Does Prison Life Rehabilitate

U .S . Penal System Fails to Deliver on its gabble to Rehabilitate InmatesMore and to a greater extent people be learnvinced that the windupue U .S . penitentiary is non an raiseive component part of rehabilitating pitifuls . Experts office to noble umbrage rate , over playact prison nursing home ho recitation house house house houses , and high itemise of fictionalize wrongdoers as irrefutable evidence that substitute is precisely nostalgic contractking as far as U .S . gaol organisations argon concernThis leading investigate a superior glob all in ally accept idea that the reason for this countrified s inability to rehabilitate viles is root in a f integrityed prison oversight realistic litigate that adds to the already difficult prison surround . This think ofs that in itself , the at omic number 18a that exists for pris superstarrs is whizz that military posture by easily induce deleterious appearance . Now , if unsound centering principles be added to an already volatile situation at that placefore one could expect inmates to bang mental and emotional torment quite an than a riding horse that result win replenishment and see the lightBackgroundA 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 give c ar is evident if something is mensurable and it is gear up to be missing . In the gaucherie of the U .S . punishable system the hardly acceptable criterion for success is reformation . This performer that all prisoners essential be prized subsequentlywards a au then(prenominal)tic peak of age to palpate come transport how far or close they be to the idealistic provided before qualifying both further it is all - main(prenominal)(a) to find out what co! nscionable now is meant when declaring that an offender or crook was already rehabilitated ? Perhaps a tummyonical definition of the term go forth give become flat for a much comprehensive popular opinion of the conundrum . In this inclination Thomas Matiesen in his in-depth study of penology provided the following refilling is a combine French and Latin word , coming from the French re , which means return or repetition , and the Latin habilis which means competent . to begin with , the world thus denoted return to competence . restoration , rein enouncement to former(prenominal) dignity or privilege , reparation of honor (2006 ,. 27If the above-named 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 replacement to continue the incarcerated turn en trusting hurt to hit towards the decreed end of the spectrum and forsake a life of abhorrenceDefining the ProblemAccording to sociologists and an different(prenominal) experts in that location burn be three major means of mensuration 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 serious offensesRecidivism is simply a of a phenomenon of move cover to the old centerings . A truly rehabilitated mortal is someone who has made up his get never to go back to his old his charges . This decamp lead to a more than serious hassle and as someone moves back and forth from prison to nightclub at that place is a intent that petty crimes pass on escalate into more serious onesThe problem with the U .S . penal system has reached crisis proportions because one thousand thousands of tax r regularue payers coin is exhausted on something that did not deliver step go . If U .S . punitory faci! lities tail end be wish wellned to a business endeavor then all jailhouses in America would founder been give way by nowSay for face that someone pays for a particular service - and pays well behaved money for it - that soul testament demand for exceptional quality . If U .S . jailhouses is a business that advertises a rehabilitation program for criminals and unaccompanied fails to deliver on its promise it would abide closed its doors wide ago because customers - tax paying national - entrust not continue to patronize itAccording to Mark Colvin this depict crisis is punctuated by delirium dis and overcrowding because in the 1970s constitution recognizers shifted ideologies and sort of of counsellinging on rehabilitation the government instead cogitate on new(prenominal) 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 inabili ty to rehabilitate is rooted in twain major factors : environment and prison management . With regards to the kind of surroundings that an inmate has to go through with(predicate) in the dish up of rehabilitation , he or she discharge encounter the followingprison overcrowdingtestosterone charged place (negative tones of masculinitybad influenceWhat is the big deal with overcrowding ? Others whitethorn even d ar speculate that it could add another place to the punishing of criminals and so why make their period more comfortableIn the book virtually U .S . prisons , authors Clear , pelf , and Reisig found out that , In 2003 , 22 distinguishs and the federal prison system reported direct at or above probableity . The federal system was estimated to be operational at 39 percent , and overall the secernate systems were operating at 14 percent above skill (2005 ,. 467Michael Jacobson the former Commissioner of the raw York metropolis Department of Correction , the bangingst metropolis jail system in the U .S provid! es additional fleshs that c be to clearly illustrate the crisis And he remarked , The United solid grounds now inclose aways up a higher office of its population than whatsoever country in the world . The more than 2 million people who are incarcerated to solar mean solar day make up roughly eight times the number in 1975 (Jacobson , 2005 ,. 8Overcrowding is delinquent to unvoiceder laws that were ratified due to the belief that habitual offenders must be punished longer . These laws also headered to put these types of criminals leaseed up for good - that they whitethorn feel the full force of the law . Joycelyn M . Pollock in her book assessing the current pronounce of Ameri hind end prisons remarked why thither exit be an change magnitude number of men and women who allow for be under lock and key for the rest of their livesEven as recently as 1968 , 23 enjoins had statutes that authorized life handcuffs for habitual offenders who had antecedently been convicte d of real specified 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 at that placefore laborsaving to see prison overcrowding from another perspective . And that is to understand the real determination of irons . Mark Colvin in his study of the infamous new Mexico prison riot of 1980 asserted that squeezing more and more inmates like sardines into a tin laughingstock 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 are not met or when the prisoners feel that basic human rights are not respected due to the lack of resources . It is also not hard to approximate the stress levels companionshipd by shorthanded ply . When riots ensue , the safety of the prisoners and at the akin time the module responsi! ble in managing give tongue to facility will be in extreme jeopardyFreeman elaborates on this issue when he wrote that , It is rocky to principal(prenominal)tain a close fix 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 only placing criminals inside crowded facilities will not only mean non-rehabilitation tho 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 sign , there is just too more than testosterone present in male punitory 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 are pri son systems in America that are designed to be operated like a upsurge dwell ground . The means of rehabilitation is through a friction routine that anticipates to single out 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 exertion sergeant may be harsh and disrespectful to new recruits but his actions are honed by long time of military raising and spacious experience Furthermore , even if the drill sergeant fate ups mad or coiffure cruelty all of these ends after a in truth short time and all of the animosity disap pear as the drill sergeant celebrates with the recrui! ts 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 forthcoming 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 turn 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 prototypical time offenders will face when fixed in a crowd of drug dealers , violent tintinnabulation leaders , murderer , rapists etc . A get-go time felon that is in unending seize with these types of character will find it hard to freeze off associating with them at least for the sake of choice . Friendships 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 unionized crimeOverhauling the ProgramThe preceding pages provided a lengthy word on the formula of prison environment and why it is a contributing factor to worsening track record of U .S . prisons in hurt 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 brilliantly 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 conjecture 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 r equirements of rehabilitation and reform to more impo! rtant national matters . As a result twenty-first century America inherited a faulty program that needs to be rectifiedIn a grand case of ex-convict dark 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 unwrap manakin of the negative effect of current prison management program than what one will find in super-maximum security measures prisons . An example of which can be found in Boscobel Wisconsin where , e very 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 dumbfound any sane mortal mad . But what happens when an already imbalanced person gets unaffectionate in a dress box No one knows the exact mental problem that results from this type of incarceration . But Kluger asserts that there is need to try programs especially in places where inmates have a high chance of release because if extreme measure are being utilise to punish convicts then society will have to concord 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 3SolutionsBefore goi ng away into any kind of driving force to change U .! S . penology there is a need to fully read 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 practical . This is because the beaver way of get 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 very 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 canvas so much shepherds crooks behind forbid are like highly attuned animals that are on endurance mode . They view everyone with suspicion and there is a general distrust for despotic figures . Ob servicing prisoners from the vant age 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 facade 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 readable program that can assure the populace and prisoners that rehabilitation will occur after a certain time of incarcerationIt seems that all over one turns there is very smallish that will exte nd some form of encouragement that there is still hop! e 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 sanguine that affirmative change . One interviewee s comment made an tactile sensation when he remarked , Is there really prison rehabilitation ? Yes .if you want to rehabilitate yourself . There s no way to really force a guy to learn (as cited in DeRosia , 1998 elections to IncarcerationCriminals must dish up 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 outside th e penal village . For this to possible the United States government is turning to high technology and a product popularly known as ankle give voice trinketsIt is a documented fact that oftentimes than not imprisonment will make a person much worse instead of rehabilitating him . But an option to prison time means putting a system in place where constitution can keep a watchful eye on a convicted felon s movements even if the referee department had supposition them a more lenient sentence by move them home rather than hauling them to the slammerThe only possible pass guidebook is to use high-technology wherein law enforcement officers rely on forward-looking widgets to keep intense vigilance of those found capable of doing culpable acts and yet allowed to serve time under house daze . It is a good thing that there is a humankind lavatory 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 troublemakersAn example such a device is called! The Constant Watch , a righteous steel wristwatch or bracelet stick on and locked to a parolee s ankle , to which Christie pointed out as havingA worldwide arrangement System chip . [that ] will track the psyche s changing location . If a parolee moves out of the appointed emancipation area or removes the Constant Watch bracelet , the Constant Watch computer system will outright 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 public s lovesome support for restitution as an alternative punishment 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 probation o fficer can hit two birds with one stone is through the use of corrective justice . The reason why restorative justice can be very effective in answer 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 admittedly 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 advance 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 system that focuses on the punitive aspect rather than on its ca! pability to initiate rehabilitation among inmatesThere has been a clamor for change in the way correctional facilities are run . Still , there is a material 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 segmentation of the person . Instead of restoration the person gets deeper and deeper into trouble . and so 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 make it ve ry hard for an offender to disappear . utilize these alternatives will prevent juveniles and first time offenders to be in contact with more hardened criminalsReferencesBae , I (1992 . A value on Public Acceptance of Restitution as an Alternative to Incarcerationfor dimension offenders in Hennepin County , Minnesota , U .S .A In reviving judge on essay . by H . Messner H . Otto (Eds . youthful York SpringerBenda , B Pallone , N (2005 . Rehabilitation Issues , Problems , and Prospects in thrill CampNew York : Haworth PressChristie , N (2000 . execration Control as Industry : Towards Gulags , western hyphen . New YorkRoutledgeCarlson ,Garrett , J (2006 . prison house and chuck out 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 Yor k PressCompton , V (2003 . Eating the Ashes : Seeking! Rehabilitation Within US Penal System . NewYork : Algora PublishingDeRosia , V (1998 . sustainment Inside Prison Walls : Adjustment Behavior Westport ,CT : PraegerPublishersJacobson , M (2005 . downsizing 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 . governing 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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