¶ … Prisons Reform Prisoners?
America has experienced a huge increase in the number of people who are imprisoned over the past few decades. The increase has particularly been fueled by the increase in violent crimes throughout the society. The American criminal justice system has experienced increase in the number of people who are imprisoned annually despite the enactment of tougher policies to deal with crime and increased efforts towards reforming prisoners. Generally, prisons have been established as correctional facilities to tackle offenses in the society, especially lessening violence. In light of recent statistics and trends, there are numerous concerns on whether prisons actually help in lessening violence or just segregate the violence or whether they really attempt to reform prisoners seriously. This concern has attracted several huge controversies based on numerous argument and counter-arguments.
Arguments in support of the claim that prisons reduce violence and actually reform prisoners have been fostered by evidence that rehabilitation of prisoners is more effective than punishment. With regards to punishment of offenders, prisons have been ineffective and unsuccessful in reducing violence since approximately 75% of those who leave these correctional facilities re-offend with severe and violent crime within three years of leaving prison (Gilligan...
As a result, prisons are more effective when they not only restrain people who inflict harm on others but also help prisoners change their behavior from a violent to a non-violent and constructive behaviors upon return to the community. Given that prisons have embraced this two-pronged approach, they help in lessening violence rather than just segregating violence and reform prisoners.
Secondly, the criminal justice system is achieving more in relation to deterring offenses, especially violence and reducing crime rates. The mass incarceration of criminals in the recent past has reduced crime rates since almost every city, neighborhood, and state across the country has been relatively safer in the past two decades (Lehrer par, 2). In addition, crime rates in numerous categories are at less than 50% of their previous all-time highs. The tougher policies that have contributed to increased arrests and lengthened sentencing are seemingly effective in helping to reduce violence and reforming prisoners. The effectiveness of this strategy in lessening violence is attributed to its deterrence of weak-willed people from involvement in crime, excluding offenders from the society, and rehabilitation.
The counter-arguments raised against this claim include the fact that these correctional facilities have become violent environments that diminishes hope…
