Prison is a place in which people, found guilty of committing a crime or breaking a law, referred to as inmates, are forcibly held against their will. Prison is a place where inmates lose a variety of their given rights and many freedoms as citizens of the united states of america. Prison is a place where inmates wait under the watchful eye of guards for a length of time determined fit or as sentenced to serve by a judge, as a form of punishment.
Why prison for punishment? What makes prison a punishment? What is the purpose of prison? There are three goals of incarceration and they are: retribution, deterrence, and incapacitation. Retribution by definition is an act of revenge. In this sense the punishment of a prison sentence is
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The punishment of a prison sentence makes it so that the law breaker, for the amount of time they are ordered to serve, can no longer hurt society. A prison sentence makes the “bad guy” disappear… Or does it? away innocent people. Deterrence means the prevention of future crime. It is hoped that prisons provide warnings to people thinking about committing crimes, and that the possibility of going to prison will discourage people from breaking the law. Rehabilitation refers to activities designed to change criminals into law abiding citizens, and may include providing educational courses in prison, teaching job skills and offering counselling with a psychologist or social worker. The four major purposes of prisons have not been stressed equally through the years. As a result, prisons differ in the makeup of their staffs, the design of their buildings and their operatiorison system was set up in order to rehabilitate prisoners, so they can do there time and be mended back into society as what we would qualify as a productive citizen. Instead of doing this, other factors such as high crime rates and mandatory sentencing have caused an increase to the number of prisoners. This is not only overpopulating our jails but also correlating with the increasing our budget shortfall. In the article States Cut Prison Budgets but Not Prison Populations by Victoria Law she claims, “Budget shortfalls are prompting California and
Prisons are an improvement over early punishments that involved mainly putting people to death for anything and everything. Prisons are here to remove the danger that law breakers would pose to the rest of the world. Prison helps to reform the characters of those who have broken the law. For the fairly violent offenders incarceration is needed to prevent that individual from causing potential harm to an innocent other.
Incarceration is thought of as a positive form of punishment, and negative form of punishment. The opinion varies with the type of person, and their experience from jail if they have gone. Most inmates while in prison will tell you it is a horrible place that should be gone. That would allow criminals to be free and that would let them cause harm to others or other illegal activities. Incarceration was not designed to be a paradise, it is a detention center for the bad, and meant for them to be punished. Without jails the world would be filled with even more evil, and would leave people in more danger than they already are.
As a country, we should care about all of our citizens and work toward bettering them, because we are only as strong as our weakest link. When it concerns the issue of corrections it should not be a discussion of punishment or rehabilitation. Instead, it should be a balance of both that puts the spotlight on rehabilitating offenders that are capable and willing to change their lives for the better. Through rehabilitation a number of issues in the corrections field can be solved from mental health to overcrowding. More importantly, it allows offenders the chance to do and be better once released from prison. This paper analyzes what both rehabilitation and punishment are as well as how they play a part in corrections. It also discusses the current reasons that punishment as the dominant model of corrections is not as effective as rehabilitation. After explaining rehabilitation and punishment, then breaking down the issues with punishment, I will recommend a plan for balance. A plan that will lower incarceration rates and give offenders a second chance.
Those criminals need to be corrected and helped, and then brought back into their societies and Imprisonment is thus not meant to be an avenue for inhumane treatment for members of the community who err in their behavior.
The concept of the prison has existed for more than two thousand years. It probably goes back as far in time as practice of cannibalism, where victims had to wait for their turn in contributing to the chief course in the menu of their captors. Examples of prisons can even be found in the Old Testament when Joseph was incarcerated in Egypt. It was not until the 19th century that a clear shift occurred from corporal punishment to imprisonment. As societies prospered and the industrial revolution began, the formal prison system, as we know it today, developed. Throughout most of the world, the correctional system is administered by the state, and it is considered a key function that the government must fulfill: protect its citizens by
In the article in The New York Times called Punishment Fails and Rehabilitation Works by James Gilligan he said, that at least two third of the prisoners will reoffend s crime within three years of leaving prison. Often they will do a more serious and violent offense than the one they did before. He also stated that 90% of the prisoners will return back to their community because if they do not go back then the prisons will be overcrowded. The author main goal is to figure out a way to find another way rather than punishment toward the criminals, but more of rehabilitation instead. He stated if prisons were to be demolish and replace to become more of an anti-prison and give a sense of community among the inmates then we might see some
The Department of Justice breaks crime reductions down into three basic principles: punishment, corrections, and deterrents. Citizens in the United States tend to think of prison inmates as being segregated from society. There are walls with barb wire, and guards in towers with firearms in between inmates and civilization. Millions of prisoners are released each year, so today 's prisoners could be tomorrow 's neighbors so wouldn’t you agree that corrections should be the focus of the America 's prison system. Unfortunately, rehabilitation or corrections are not the focus and the United States focuses primarily on punishment.
From the start, the main punishments for breaking the law consisted of public humiliation, fines or death. The idea of prison came from a gaol, which is similar to a jail. The purpose of a gaol wasn't originally made for penalizing criminals, but to isolate the perpetrator of a crime until the actual punishment was carried out. The only long term imprisonment was due to debt, and the amount of time depended on their financial situation. Along with gaols, there was a variety of types of correction houses like penitentiaries and houses of correction. Prisons weren't around until 1790 when Philadelphia constructed a new cell house to its existing jail. After that, incarceration spread throughout the U.S. becoming a popular punishment.
What is the purpose of prison? This question creates a great deal of debate. The communities, citizens and even prisoners are sometimes confused about the right answers. There is an ongoing debate about the purpose of the prison system in the United States. To the majority, the regulations of the prison system may seek deterrence, incapacitation, or retribution to avoid seeming to be too soft on criminals (Smit,2010). To others, “the regulations of the prison system may have opportunities to re-socialize prisoners or to effect changes in the personality,
The biggest issue with prisons right now is that they are extremely overcrowded. This problem is attributed to the rising crime rate. Currently the crime rate is fairly high, “Nationwide, law enforcement made an estimated 11,302,102 arrests in 2013” (FBI). Not all of these arrests were sentenced prison time, nonetheless thousands were. 631,200 people were incarcerated in prisons last year (Carson). Several people argue that the crime rate is lower than it has been, however the best crime rate is 0. Prisons aid in lowering the crime rate because criminals cannot commit crimes while they are locked up and currently there are around 2 million criminals not committing crimes (Prisoners), nevertheless once those prisoners are released they return to a life of crime. Statistics show, “two-thirds of prisoners will reoffend” (Criminal Justice). One of the main roles of prison is to rehabilitate prisoners so that they will not commit other crimes; however, it obviously is not working. To alleviate this problem, prisons should counsel prisoners and educate them on why crime is
And yet, crime rates are higher than any other country on average. The United states spends billions on facilities every year. As budgets from the penal system increase, there are fewer resources for education, health care, economic development, state & local police, and other public services that prevent crime. But has this increase of incarceration made our country safer? Long prison sentences have had a decrease on crime. However, no more than 25% of it was because of incarceration. About $70 billion is spent on corrections yearly and about $240 billion is spent on facilities. “Criminals learn better how to commit crimes, but not how to be productive in the free world or how to abandon their selfishness. Solid evidence proves that returning parolees increase crime rates in their neighborhoods.” Perhaps if we spent more money on corrections rather than facilities, this might not be a problem and more people would stay out of jail. Conditions in prison have a direct effect on criminals physically, mentally, and psychologically. Prison does not appear to help offenders. “Imprisonment can be an expensive way of making bad people worse.” (Former home secretary Lord Douglas Hurd.) If the money we spent towards facilities was used for alternative solutions to reform criminals, incarceration levels would most likely decrease. Restorative justice, for example gives victims the chance to communicate with their offenders to explain the real impact of the crime. Restorative justice can also help prisoners develop relationships outside of prison, which can help with positive personal growth. I believe this gives offenders a chance to change their ways. 49% of victims involved in a victim offender programme found that it helped their recovery
People are sent to prison because they break the code of civilization and/or go against the laws that a government sets for society. Prisons are incarceration for unjust people who go against the laws of a jurisdiction. Socrates, The great Greek philosopher, defines the body as a prison, but prisons are places where people are kept in captivity for unjust acts. Socrates adds that the body is an imperfect thing, and because of it's imperfection, it stymies the soul from reaching enlightenment. People who are placed in prisons or cages cannot experience life as it was meant to be, as they are trapped within a box.
The deterrence and rehabilitation of prisons is clearly a purpose that is not being fulfilled. The actions of Earl Shriner and Reginald Muldrew are examples that show this. Claiming prisons as being effective, one might say that these are just isolated cases. In 1993, fifty-three percent of prisoners released were reconvicted within two years (Reducing).
People often assume that prisons are not beneficial and are only used to house criminals in the interim while they serve their conviction. Once a criminal is discharged, they will begin to break the same crimes they were to being convicted. Rehabilitation or the act of returning an object to an original, pure state, will assist in limiting the amount of repeat offenders returning to prison. Prisons across America do not provide any effective rehabilitation programs, ultimately causing prisoners who are discharged to return back to prison because they are used to practicing a bad habit. Prison is only an effective means of rehabilitating criminals if a prison offers effective rehabilitation programs that gives prisoners the opportunity to strengthen their education, career and life skills. This way discharged prisoners will
Prison is an institution for the confinement of persons convicted of criminal offenses. Throughout history, most societies have built places in which to hold persons accused of criminal acts pending some form of trial. The idea of confining persons after a trial as punishment for their crimes is relatively new.