The House I Live In Documentary Analysis

The United States prison system struggles eminently with keeping offenders out of prison after being released. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than third of all prisoners who were arrested within five years of released were arrested within six months after release, with more than half arrested by the end of the year (Hughes, Wilson, & Beck, 2001). Among prisoners released in 2005 in 23 states with available data on inmates returned to prison, about half (55 percent) had either a parole or probation violation or an arrest for a new offense within three years that led to imprisonment (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder, 2014). Why are there many ex-offenders going back to prison within the first five years of release? Are there not enough resources to help offenders before or/and after being released from prison.

The film, The House I live In, opened my eyes to the severity of unfair law enforcement and the depths of the battle with war on drugs. Theoretically, the more people are being arrested for drugs, the cheaper, purer, and more available the drugs become. Making these arrests are not helping get the drugs off the streets, it is only opening up more opportunities for other people to pick up the business.

They re-enter society at a disadvantage because some have spent nearly two decades behind bars and the world looks foreign to them because so many things have changed. They return back to the same poverty-stricken communities with the willingness to change but aren't given the chance to because employers aren't lined up at the door to hire ex-convicts; and because of that, they may result to doing the same criminal activities they participated in to get them locked up in the first place. Government officials should look at reforming drug laws, especially for non-violent offenders, and create safe space in those communities so that offenders won't

Today’s world is changing at a rapid pace. Things never thought to be possible are becoming very real. One of the popular subjects of wanting change is the legalization of drugs. There has already been a small amount of change in the drug legalization process with marijuana now being legal in a few of the states. Vanessa Baird in her work “Legalize Drugs- all of them!” argues for the legalization and decriminalization of drugs. John P. Walters counters Baird’s argument for legalization in his piece “Don’t Legalize Drugs.” Both authors take an extended look into the harsh reality of the drug war and the small progress it has made since it began.

When my audience hears “War on Drugs” they may assume it is a worthy endeavor because drug abuse is such a pervasive problem that affects many families. I must dispel the assumption that the “War on Drugs” dealt with the drug abuse problem or reduced drug sales. I can do this by demonstrating that there is plenty of evidence showing that the “War on Drugs” did not do what it set out to do and is therefore not an effective approach to the problem of drug trade and abuse. Additionally the imprisoning of citizens, even if it is done unjustly, does not reduce crime at comparable rates. Research from Harvard found that during the “War on Drugs” in state prisons there was a 66% increase in prison population but crime was only reduced by 2-5% and it cost the taxpayers 53 billion dollars (Coates, 2015). The fact the violent crime went up all through Nixon’s administration while he rallied for “Law & Order” and policing became more severe furthers this argument (Alexander, 2012). Four out five drug arrests are low-level possession charges as well, demonstrating that police policies aren’t dismantling the drug system just punishing addicts (Alexander, 2012). What’s more, drug abuse in America have remained stagnate and even increased in some instances even when billions of dollars have been pumped into the program (National

In the past forty years, the United States has spent over $2.5 trillion dollars funding enforcement and prevention in the fight against drug use in America (Suddath). Despite the efforts made towards cracking down on drug smugglers, growers, and suppliers, statistics show that addiction rates have remained unchanged and the number of people using illegal drugs is increasing daily (Sledge). Regardless of attempts to stem the supply of drugs, the measure and quality of drugs goes up while the price goes down (Koebler). Now with the world’s highest incarceration rates and greatest illegal drug consumption (Sledge), the United States proves that the “war on drugs” is a war that is not being won.

Employment is always an issue when it comes to an ex-offender. Not only is it hard for the everyday person in society to find employment due to a poor economy, but it is much harder for an ex-offender. While in prison, prisoners are usually made to work. Unlike other programs such as counseling, prison work programs can be justified for reasons other than rehabilitation of the individual offender. From the perspective of the policy maker in the criminal justice system, they can help manage the population by occupying the time of the prisoners, aid in the operation of the prison, create revenue (maybe), and provide a

The War on Drugs is one cause for the mass incarceration that has become apparent within the United States. This refers to a drastic amount of people being imprisoned for mainly non-violent crime (“Mass Incarceration” 2016). In addition to people who are not an immediate threat to society being locked up for a substantial duration of time, the economic consequences are costing states and taxpayers millions of dollars. Specifically, every one in five people incarcerated is in prison due to some

The revolving door of recidivism is extremely different than it was only just a few decades ago though. Nowadays there are so much more offenders being arrested and released from prison than there was in the past. Not to mention most of them nowadays have served significantly longer prison terms than those offenders in the past, which in turn contributes to recidivism and the increasing rates over the years. Very few and far in between ever really received the benefit of the vast rehab or even pre release programs in the prisons, so in turn they end up right back where there started. They go in without and education and they come out without an education; they go in with no social skills and come out with no skills, they go in criminal and come out an even better criminal. How does that all work?? Who knows but lock them up.

The War on Drugs not only has many acts that have been in place due to it, but there has been a domino effect with other topics. The War on Drugs has become a complicated, yet important aspect of the U.S. as well as other countries. It was to be believed that the War on Drugs has influenced incarceration. This effect was the ability to imprison those who are using drugs, and the amount of crime will begin to decrease (Lloyd, 2015). Margaret Lloyd (2015), also discussed how a community that has less crime could be a better living area for children, in hopes they will not act in deviant behaviors.

For many years, drugs have been the center of crime and the criminal justice system in the United States. Due to this widespread epidemic, President Richard Nixon declared the “War on Drugs” in 1971 with a campaign that promoted the prohibition of illicit substances and implemented policies to discourage the overall production, distribution, and consumption. The War on Drugs and the U.S. drug policy has experienced the most significant and complex challenges between criminal law and the values of today’s society. With implemented drug polices becoming much harsher over the years in order to reduce the overall misuse and abuse of drugs and a expanded federal budget, it has sparked a nation wide debate whether or not they have created more harm than good. When looking at the negative consequences of these policies not only has billions of dollars gone to waste, but the United States has also seen public health issues, mass incarceration, and violent drug related crime within the black market in which feeds our global demands and economy. With this failed approach for drug prohibition, there continues to be an increase in the overall production of illicit substances, high rate of violence, and an unfavorable impact to our nation.

If there is no job, there is no money, and if there is no money desperation sets in and makes room for crime such as robbing, burglary, and drug trafficking. This is not to say that all inmates are unqualified to be released because of poor job readiness, but other inmates who are job ready lack responsibility and sane judgement because of poor rehabilitation programs short in duration, or not available. Screening is also poor because parole boards have not come up with a better way to verify the sincerity of the inmate when he goes before the panel. For example: there are plenty of inmates that have gone through the parole system before

The house I live in is about the war on drugs and the harsh penalties that addicts get. People from all walks of life use drugs, rich, poor, college grads, women, men, and all races. Drug addicts have no face. Since 1971, the war on drugs has been responsible for 45 million arrests and over one trillion dollars. There is such a demand for drugs, that it will never end. The United States imprisons people more than China, Saudi Arabia, but that hasn’t deterred this crime. A lot of these people are dealing with poverty, joblessness, crime and drugs. Drug abuse leads to major crimes in order to get the drugs to feed their addiction. Non-violent drug offenders are getting sentences just as long as violent

Since the 1960s, State and federal law enforcement have become more focused into putting an end to drug use. Each year, crimes related to drug use has increased, making the government spend tens of billions of dollars arresting, convicting, and jailing drug users. Because of this ongoing problem, the government can’t help but to wonder “will this ever end?” and “Should we stop fighting?” With these questions being raised about a problem so conflicted, The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch have different views and opinions regarding the Drug War’s Standpoint.

Once the offender is released from prison with still no understanding of how to re enter society they resort back to what they know. However, some state and federal facilities are offering rehabilitation programs within the prison systems. Some federal prisons offer GED programs, college classes, and apprenticeships. There are also many of prisons who offer drug classes such as nonresidential drug abuse programs as well as the drug education class, 500 hr residential drug program. Some also offer classes that will get an inmate mentally ready before they release. In the state prisons they offer college classes in some as well as apprenticeships, and a drug class. What I have seen is that federal prisons are still offering a good bit of programs threw the poor economy while the state is cutting programs from left to right. I witnessed this statistic in person January 2010,21 inmates at Greenville Federal Prison Camp completed a 500-hr residential treatment program out of 21 inmates who was released in the same three days only one has returned back to prison to this exact day. However the first three years out for an