United States Prison System

Although crimes have been committed, it’s not too late to change the behavior of inmates. With the help of rehabilitation, it’s less likely for offenders to re-offend when they are released from

Thesis: It is very important for the sake of Americans tax dollars that we change the way that prisons are run and increase the productivity of inmates so when they are released from jail they are ready to be a productive member in society and have the confidence to achieve new goals. Introduction: Day after day, millions of inmates sit in jail doing nothing productive with their lives. We are paying to house inmates that may not even have a good reason to be there. For example, drug offenders are being kept with murderers and other violent offenders.

Our prison system is nothing more than a people mill, where more than hundreds of individuals go in for the crimes they commit, and they do not necessarily come out. Policymakers and the public see mass incarceration as a useful tool for a swift and stern justice system but mass incarceration, in fact, has a negative impact on crime and carries collateral consequences with it. Mass incarceration and

A finding from a study done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows that 67.8 percent of ex-convicts were rearrested. Two-thirds of them spent their time in prison waiting for the release, only to go back into that dirty old cell again. Why don’t they try to get a real job, earn their own living and cherish the second chance we grant them. Let’s step down from the moral high ground for a second. Often released prisoners lack the skills and knowledge to keep up with the pace of society.

Criminal Justice Reform Sources: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/criminal-justice-reform The U.S continues to face a crisis of mass incarceration that seems to be growing bigger and bigger each day in this country. There are nearly two million people in prison in America today, according to the Obama White House Archives, over twice the number there were 30 years ago, when there were just 500,000 in jail. There are fewer than five percent of the world's population in the United States, but there are more than 25 percent of the world's prisoners there. Approximately $80 billion of the national budget is spent on keeping people in prison in the United States every year.

American Prison System The American criminal justice system is viewed as a flawed system by many of its citizens. Crimes that are not as extreme as others tend to receive relatively harsh and unmerited punishments. Philosopher, activist, and previous inmate herself, Professor Angela Davis, tackle and criticizes our American prison system she sees as flawed. In her journal article, “Are Prisons Obsolete?”

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the average prison sentence for weapon offense increased from 52.3 months in 1988 to 88.4 months in 2008 (Pretrial, prosecution, and adjudication). The issue with America's incarceration system is that prison is not working to lower the chance of criminals returning to prison after they get released. A study conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that over two-thirds of prisoners released in 2005 returned to prison within 3 years. Americans are affected by this because the justice system is releasing criminals back into the public that still pursue a life of crime, which puts parts of the population at risk. There are alternatives in use today such as correctional and rehabilitation

America has sent more people away to jails and prisons because of attitudes that shape laws and policy. The three strikes law has lots of people in prison for life that do not need to be in prison for life. Mandatory minimums are another reason that people go to prison for a longer periods of time. In the 1980’s, the expected time to serve in prison for a drug charge was an average of 22 months. By 2004, that number has almost increased three times (The Sentencing

Rehabilitation in the United States Prisons The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. As of December of 2013 about 1.57 million people were behind bars in county, state, and federal jails and prisons (Flatow N., 2014). This statistic results in prisons overflowing with people, most of them serving time for a misdemeanor offense. Unfortunately, inmates are serving extended time for minor drug charges, actions from their anger, or lack of judgement. More often than not, people that have been imprisoned are released to go back time and time again.

The current system that incarcerates people over and over is unsustainable and does not lower the crime rate nor encourage prisoner reformation. When non-violent, first time offenders are incarcerated alongside violent repeat offenders, their chance of recidivating can be drastically altered by their experience in prison. Alternative sentencing for non-violent drug offenders could alleviate this problem, but many current laws hinder many possible solutions. Recently lawmakers have made attempts to lower the recidivism rates in America, for example the Second Chance Act helps aid prisoners returning into society after incarceration. The act allows states to appropriate money to communities to help provide services such as education, drug treatment programs, mental health programs, job corps services, and others to aid in offenders returning to society after incarceration (Conyers, 2013).

Rehabilitation is key to preventing prison overcrowding, preventing future crimes, and offenders becoming a successful citizen in

Angela Davis in her book, Are Prisons Obsolete?, argues for the overall abolishment of prisons. Amongst the significant claims that support Davis’ argument for abolition, the inadequacy of prison reforms stands out as the most compelling. Reform movements truthfully only seek to slightly improve prison conditions, however, reform protocols are eventually placed unevenly between women and men. Additionally, while some feminist women considered the crusade to implement separate prisons for women and men as progressive, this reform movement proved faulty as female convicts increasingly became sexually assaulted. Following the theme of ineffectiveness, the reform movement that advocated for a female approach to punishment only succeeded in strengthening

A very important aspect of the criminal justice system is to ensure there is a way to rehabilitate offenders, not only incarcerate them. Rehabilitation in the criminal justice system means that there is an attempt by the system to restore a criminal back to a productive and useful member of society free of the life of crime. By rehabilitating an offender, the system is trying to alter their behavior and attitude in a positive way and to make them once again, law abiding citizens (Seiter, 2014). Rehabilitation can come in many forms, such as drug treatment, education, mental health treatment, develop better decision making skills, therapeutic counseling and even job training. An offender does need to be punished for breaking the law, but they need to accept responsibility for their crimes and eventually change their

Examining Problems and Their Solutions in The Parole System The United States of America contains the third largest population in the world, which contradicts the fact that the United States has the largest prison population in the world (Aliprandini, and Finley). The fact that their prison population is so large alludes to the reason they would have a strong parole system. Due to contrary belief, this is not the case.

We need to rethink the way we design prisons. If we wish inmates to return to their community ready to contribute they cannot have living