Prison Reform

Prison Reforms

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Prisons in the world over are seen as places where offenders end up getting punished for their wrong deeds. Even though they are meant for punishing people, they contribute to a decline in the level of reoffending rate through engagement of prisoners in purposeful and rehabilitation work. The society has flawed thinking in that it is better to put criminals away in the holding cells they belong to.

Most people in the society think the statement is right because bringing back the prisoners into the society would endanger the rest of the people within society and may even end up making an appeal to have them go back to them go back to the holding cells (Cecil, 2017). Most people think that the individuals who have gone through prison would be a bad influence to their children or relations in the society despite a number of program such as re-entry that assure them of their safety.

A high number of people are against the prison reform because the always believe in the cliché once a crook always a crook. It is indeed flawed as it assumes that letting people know of the wrong they have done will make them understand and seek to change for the better. None of them likes being held up in the cells for years. The convicts miss their families and have already paid for their acts by being sentenced (Cecil, 2017).

The life in prison is extremely harsh and it gets worse if put in isolation. Most of the time the prisoner are idling around in the cells yet that time could be used for learning a skill or two that they could depend on the moment they walk out of jail. A number of prisoners end up suffering mentally and such issues are never addressed and it would be illogical to ignore correcting such problems before they are released back to the free world.

A number of scenarios have even got worse in the prisons today. The guards lack control and the prisons may be violent places because they do not have rehabilitation services. The movies show violent and disturbing images of inmates getting stabbed and the movie makers claim it is meant for acting purposes. One gets to wonder how people get to survive in such a violent environment that such stabbing cases are common in prisons, the world over. To make matters worse the stabbed prisoners end up dying in the process. This begs the question on how safe the prisons are to the prisoners themselves.

The inmates undergo horrible experiences in the prisons as some are tortured by their fellow inmates and nobody seems to care addressing the issues taking place behind the walls. Case in point, Raphael Rowe’s experience when he witnessed an inmate having his faced burned by other inmates that were bullying him. Such a horrific experiences can make a part of someone die instantly (Cecil, 2017).

According to statistics, if three prisoners are released, two of them are likely to end back in after a few years. The statistic show that the prison reform system is not as effective as it is thought to be because it fails in the rehabilitation of prisoners. One gets to wonder why a correctional facility will condone such acts as overcrowding, isolation and segregation rather than helping the inmates become good and responsible citizens. The system has indeed held the prisoners down ending up suppressing their inspiration for having a changed life (Kruttschnitt & Kreager, 2017).

Most prisoners believe the bars imprison them wholly by imprisoning both their determination, motivation and even their bodies. The level of violence in the prisons is a worrying trend since they make even the harmless citizens find ways if defending themselves. They get to learn how to stab and fight anyone who threatens to beat them up instead of working on being better as a law abiding citizen. It is unfair how the prisons end up mixing the petty offenders with those that have committed serial crimes like homicide. The moment they are mixed up, they completely miss the point of having the prisoners reformed.

The moment a violent criminal is put in the same holding cell with a non-violent criminal, they immediately instill fear in the non-violent prisoner and he will be forced to seek a means of defense. A violent prisoner is likely to harm a cellmate since he does not have anything to lose. Such inmates have already got used to the system in that it would be their home for the rest of their lives. The man with minor charges expecting to be granted a parole tries his best to hold on while being handled like a punching bag and does not defend himself (Cecil, 2017).

Violence sets in fast the moment different criminals are purposely grouped together and the likelihood of violence outbreak. Everyone has the moments when they feel like getting out of the house and doing something constructive since when they continue staying in the house would make them feel bad and bored (Simon, 2019). The same scenario can be related to a holding cell when one has to stay confined in a cell for even a period of six months without moving out of the surrounding, without any contact, nothing to keep them busy and even stay without food for long hours. This trend takes place in the American correctional systems. The solitary confinements are believed to be the best way of punishing and reforming the stubborn prisoners and has been used for several years.

Isolations have a serious effect on the mental being of everyone that go through it since they are forgotten about. The prisoners held in the solitary confinement are no better than dogs because they receive the same treatment. The prison wardens do not realize the kind of pain they are inflicting this individuals as well as their relative because of the attachment they have with them. Every inmates has a loved one waiting for them outside the prison walls and hoping their term in prison is served quickly and they go back to them.

The correctional department also has a flawed process of hiring correctional staff. A number of them are not fit for the job since they aid in helping the violent practices take place in the prison cells. In as much as their role is to control the prisoners, they end up abusing the prisoners by handling them violently. The prison officials feel they have power to determine the future of the inmates and force them to do as they wish further making them feel as though they are less important in comparison to the individuals walking freely on the streets (Simon, 2019). In as much as there are a few good correctional officers willing to help the prisoners in their journey of reforms, there are officers who directly interfere with them psychologically.

Most of the correctional officers are just as violent as some of the prisoners. The only difference is their uniforms. The correctional officer’s responsibility include provision of security and enforce the rules of the prison but not take part in promoting chaos. A new inmate has a rough time when getting into prison; segregation. The prisons have promoted segregation and it has risen to a disturbing level where the color of your skin determines who you should and should not interact with in the prison (Kruttschnitt & Kreager, 2017). The prisons have ended up having gangs formed by the inmates. The new inmates have no choice but to be part of whatever is taking place. If a prisoners chooses not to be part of a gang, he is likely to be an easy target without any defense thereby forcing them to stick to the gang representing his skin color.

Acceptance in prison is important for one’s survival. Inmates end up choosing between their morals and survival, with survival always being the major reason they chose to stick in the gangs they are members. Even though they choose to lead the gang life in prison, one wonders how it would help or leave them; they are directly become more inclined to violent and criminal activities and are not changing in any way (Bales & Copp, 2018). The rate of growth of racial segregation is a worrying trend in prisons since it will be hard for inmates to get along. It is also worrying how the correctional officers up supporting while such actions take place in their presence.

The correctional officers tend to punish the members of a particular gang whenever one of them commits a crime thus ending up punishing even those that are innocent. The prisons have classes on drug intervention the prisoners are taken through however they miss the mark when it comes to managing cases of racial altercations. Informing the inmates on the need for accepting each other despite the skin color would be important in reducing the rate of segregation (Bales & Copp, 2018).

The moment an inmate is released, he should be grateful for all the learning experience they have had in the prison and as such use their experience to offer inspiration to people in the society. The knowledge they gain should be used as a message to discourage the children from engaging in crime. However, the negative experience they may have is likely to make them fear talking about the experiences they had in the prison.

The process of release and parole is continuously lacking structure. It is rare that an inmate gets ready to get back to the real world. Instead of considering ways of providing help at the point of release, they end up letting them go on their own without support. As much as they may be grown adults, when they are facilitated for a long time, there is need for getting ready for the outside world (Weiss & Mckenzie, 2010). The moment they are faced with the challenges of outside world at once, they are highly likely to go back to their old habits. They are provided with the necessary support they require to make it through in life.

In conclusion, the prison reforms have become a challenge with all the ineffectiveness of the correctional system. A lot of attention therefore needs to be paid on the correctional departments to have them fixed and ensure effectiveness in delivery of prison reform programs. The prisons alone offer a hostile environment where the prisoners find it hard to get along with other inmates. A lot of people do not feel the pain because none of their relatives is held up in the prison cells. The prisons are also chaotic, inhumane and lacks necessary resources to help in ensuring the program runs successfully. The moment the prison cells do not have a stable rehabilitation process, the inmates will still end up taking part in criminal activities. The prisons therefore need an improvement to ensure the prison reforms are properly done.

References

Bales, J. E. (2018). Jails and Local Justice System Reform: Overview and Recommendations. The Future of Children, 103-124.

Cecil, D. (2017). Newsworthiness of reform: prison news stories in an era of change. Journal of crime and justice, 221-235.

Douglas Weiss, D. M. (2010). A Global Perspective on Incarceration: How an International Focus Can Help the United States Reconsider Its Incarceration Rates. An International Journal of Evidence-based Research, Policy, and Practice, 268-282.

Kruttschnitt, D. A. (2017). INMATE SOCIETY IN THE ERA OF MASS INCARCERATION. National Center for Biotechnology Information, 23-33.

Simon, J. (2019). For a Human Rights Approach to Reforming the American Penal State. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 346-356.