The Purpose of Prison

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.

With the population of the United States prisons growing every day we need to evaluate if they are doing any good. Personally, I believe that we need to keep our prison system, but we need to take steps in reforming them rather than abolish them altogether. The United States has the highest number of incarcerated people than any other country in the world. We must sit down and look at other countries and see what they are doing different than the United States. In this paper, we will first look at what the prison system in America is like and what we can do to improve upon our prison system. Then, we will also look at the Finland prison systems and see if we can learn anything from them, since they have one of the lowest incarceration and crime rate in the world. We will then look at reforming our prison system or abolishing it. Finally, we will investigate other punishment alternatives other than the prison system that we could use.

Vocational or postsecondary education programs are a preventative method used to deter inmates from re-incarceration. Positive outcomes from the education program elevated educational fulfillment levels and lowered recidivism rate. In 2009-2010 there were over 71,000 inmates in prison that were enrolled in a vocational or postsecondary education program in the United States. A great amount of prisoners were not enrolled in college classes instead they were enrolled in a vocational or certificate program. There were nothing but positive outcomes from the educational program. By doing so it also improved post release employment opportunities and earnings.

The Pathways from Prison Project is a program that provides an opportunity for offenders of a postsecondary that prepares them for re-integration into the community when they leave prison. The collected data illustrate that education amalgamated with community reentry programs would be capable of reducing recidivism, augment employability and earnings, and increase public safety. Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education is a five-year national enterprise to enhance educational attainment and employment opportunities. The program involves both currently incarcerated individuals and those who have been recently released from the system. The project utilizes resources to expand educational opportunities for a seamless post-incarcerated entry into higher education. The project promotes individual success in the community through partnerships with community colleges/universities, prison and parole officials, as well as community business leaders and the general population. This support continues in the selected states in order to make access postsecondary education in prison and immediately after a reality. Through

The primary purpose of prison is to protect the community and rehabilitate the offender (Smart Justice, 2015). Research has indicated that prison fails to do this and instead can increase the rate of reoffending (Smart Justice, 2015). Prison does not address the causes of the person’s criminal offending. Imprisonment is designed to be a sentence of last resort, yet we are building more prisons at an ever increasing rate (Smart Justice, 2015). In Victoria, annually, the prison system cost more than $1 billion (Glass, 2014). It cost more than $98, 000 to house a prisoner each year (SCRGSP, 2015).

Prisons are facilities designed for individuals who have been convicted of crimes they have committed. Prisons accommodate inmates that are kept in custody for a period of time followed by trial. The type of crime an individual has committed is correlated to length of the sentence. In instances crimes such as murder people may be sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. The aim of the prison is to serve four purposes which are deterrence, rehabilitation, incapacitation and retribution. Deterrence refers to preventing future crimes, by this it discourages other people from committing a crime and breaking the law. Rehabilitation is intended to address the issue and bring out a change in the actions of the criminal by teaching them skills and educating

Incorporating ways to include education can avoid re-arrest and re-incarceration after release, ex-offenders can and will experience less recidivism growth in its society. The probability of criminal recidivism is shown to decline over time (Custer, 2013). The decline in recidivism can take place if ex-offenders are given a chance for higher education through admissions. Custer (2013) shows in a completed case study, which was meant to rebuke the way admission offices treat students who may need higher education, especially ex-offenders. Having a strong support system would include admission offices being less stringent to ex-offenders and be given the right to a higher education. One candidate, who I will call “Susan,” had an especially troublesome involvement with this procedure and eventually pulled back her application. (Custer, 2013). Ex-offenders face many challenges with the approach to obtaining a higher education and avoiding recidivism. “Those with the highest education were more likely to employ with higher wages and less recidivism (Fabelo, 2002 p.106). Reevaluating the admission process,

Prisons provide criminal offenders with a great opportunity to mend their minds and behaviors. Criminals in prison may receive some basic educations and labor reforms, which have a positive impact on their ideology. For example, when offenders are exposed to laws and regulations, they may realize significance and meaning of laws, and have an impressive introspection to their criminal behaviors.

After watching the 30 days in Jail with Morgan Spurlock, Ive came to a conclusion that the Jailing system is not working and should be constructed differently. First of, jail is so secluded and the inmates do not get to exposed to anything outside for a long period of time. They start to feel depressed and feel like this is the end of their lives. In the episode, they are trapped in this facility with no outside connection and just have yourself and a few friends to communicate with. If there was a way to have connection with the outside and give them more communications with different people, I feel like that would help. Another problem is that jail does not change the inmates for the better and they just leave them be and wait out their sentence.

New prisons strived to do more than to punish offenders by using cruel and sometimes degrading forms of punishment. The basis of the new prisons’ operations was the same as the Walnut Street Jail: to emphasize the opportunity for prisoners to reform themselves through hard work while reflecting on their crimes, Seiter (2011). Even though the new prisons were effective they had their flaws.

Corrections- is the collection of agencies that perform those functions that carry out the sentencing orders of criminal courts.

The educational system has proven to be a key essential need for people to thrive in a world of labor based on skill and knowledge. The current American prison system has attempted to improve its current programs, but have not proven to make a true impact. The rates of recidivism for former offenders remain high. The best way to understand how correctional facilities can improve the experience of imprisoned offenders is to first understand what aspects of current programs actually aid inmates. The best way to figure that information is to listen to those who have first-hand knowledge. Former offenders who found positives in their life of prison and have translated it to their life after they regained their freedom. Receiving education creates

Prisons are there to keep convicted wrongdoers from the society, with the aim of punishing and correcting them. Johnson (2005) outlines forms of punishment, and identifies imprisonment as one of the most complex form of punishment. Imprisonment affects the prisoner’s material possession because they can do little to earn themselves while under incarceration, and they may end up losing their jobs and livelihood. The prisoner is also affected psychologically as he or she is under the control of the state. The jailing attacks the psyche by attempts at reformation, leading to mental deterioration that occur due to the negative environment of prisons. At the same time, imprisonment may lead into physical harm, as most prisons across the world are known to house quite violent individuals. Given this, there are other more lenient ways of correcting individuals. This is by offering probation to prisoners who are not considered to be serious offenders or who do not have a long history in crime. Additionally, this option is much cheaper and reduces the amount the state spends on keeping the prisoners behind bars.

The American prison system is horribly flawed, and this stems from its incapability to properly rehabilitate most inmates. This leads to high rates of re-conviction, otherwise known as recidivism. Prisons in America have become home to more inmates than any other country's prison system in the free world. A common practice which directly contributes to re-conviction, is the outsourcing of prisons to private companies. This has emerged as a result of money constraints within communities. Inmates are usually not given the help that is necessary for their recovery and rehabilitation into normal society. Fixes for these problems do exist and if implemented correctly, can mend the issues of prisons, for example, according to The New York Times “Getting a college degree while in prison is the only program that has ever been shown to be 100 percent effective for years or decades at a time in preventing recidivism”(Gilligan). If the American prison system continues to fail at providing adequate assistance to inmates to help them return to being productive members of society, then it is almost certain that this problem will persist, however, there are solutions to the problems at hand.

Across the world, different countries treat their prisoners differently. There are some countries, like Brazil, that completely deprive prisoner’s rights. On the other hand, prisoners in Norway are given VIP treatment to be able to integrate themselves to society once again. It is unfortunate that these extreme differences exist across the globe. Unlike Brazil and Norway, America has average if not, below average treatment in prisons.