Redemption Essay

Recently I watched ‘Shawshank Redemption,’ which raises the issue of rehabilitation and its effect on the prisoners, and this made me think about

September is National Recovery Month. As such, it is a great opportunity to celebrate people who are in recovery. Celebrating someone’s sobriety doesn’t have to be an expensive, or an over-the-top party. Most people in addiction recovery appreciate even small gestures. The following are some activities people in recovery can participate in and maintain their sobriety.

Rehabilitation, by definition, is the ability to conform back into society; which simply means to change ones behavior to match that of the ideal citizen. Jonathon Nobles did exactly that. The positive choice Nobles made while incarcerated convince people that he was attempting to change his way of thinking

Margaret Edson explores an unpopular theme (redemption) using the changes in the character of the protagonist, Dr. Bearing. After her ovarian cancer diagnoses, she realizes that she lives an incomplete life with excess devotion to her career and academics and less regard for humanity. She faces heart breaking loneliness that makes her regret the fact that she listened to and followed her English professor’s advice that scholars are unsentimental. Margaret Edson’s “W; t”, therefore, has a thematic bias on the redemption of Dr. Bearing as she tries to emerge from her arrogant self and shed her unsociable character. Dr. Bearing interacts with two contrasting characters in the play that leads her to a state of self

There are many people who are in prisons that should not be there or should not be serving lengthy sentence. “For example, we found that 25% of prisoners (364,000 people), almost all non-violent, lower-level offenders, would be better served by alternatives to incarceration such as treatment, community service, or probation.” (Time Magazine) This is a clear example of what Restorative Justice is and should look like. Restorative Justice is a system of criminal justice that focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large. Rather than imprisoning a person for petty crimes such as petty theft, tagging, having small amounts of drugs with no intent to sell, or even just a little physical interactions, there is an alternative for the punishment. As mentioned above, the person can do community service, probation, or they can be talked to and making sure that there is an understanding of where they went wrong and how to avoid making that mistake again. Everyone will always hold themselves

Such treatment was deemed cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore unconstitutional, violating inmates' 8th Amendment rights. Now, only prisoners who commit serious in-prison offenses (violence, possessing weapons or narcotics, or attempting to escape) will be sent to solitary confinement, and for a limited period of

Even though these individuals are criminals, their basic rights to food, bedding, and other necessities are to be met. By placing these men in solitary confinement for reasons that do not warrant isolation, this constitutes cruel and unusual

Additionally, the inmates are being taught to redeem themselves in prison by earning a degree, becoming substance abuse counselors, working outside of the prisons on the highways and streets and they are training dogs for the community to adopt from shelters, but this is not always a sign of being rehabilitated. Prisoners can show a good side to them in the prison, but be a completely different person on the outside of those barbed wire fences. People truly who want to change will, but those that have been in and out of the system are not going to change their behavior or minds. Some parolees will reoffend just to get back into the prison, as it is the only life that they know. Kroll argues the point that the prison system and officials depend on their livelihood to be meant by these prisoners

In a valiant attempt to clean the streets of societies, criminals are put away in rehabilitation institutions called prisons. It was a belief that they would learn their mistakes, repent and rejoin societies as better people. On the contrary, what happened was the cultivation of an environment leading to the evolution of prison subculture. In a constant power struggle amongst nations, politicians and people within society, many fail to perceive or notice a battle of another sort. That is the battle of those trying to survive in an environment predominant with racism, hate, violence and gangs. Prison subculture evolved, when doing time wasn't just about doing your time but became an intricate experience of politics, power,

Solitary confinement is a form of cruel and unusual punishment and should be re-evaluated for overseeing the human rights of the inmates being held.

Prisons have been a way for us to remove persons of danger away from the rest of society, and it is the sole purpose. The prisoners are placed into a facility and they serve their time doing just it, nothing else. However, over time we began to initiate a new concept for prisons. Prisons can be used as a place to rehabilitate people and change the path which they have been following. We have given prisoners the ability to get an education, get work experience, get therapy, and get drug rehabilitation. There is a policy which has been debated upon however in this idea of reformation, and it is the parole policy for inmates. Even though parole has been around for a long time, and there is proof it helps lower recidivism rates, there are still people fighting against the re-entry program. While the program may have a few faults they are one which are on a local level, not with the program itself and it should be allowed to continue.

While incarcerated the individual may have the opportunity to receive rehabilitation. Does it mean that the individual will be rehabilitated? One can only imagine. This is a debatable issue. Is punishment or rehabilitation more effective in combating crime?

| |the intellectual conversation of topics that were discussed. I also enjoyed the learning |

With the highest incarcerated rate in the world, does the United States prison systems offer quality rehabilitation or just punishment? According to data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there was approximately 706 prisoners per 100,000 residents, or about 2.2 million prisoners in 2012 and within 3 years, almost 6 out of 10 released inmates will be rearrested and half will be back in prison. According to data from www.gpo.gov , the vast majority of prisoners are not rehabilitated. Two-thirds of released prisoners are re-arrested and one-half are re-incarcerated within three years of release from prison. Rates of recidivism rise to approximately 75%-85% of released prisoners are likely to be re-arrested within a decade of release. Successful rehabilitation is vital when releasing an inmate into the community as it produces a significant reduction in criminal recidivism. The purpose of incarceration is to protect the public and punish as well as rehabilitate the criminal. It is designed to change an inmate's view of life and alter their future behavior when re-entering society. Prisons offer education, labor, and other rehabilitation sources to inmates, so why is the recidivism rate so high with these programs in place?

Rehabilitation is more of a therapeutic method to help the criminal ditch crime and become a constructive member in society. “Rehabilitation involves teaching inmates silks and trades that will, hopefully, give them a chance to become law-abiding citizens once they are released from prison” (Long). This method is looked at as more of a treatment than a punishment, to guide the criminal to make better choices and live a better life.