Should Prisons Be Reformed And Not Demolished?

What once was used as a means of rehabilitation has now became a corrupted institution based upon the societal norms of the 21st century. In the novel, “Are Prisons Obsolete” by Angela Davis, she emphasizes the underlining problems faced within modern day prisons. More specifically on how the reformation of these prisons have ultimately backfired causing the number of imprisonments to sky rocket drastically. Which results in the concept of the prison system being a lot more harmful than helpful to the prison-based communities nationwide.

Like Angela Davis, I believe that the prison system needs to be abolished. The prison system which is a significant part of punishment is incompetent and deeply flawed in the United States. Prison system reform needs immediate attention while abolition permanently will require time. Nietzsche’s theory of punishment explains how punishment come about in society and Davis’s critique of the prison system helps back my argument that the prison system needs to be abolished.

“Lock them up and throw away the key” – that is usually the headline when in regards to offenders going to prison. However, billions of dollars are going into maintaining prisons, yet the rate of recidivism is around 44% (Pearsons, 2011), so it is clear that prisons are no longer effective. The main argument of this paper is that because prisons are inefficient, they should be abolished so other forms of punishment can be found and acted upon. Firstly, this paper will discuss the function of prisons in regards to penal abolition. Also, it will identify what penal abolition is and explain three alternatives to prison – housing alternatives, restorative models, and

It is interesting to see how our prison came about. Through the years and centuries we have been trying to find the right way to deal with criminals. Yes, criminals where dealt with brutally and maybe too brutal for the crimes committed. Today someone can commit murder and get 25 years. I don't feel that during these 25 years the criminal will really get reformed. How many prisoners get out of prison and go back to society as normal people. It seems to me that they usually have been in prison for so many years they have trouble going back to society. The only way they know how to live is how they lived in prison. In prison they get a bed to sleep in, food and clothing and they don't have to work hard for it. So they are quick to commit another crime to go back there. Seeing this happen over and over I feel that you really can't reform our prisoners or the prisons they are locked up in. In Prays essay we

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

Would you want to be a prisoner in your own home? That’s exactly what’s going too happened if prisons are eliminated. According to Saul Guevara in the United States of America there have always been rules that we all have to follow. If anyone breaks the rules they will be consequences. Saul believes that if people break the law they should pay the consequences. Prisons has it pros and cons overall. Saul Guevara believes that as an alternative of spending lots of money to abolish prisons, we should spend money on improving them and finding new techniques to diminish the flaws in the prisons system so they can work properly.

Prison’s were established a long time ago to try to put an end to the rapidly increasing crime rate, however over time we are seeing the effectiveness of the most prisons decreasing. As a result of this epidemic, prisons have a higher recidivism rate and over 40 percents are currently operating over maximum capacity (Holder.) Through different types of research, we are finding out that our prison systems are no longer effective and there is a serious need for improvement. The United States has only 5 percent of the world’s population, yet we incarcerate almost ¼ of the worlds prisoners (Holder.)

The idea of prison has been around for thousands of years and seems to be an integrated part of the human concept. We remove the people that disrupt society and we put them away or get rid of them. We, as a modern culture,

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 United State’s prison system was initially designed to punish and rehabilitate individuals whom were convicted of a felony or other serious offense. Inmates are sentenced for a certain amount of time, or the entirety of their life based on how serious of a crime that person has committed. The Idea of imprisoning a person as a form of punishment dates back to medieval times however, it wasn’t until right before the American Revolution humane prisons started appearing in this country. Today, prisons are more populated than they have ever been and are functioning not only as a place to reform people’s morals, but also as a highly profitable investment for the wealthy to exploit. The Prison system is so devoted to making

“Problem with Prisons is written by Allison Torres Burka. This article seeks to answer many questions about the problems American prisons face. The first questions is why are there so many prisoners in the United States versus the rest of the world. Allison talks to David Fathi, the director of the National Prison Project seeking this answer among others. David says that the prison overcrowding has racial and political roots. Allison also asked David, “What is the NPP doing to reduce the rate of incarceration? His answer was educating the public who vote for legislation that we can have a safe community with a fraction of incarcerated individuals. He advised that we model after other countries. Another question that was asked was; “What are

How does prison population in America is different from others? America nowadays is one of the most populated countries in the world and advanced in technology, but sometimes bad things happen to good people and that's terrible, and something should be done about it. When we send people to prison to being punish or correct their errors or prevent other things happen. Punishments, corrections, and deterrents. Prison in America America have a 4% of population in the world, and 25% incarcerated in the USA, it is the country with highest incarceration rate in the world.

In Angela Davis’ book Are Prisons Obsolete?, the author puts forth the idea that the prison system is failing, is obsolete, and should be abolished in favor of a better alternative. She provides many arguments, and solid reasoning, in an attempt to prove this idea and convince the reader to adopt her position.

The article “Abolish Prison” is about how prison is “ the most astonishingly stupid and inhuman way to punish crime,” and then expresses the best alternatives, according to author Pascal Emmanuel-Gobry. Gobry starts out by talking about how prison is a place that doesn't bring an end to crime, but cause it to flourish. Prison “breeds crime and social dysfunction,” and turns “mediocre criminals into hardened ones.” Next, the article discusses the government’s role in prison issues. Gobry expresses that funding may help make prison better, but that funds come from “numerical size and public sympathy level,” and prison has neither. Finally, the article turns to possible alternatives for crime punishment. Gobry breaks it down into three levels;

Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prison and to find other ways for a penal system to be more effective without incarceration (Leher, 2013). The effect of prison on ex-inmates has a negative influence when trying to interact with society. According to the National Institute of Justice, about 68% of prisoners go back to prison within 3 years of their release. Prisoners may not know how to integrate back into society in the sense where, they do not have the correct training in how to communicate with society. Society views prisoners as a criminal that would never change or improve their lives. This view results in stigma. Stigma is the judgement made by society to those who may have a negative reputation in the general public (Angermeyer & Schomerus, 2012.) I propose a program where a group of prisoners, according to their crime, be appointed to a counselor that has a fully understanding on the crime and their potential mental state. Also, there would be a federal reform where prisoners can learn how to interact with society, along with getting a job when released.