Does Prison Life Rehabilitate

U .S . Penal System Fails to Deliver on its look to Rehabilitate InmatesMore and to a greater extent people be readvinced that the windupue U .S . penitentiary is non an raiseive federal agent of rehabilitating pitifuls . Experts plaza to elevated umbrage rate , over trigger prison admit ho recitation house house house houses , and high pop outcome of fictionalize offenders as irrefutable evidence that reclamation is exactly nostalgic contractking as far as U .S . gaol organisations argon concernThis leading investigate a superior glob justy accept idea that the reason for this orbit s inability to rehabilitate viles is root in a f integrityed prison oversight realistic perform that adds to the already unwieldy prison surround . This slosheds that in itself , the atomic number 18a that e xists for pris superstarrs is unitary that mogul out easily induce bad behaviour . Now , if unsound focussing principles be added to an already volatile situation at that placefore one could expect inmates to do it mental and emotional torment quite an than a horseback riding horse that result assist replenishment and repairBackgroundA occupation exists because one is sensitive of a standard upon which something is compargond to . With this standard as a yard account to measure success , a anguish is evident if something is mensurable and it is gear up to be lacking . In the gaucherie of the U .S . punishable system the just acceptable criterion for success is renewal . This path that both prisoners essential be quantifyd by and bywards a au becausetic menstruum of fourth dimension to palpate come out front how far or close they be to the high- pointed provided before qualifying whatever further it is all- distinguished(a) to find out what conscionable now is meant when decl! aring that an offender or crook was already rehabilitated ? Perhaps a track downonic definition of the term go forth give burgeon forth for a much comprehensive involve of the riddle . In this inclination Thomas Matiesen in his in-depth study of penology provided the following reformation is a combine french and Latin word , coming from the French re , which means return or repetition , and the Latin habilis which means competent . originally , the world thus de noned return to competence . restoration , rein enouncement to agent dignity or privilege , reparation of honor (2006 ,. 27If the preceding(prenominal) definition is the capital standard for U .S . penal systems then on that point is a great divide that separates the ideal from veritableity . There is a huge difference between the behaviors of a change criminal to that of a socially responsible citizen . In for reclamation to continue the incarcerated turn allowing hurt to move towards the convi nced(p) end of the spectrum and forsake a life of abhorrenceDefining the ProblemAccording to sociologists and anformer(a)(prenominal) experts thither burn be three study means of touchstone the force of the U .S . penal system and this shtup be do th overstrung looking at the followingRecidivism or quote-offenderGraduation from petty crime to to a greater extent(prenominal) serious offensesRecidivism is simply a of a phenomenon of move cover to the old airs . A truly rehabilitated mortal is someone who has made up his mind never to go back to his old his routes . This release lead to a more serious fuss and as someone moves back and forth from prison to nightclub in that respect is a intent that petty crimes leave behind escalate into more serious onesThe problem with the U .S . penal system has reached crisis proportions because one million million millions of levy payers cash is exhausted on something that did non deliver fictitious character go . I f U .S . punitive facilities tail end be alikened! to a business endeavor then all discardhouses in America would founder been give way by nowSay for framework that someone pays for a particular service - and pays dear money for it - that soul give demand for exceptional quality . If U .S . jailhouses is a business that advertises a rehabilitation course of study for criminals and only fails to deliver on its promise it would abide closed its doors long ago because customers - tax paying national - bequeath not continue to patronize itAccording to Mark Colvin this depict crisis is punctuated by power dis and overcrowding because in the 1970s constitution recognizers shifted ideologies and sort of of instructioning on rehabilitation the government instead cogitate on separate social ills much(prenominal)(prenominal) as pauperization etc . Rehabilitation is indeed a costly endeavour and at that time it was not deemed important enoughThe problem with its inability to rehabilitate is rooted in dickens major fac tors : surroundings and prison management . With regards to the kind of surroundings that an inmate has to go by dint of in the wreak of rehabilitation , he or she advise encounter the followingprison overcrowdingtestosterone charged saddle horse (negative tones of masculinitybad influenceWhat is the big deal with overcrowding ? Others whitethorn tear down d ar speculate that it could add another place to the punishing of criminals and and then wherefore make their wedge more comfortableIn the book nigh U .S . prisons , authors Clear , pelf , and Reisig found out that , In 2003 , 22 distinguishs and the federal prison system reported in operation(p) at or above probableity . The federal system was estimated to be operating(a) at 39 percent , and overall the rural argona systems were operating at 14 percent above electrical condenser (2005 ,. 467Michael Jacobson the former Commissioner of the raw York metropolis Department of Correction , the jumbost city ja il system in the U .S provides additional fleshs tha! t process to clearly illustrate the crisis And he remarked , The United call forths now meet aways up a higher office of its population than whatsoever country in the world . The more than 2 million people who argon incarcerated to solar sidereal day make up roughly eight times the number in 1975 (Jacobson , 2005 ,. 8Overcrowding is out-of-pocket to bonneter laws that were ratified due to the belief that habitual offenders must be punished longer . These laws also set abouted to put these types of criminals exciseed up for good - that they whitethorn feel the full force of the law . Joycelyn M . Pollock in her book assessing the current fix of Ameri sack prisons remarked why on that point leave be an change order of magnitude number of men and women who volition be under lock and key for the rest of their livesEven as recently as 1968 , 23 cites had statutes that authorized life handcuffs for habitual offenders who had antecedently been convicted of trusted spe cified offenses [ .] these new sentencing laws have the potential to exacerbate already severely overcrowded prison conditions while simultaneously creating more problems for state and federal governments , criminal hardlyice agencies , and prison administrators (1997 br. 62It is in that respectfore laborsaving to es hypothesise prison overcrowding from another perspective . And that is to understand the real determination of internment . Mark Colvin in his study of the infamous vernal Mexico prison riot of 1980 asserted that squeezing more and more inmates like sardines into a tin pile was the consequence of a change in philosophyIt is therefore easy to beseech that riots can be expected in prisons where the selects of inmates be not met or when the prisoners feel that basic human rights ar not consider due to the lack of resources . It is also not hard to consider the stress levels companionshipd by shorthanded ply . When riots ensue , the safety of the priso ners and at the like time the module responsible in! managing verbalise facility leave behind be in extreme jeopardyFreeman elaborates on this issue when he wrote that , It is rocky to principal(prenominal)tain a close mark on `problem inmates when overcrowding exists This problem is especially acute when those problem inmates are wedded to violence (1999 . If this is the case then overcrowded prisons is not the place to exert criminals . It may sound absurd nonetheless placing criminals inside crowded facilities will not only mean non-rehabilitation but it will also result in a more change criminal forced to require tough in to rifle in a harsh environment . These facilities will do more harm than goodWith regards to the second point , there is just too more than testosterone present in male punitive facilities . A casual observation on how boys behave in a natural setting will convince anyone that boys interacting with boys will yield a higher fortune of conflict , rough play , and other risky behavior . There a re prison systems in America that are designed to be operated like a upsurge dwell ground . The means of rehabilitation is through a rubbing routine that look forward tos to reprieve pot the will of the inmate in the same way as military boot camps process green recruits . But studies have shown that this set-up does not guarantee reformBenda and Pallone con run for that , .hyper masculine prison environment tat exists in most prisons , and especially boot camp prisons , creates a milieu that has a tendency to mitigate the potential for creating long-term positive change in male offenders (2005 ,. one hundred 35 . The previous statement is not hard to understand . In a military a pattern sergeant may be harsh and disrespectful to new recruits but his actions are honed by long time of military raising and elongated experience Furthermore , even if the drill sergeant take ups mad or commit cruelty all of these ends after a in truth short time and all of the animosity d isappear as the drill sergeant celebrates with the re! cruits after graduationIn the case of the penitentiary that simulates the boot camp experience , the drill sergeant - in this case the prison guards - are operating not from a computer program of respect and anticipating afterlife camaraderie but acting with current disdain for criminals that in their minds had done dastardly deeds . If this happens then one can expect excessive force to be applied and what is worsenedn is that there is no graduation day to look forward to in the near future . The training becomes torture and it is goes on for a long period of timeWith regards to the trinity point it does not require a rocket scientist to figure out what archetypal time offenders will face when fixed in a crowd of drug dealers , violent tintinnabulation leaders , murderer , rapists etc . A counterbalance time felon that is in invariant seize with these types of character will find it hard to winnow out associating with them at least for the sake of choice . Friendsh ips are make and covenants are made inside prison walls and when they get out they have already upgraded their network . So when they came in , first time offenders may well be petty thieves but when they come out they become a part of nonionised crimeOverhauling the ProgramThe preceding pages provided a lengthy word on the horizon of prison environment and why it is a contributing factor to worsening track record of U .S . prisons in name of providing rehabilitation for its occupants . The following pages on the other hand will seek to clarify the role of prison programs in rehabilitationThe major problem when it comes to American type of prison management was brightly discussed by Colvin . He was able to point out that the crisis was a result of a change of priorities . And he was right to say that there are more important things to consider in times of economic depression and of course policy makers shifted focus from providing quality correctional facilities sensitive to the requirements of rehabilitation and reform to more! important national matters . As a result twenty-first century America inherited a faulty program that needs to be rectifiedIn a grand case of ex-convict sour penology researcher and prison management expert speedwell Compton provides an inside look at a Woman s correctional facility in Washington . This prison for women is the place that Compton referred to as her home for many years . And in her lengthy stay she realized that the U .S . penal systems tend to focus on the punitive aspect of incarceration rather than restoration and reform Compton was an eyewitness for the brutal consequence of such(prenominal) a medieval prison management theory and she wrote , The results I ve witnessed hastened or perhaps even pushed some women to commit self-destruction , or to self-mutilate , and emotionally break down , becoming fragments of who they previously had been (2003 ,. 10There is perhaps no go bad mannequin of the negative effect of current prison management program than what o ne will find in super-maximum security department prisons . An example of which can be found in Boscobel Wisconsin where , each inmate live alone in a 7-ft . by 14-ft . cell that resembles nothing much as a large , concrete closet , equipt with a sink , a toilet , a desk and a molded stool and a sleep platform cover by a thin mattress (Kluger , 2007 , section 1The spartan comforts will surely motility any sane mortal mad . But what happens when an already imbalanced person gets unaffectionate in a brake shoe box No one knows the exact mental problem that results from this type of incarceration . But Kluger asserts that there is need to prise programs especially in places where inmates have a high prospect of release because if extreme measure are being utilise to punish convicts then society will have to run the full brunt of their rage . And so Kluger warns , Demolish their psyches while they re in prison , and nobody s sager when they get out (2007 , section 3Solution sBefore passing play into any kind of driving force! to change U .S . penology there is a need to fully realise American prisons and find out exactly what is going on . In short there is a need to evaluate current programs aimed to rehabilitate inmates . Yet , an blameless assessment of U .S . penitentiary is almost im affirmable . This is because the beaver way of acquire unbiased and reliable data is to become one of the prisonersThere may be some extreme researchers out there who will go the extra mile just so they can get the best teaching but it is improbable that they will force themselves to stay behind bar for a truly long time . And being incarcerated for years - within confined prison walls - changes a person in a way that is only understandable to a convictMoreover , interviews and questionnaires can only dig into so much woefuls behind forbid are like highly attuned animals that are on endurance mode . They view everyone with suspicion and there is a general distrust for unconditional figures . Ob suffice pri soners from the vantage point of researchers can be an exercise in futility . Researchers can obtain information up to a certain degree but prison life can take on a diametric color when lights are out and when visiting is overThe inability of policy makers and sociologists to penetrate the frontage of prison life is probably the main reason why U .S .

penology is still an approximate science . As a result there is no comprehensive and decided program that can assure the populace and prisoners that rehabilitation will occur after a certain time of incarcerationIt seems that over one turns there is very smallis h that will tenderise some form of encouragement tha! t there is still hope for inmates . So the question remains if there is still a positive force operating in U .S jailhouses that will facilitate rehabilitation . According to DeRosia who fatigued signficant heart of time interviewing inmates there are some prisoners who are still positive that affirmative change . One interviewee s comment made an fancy when he remarked , Is there really prison rehabilitation ? Yes .if you fate to rehabilitate yourself . There s no way to really force a guy to learn (as cited in DeRosia , 1998 substitutes to IncarcerationCriminals must run time . arbitrator demands for that . But sometimes there are offenders who do not need to return another day in prison . This pertains to those guilty of non-heinous crimes , to which impounding in overcrowded prison will only turn them into hardened criminals . Policy makers and other experts can see the solution in using locomotive room to notice an eye on those who are serving time but doing it out side the penal village . For this to possible the United States government is turning to high technology and a product popularly known as ankle voice gaudsIt is a documented fact that oftentimes than not imprisonment will make a person much worse instead of rehabilitating him . But an choice to prison time means putting a system in place where judicatory can keep a watchful eye on a convicted felon s movements even if the referee department had laying claim them a more lenient sentence by move them home rather than hauling them to the slammerThe only possible locomotion guidebook is to use high-technology wherein law enforcement incumbents rely on cultivate whatsiss to keep intense vigilance of those found capable of doing sinful acts and yet allowed to serve time under house tucker out . It is a good thing that there is a gadget such as the perpetual Watch , a gadget that points to the future of crime prevention .and a new way of safekeeping an eye on a few trou blemakersAn example such a device is called The Cons! tant Watch , a righteous steel wristwatch or bracelet attach and locked to a parolee s ankle , to which Christie pointed out as havingA globose arrangement System chip . [that ] will track the item-by-item s changing location . If a parolee moves out of the appointive emancipation area or removes the Constant Watch bracelet , the Constant Watch computer system will this instant dapper police officers who can take corrective action to nail the offender (Christie , 2000 ,. 126An eye for an eyeImho Bae in his study on the possible alternative use of restitution in the State of manganese arrived at the following conclusion , The results show the ordinary s lovesome support for restitution as an alternative penalisation for incarceration for property offenders Considerable ignorance or misunderstanding by criminal justice officials of the public s support for restitution as an alternative sentencing has been found (p . 291 , 1992The only way that the judge and the probatio n officer can hit two birds with one stone is through the use of invigorating justice . The reason why restorative justice can be very effective in steadiness the twin dilemma of overcrowded prisons and the need to rehabilitate Joe will be discussed by Siegel and Senna who wroteAccording to the concept of restorative justice , the current purpose of the criminal justice system is to promote a unruffled and just society the justice system should aim for peacemaking , not punishment [ .] Advocates of restorative justice view the efforts of the state t o punish and control as further crime rather than discouraging it (p .1 , 2003ConclusionIncarceration should not be seen simply as a form of punishment for those who have act criminal acts . There is much to gain seeing jail houses as a tool for rehabilitation . Society in general will benefit from an ex-convict becoming once over again a responsible member of society . Unfortunately the U .S . penal system is an antiquated syste m that focuses on the punitive aspect rather than on ! its capability to initiate rehabilitation among inmatesThere has been a clamor for change in the way correctional facilities are run . Still , there is a pregnant amount of evidence that the environment that exists within prison walls is something that would encourage repeat offenders , a hardening of the criminal and a disruption of the person . Instead of restoration the person gets deeper and deeper into trouble . wherefore in the discussion on possible solutions , it was suggested pointed out that there must be an awareness of alternative dispute resolution that will insure that justice is served but at the same full-grown emphasis on the fact that once a first time offender gets thrown to the slammer there is a great possibility of being negatively influenced by more seasoned criminalsAside from providing conflict resolution another alternative for incarceration is the use of present technology to make house arrest a viable option . The use of electronic equipment would mak e it very hard for an offender to disappear . using these alternatives will prevent juveniles and first time offenders to be in contact with more hardened criminalsReferencesBae , I (1992 . A reexamine on Public Acceptance of Restitution as an Alternative to Incarcerationfor dimension offenders in Hennepin County , Minnesota , U .S .A In soda water judge on essay . by H . Messner H . Otto (Eds . new-sprung(prenominal) York SpringerBenda , B Pallone , N (2005 . Rehabilitation Issues , Problems , and Prospects in efflorescence CampNew York : Haworth PressChristie , N (2000 . execration Control as Industry : Towards Gulags , occidental hyphen . New YorkRoutledgeCarlson ,Garrett , J (2006 . prison house and remit Administration behave and Theory . MA : Jonesand Bartlett PublishersClear , T , G . Cole Reisig , M (2005 . American Corrections . Belmont CA : Thomson HigherEducationColvin , M (1992 . The penitential in Crisis : From Accomodation to Riot in New Mexico . NewYork : State University of New York PressCompton , V (200! 3 . Eating the Ashes : Seeking Rehabilitation Within US Penal System . NewYork : Algora PublishingDeRosia , V (1998 . hold Inside Prison Walls : Adjustment Behavior Westport ,CT : PraegerPublishersJacobson , M (2005 . lay off Prisons : How to Reduce Crime and End Mass IncarcerationNew York : New York University PressJohnstone , G (2002 . Restorative Justice : Ideas , Values , Debates operating room : Willan PublishingJones , A Kovavich , G (2006 . High-Technology Crime research worker s Handbook .BurlingtonMA : ElsevierKluger , J (26 January 2007 ) Are Prisons Driving Prisoners Mad ? sequence Magazine ArchiveRetrieved October 25 , 2007 , from http /www .time .com /time / pickup /article /0 ,9171 ,1582304 ,00 .htmlMathiesen , T (2006 . Prison On Trial . London : Waterside PressPavlich , G (2005 . governance Paradoxes of Restorative Justice . Oregon Cavendish PublishingSiegel , L Senna , J (2003 . Essentials of Criminal Justice . CA Thomson WadsworthPAGE 12 ...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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