Our Current Prison System Should Not Be A Threat For Society

The main purpose of our current prison system is to either incapacitate or reform certain individuals considered to be a threat for society. Although a lifetime sentence is sometimes the only choice for the most vicious criminals whose violent behavior cannot be eliminated and whose release could impose a serious danger to society, we must understand that there are other non-serious offenders who have the chance to be rehabilitated; unfortunately for these individuals, the prison environment and its conditions, the inevitable interaction with violent inmates, and the stigmatization upon release could negatively affect their behavior turning them towards a life of crime which otherwise may have been avoided. Prisons can no longer be schools for criminals; therefore, some drastic changes must be made in order to ensure that those being released from prison are not worse than when they came in. Some members of society often think that the best way to rehabilitate an individual is by se nding him to prison because there he will most likely learn his lesson and will come out as a better human being; however, according to Michael Neminski, that is not usually the case and incarceration could actually have a negative effect on some people. For Neminski, offenders only seem to get better at committing crimes as they leave prison (2013). To put in in his own words Neminski says that â€Å"[when released] many criminals return to their old way of life after leaving prison, continuingShow MoreRelatedNew Model For An Improved Penal System1315 Words   |  6 Pagesan idea; the idea that our prison system is currently working against all of that for which we stand. Unfortunate as it may be, the current system we have implemented in our penitentiaries is failing. The current administration lacks the control it should naturally have; the prisoners who are released are likely to recommit crimes and thus continue to pose a threat to society while also reentering the system mul tiple times. I propose to phase out the current industrial system we long ago implementedRead MoreEssay about Therapy, Not Punishment843 Words   |  4 PagesTherapy, Not Punishment Problems with crime have always been a concern to society. There are many different ideas about what causes it and even more ideas about how to stop it. Dr. Karl Menninger believes that our current prison system is not adequately addressing the motivation behind crime. In his article Therapy, Not Punishment, Menninger says of the old prison system, In its place should go a quiet, dignified, therapeutic programÉ (544). He sets forth the claim of policy that criminalsRead MoreThe Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison Essay example1238 Words   |  5 PagesJeffrey Reiman, author of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, first published his book in 1979; it is now in its sixth edition, and he has continued to revise it as he keeps up on criminal justice statistics and other trends in the system. Reiman originally wrote his book after teaching for seven years at the School of Justice (formerly the Center for the Administration of Justice), which is a multidisciplinary, crimi nal justice education program at American University in Washington, DRead MoreArticle Report On Overcrowding Of Prison Overcrowding1074 Words   |  5 Pages Clark, Charles S. Prison Overcrowding. CQ Researcher 4 Feb. 1994: 97-120. Web. 26 Mar. 2016. This article discusses overcrowding in the United States prison system, due in part to mandatory prison sentences. 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One ofRead MoreThe Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison by Jeffrey Reiman1268 Words   |  6 PagesThe Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison by Jeffrey Reiman Jeffrey Reiman, author of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, first published his book in 1979; it is now in its sixth edition, and he has continued to revise it as he keeps up on criminal justice statistics and other trends in the system. Reiman originally wrote his book after teaching for seven years at the School of Justice (formerly the Center for the Administration of Justice), which is a multidisciplinary, criminal justiceRead More capital punishment Essay1531 Words   |  7 Pagesyears later, Bundy is alive and well on the Death Row (Von Drehle 1A). A prisoner sentenced to death spends an average of 10 years, nationally, on death row waiting for their execution. More than 2,100 people live on Americas death Rows. At the current execution rate, it would take eighty-two years to kill them all. 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Yet it seems that the stronger arguments, and evidence such as cost effectiveness, should lead the common citizen