The Ethical Treatment of Prisoners

Despite the fact that my parents have worked in the criminal justice system for many years, I have never given much thought to the treatment of prisoners. As we learned from the readings, the current state of the United States criminal justice system is imperfect to the point of cruelty to those involved in it. This is truer for individuals with a mental illness. Due to a lack of psychiatric facilities throughout Alabama and overcrowding of those that do exist, many criminal offenders with mental illnesses are sent to prisons instead. State prisons are currently overcrowded, leading to substandard conditions such in almost every aspect.

A report dated on April two thousand and seventeen stated that more than one hundred gay men have been arrested since the beginning of two thousand and seventeen. By the end of July, a report indicated that a hundred thirty more are looking for help since the persecution targeting the LGBTQ+ in Chechnya. Ethos is used by interviewing two former prisoners and victims during their time at the secret concentration prison camps.

Even though prisoners are incarcerated, they still are entitled to certain rights. There is a lot of debate about which rights prisoners should have because they can’t have too much freedom, and they also can’t have too little freedom. If inmates have much freedom, chaos would reign over the facility. No inmate would learn to truly change their ways and fit back into the community successfully. If too little freedom is given, inmates would be neglected and treated like animals. The perfect balance is needed to achieve a functional correctional facility.

Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means

“Human rights are argued to be the most promising basis for an ethically principled opposition to both excesses of punishment and an unduly instrumental understanding of penal practice” (Canton, 2009). Human rights are one of the most important issues when it comes to ethics in connection to punishing criminals or even misdemeanor offenders. Canton also states in his article, “Nonsense Upon Stilts? Human Rights, the Ethics of Punishment and the Values of Probation”, in the British Journal of Community Justice, that our rights as humans “are distinctively important in discussions of punishment” (Canton, 2009) and that every attempt should be made to distinguish which rights should be forfeited as punishment for committing a crime and which rights should be retained regardless of any offense and what the offense is.

"What is eliminated in prison is choice. What is encouraged is obedience. Bruno Bettelheim illustrated the result when he stated 'a prisoner had reached the final stage of adjustment to the camp situation when he had changed his personality so as to accept as his own the values of the Gestapo....Can one imagine a greater triumph for any system than this adoption of its values and behaviour by its powerless victims?' Until choice can be freely exercised and caring behaviour encouraged, there can be no meaningful change and the 'rehabilitation' of 'criminals' will only be a system's triumph over the values and behaviour of the powerless in our society." (Knopp, Boward, Morris, Schnapper, 1976 p9)

Within this paper, you will find a comprehensive review of the United States prison system, and why it needs to analyzed to better support and reform the people of this country. I plan to persuade the other side (politicians and society) into seeing that the way the prison system is now, is not ethical nor economical and it must change. We have one of the world’s largest prison population, but also a very high rate of recidivism. Recidivism is when the prisoners continuously return to prison without being reformed. They return for the same things that they were doing before. So, this leads us to ask what exactly are we doing wrong? When this happens, we as a nation must continuously pay to house and feed these inmates. The purpose of a prison needs to be examined so we can decide if we really are reforming our inmates, or just continuing a vicious cycle. What is the true purpose of prison besides just holding them in a cell? There must be more we can do for these hopeless members of society.

Equalizing the constitutional rights of prisoners and the functions of the jail or prison can create great strain on not only the correctional facilities’ staff but on the inmates as well. The treatment of prisoners is typically left completely to the prudence of prison administrators and other correctional officials. With that being said, this paper will discuss the differences between harmonizing those constitutional rights of prisoners and the functions of the facility. It will also explain the rights that prisoners are required to have, and how these rights are balanced within other aspects of the correctional institution.

In the world we live in today there is, has been, and always will be an infinite amount of controversies throughout society. Perhaps one of the most important, being that it could jeopardize our existence, is the debate of how to deal with what most everyone would consider unwanted. The members of the prison population can range from petty thieves to cold hearted serial killers; so the conflict arises on how they can all be dealt with the most efficient way. The sides can result in a wide range of opinions such as simply thinking a slap on the wrist is sufficient; to even thinking that death is the only way such a lesson can be learned. While many believe it is ok to punish and torture prisoners, others feel that cruel treatment of prison

Gresham M. Sykes describes the society of captives from the inmates’ point of view. Sykes acknowledges the fact that his observations are generalizations but he feels that most inmates can agree on feelings of deprivation and frustration. As he sketches the development of physical punishment towards psychological punishment, Sykes follows that both have an enormous effect on the inmate and do not differ greatly in their cruelty.

The ethical theory of utilitarianism and the perspective on relativism, of prison labor along with the relativism on criminal behavior of individuals incarcerated are two issues that need to be addressed. Does the utilitarianism of prisoner’s right laws actually protect them? Or are the unethical actions of the international and states right laws exploiting the prison labor? Unethical procedures that impact incarcerated individuals and correctional staff, the relativism of respect as people and not just prisoner’s; the safety of all inmates and correctional staff, are all issues worth continuous reflection.

Two central philosophies anchor the commonly accepted idea of criminal justice. The first is a ardent requirement for increased conviction rates and the second is the perception that the people in prisons deserve punishment rather than rehabilitation. These philosophies have especially grave consequences for the underprivileged and marginalized.

While lawful incarceration deprives prisoners of most of Americas Constitutional rights, they do maintain a few constitutional rights. Federal courts, while hesitant to impede with the internal administration of prisons, will interfere to rectify violations of the constitutional rights that prisoners are still entitled to. A prison guideline that oversteps on a prisoner’s constitutional rights is lawful only if it is reasonably related to the safety of the inmates or the rehabilitation of that prisoner.

The question of whether American Prisons are humane is a difficult question to address. There are a lot of factors involved in understanding this issue. In order to be humane, the prison system needs to show some form of compassion and attempt to implement methods for rehabilitation, rather than focusing on punishment on top of ostracism. Being humane goes beyond how the prisoners are treated within the walls, it requires a level of benevolence after someone is released.

Our society tends to jump to conclusions and make assumptions of prisoners. Despite what they have committed and how severe it may be they are still human. We look at them as if they are inhumane because they are in prison. They still deserve some of the rights that they had before being convicted. I’m not saying that I am okay with the crimes they have committed but I am okay with them having a little more of their basic rights.