 2008). The criminal justice system sets the regulations and policies of how an offender will be held accountable for their inappropriate actions. The criminal justice system is a process that takes time and money from society. The following information will briefly discuss the main purposes for the jail and prison systems, which will focus on the length of sentencing, funding sources, and private sector ownership. Let’s begin by explaining the length of

The minimum security is federal prison camps adjacent to other federal prisons near military bases. Male prisoners who need only minimum security are set up in camps and those who will be transitioned [Passive voice] back into society and served their sentence will be set-up in a halfway house.

Prisoners are described as untrustworthy criminals-a characteristic a college education won’t change. Victims of criminals are used as more evidence of their negative nature; justifying why inmates shouldn’t be able to be awarded the grants. In contrast, they emphasize the innocent nature of law abiding citizens, who work relentlessly to be able to send their kids to college, and how these attributes make them different than inmates; and therefore the only rightful receiver of Pell Grants. The group that supported Pell Grants in U.S. prisons, took a less aggressive role. They didn’t refute the opposing side’s claim completely, but focused on the positive results of college education. They portrayed inmates as molding blocks who could change with the help of proper resources, and the fact that they were as much of a citizen as anyone else- and deserved the same opportunity of the Pell

The United States is home to five percent of the world population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoner. There must be a change to the current prison system which is doing more harm than good in American society and must be reformed. Reasons for this claim are that American prisons are too overcrowded with inmates, which creates a dangerous and unhuman environment. The cost to run a prison has gotten too expensive for tax payer pockets, and lastly the prison system is more as a punishment instead of rehabilitation with about sixteen percent of inmates most serious offence being drug charges. Prisons fall short of reforming criminals and the government is obligated to completely reform the prison systems in the United States.

This is a newspaper source that I found by searching Incarceration in America in the Alt-PressWatch search engine on the Sonoma Library Website. This source is about the effects of education in prisons and how it can help rehabilitate inmates prior to release. The author graduated from the University of Wisconsin and is a freelance journalist that focuses on higher education. Because he focuses on higher education he could be biased in wanting high education for everyone and could ignore the possible downsides like the cost of that education. This source offers me another rehabilitation program that could be helpful to have regularly in the prison system as well as interviews in the success it can cause. I wish to continue finding other alternatives and policies that could help with inmate rehabilitation. Since this topic focuses on high education I cannot say it matches any of the research I have done so far.