Go directly to Jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
While many of us have experienced jail in sole regards to Monopoly, the prison system affects millions of families in America. Currently, the United States has over 2.3 million incarcerated people (prisonpolicy.org).
This number only accounts for those incarcerated, not those in jail. Incarceration is a term used for those given prison sentences. Prisons are run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) while jails are run by local governments. There are currently 10.6 million Americans in jails (prisonpolicy.org). In total, there are upwards of 12.9 million Americans in the US prison and jail system.
With this many imprisoned individuals, it is important to consider the effects of our current prison system. When we send someone to prison, what is the goal? Do we want to punish them or do we want to rehabilitate them?
Currently, the US prison system is more focused on punishment than rehabilitation. The US has a high recidivism rate. After finishing their sentence, 76.6% of prisoners will be incarcerated again (Harvard).
When the War on Drugs began in America, we started sentencing more people to longer sentences (sentencingproject.org).
The idea behind the War on Drugs was to scare people out of committing drug crimes. This is based on the Rational Choice Theory (also known as the deterrence model) of criminology. Essentially, the argument is that before people commit crimes, they look at the potential costs and benefits. If it is more beneficial to them to break the law, they will commit the crime. If the punishment is way worse than the crime, people will obey the law. As such, making stricter punishments will prevent people from committing crimes.
While some data supports the rational choice theory, the data above raises some questions. If the deterrence model works, why is our incarceration rate so high? If these longer sentences are supposed to deter people from committing crimes, why do we have such a high recidivism rate?
As the American Psychological Association points out, the increase of incarcerations from the War on Drugs cost a lot of money. Proportionally, these funds used to be able to cover the cost of imprisonment and rehabilitative services. Even though we have increased the budget for the prison system, the population is too high to adequately fund rehabilitation programs.
Before the 1970’s, prisoners were encouraged to develop occupational skills to prepare them to reenter society. There were also programs created to help prisoners with substance abuse issues.
According to the Brookings Institiute, “Almost half of ex-prisoners have no reported earnings in the first several years after leaving prison; among those who do find work, half earn less than $10,090 a year or less than a full time job at minimum wage.”
The “tough on crime” attitude in America has created a stigma against the formerly incarcerated. Since our current prison system has such a high recidivism rate, employers are prone to believe that it is risky to hire someone with a criminal record. Statistically speaking, the current system isn’t rehabilitating anyone, so employers have no confidence that a former inmate has actually changed their ways.
This puts former inmates in an awful position. Even if they want to earn a living legally, they might not get the opportunity to. Then, they are forced to make a decison; keep appplying to jobs with no avail without any income, or illegally obtain funds to survive. No matter how much they might want to reform, the limited opportunities can push people back into crime. In some cases, it is not a matter of willingness to reform, but waiting for the opportunity to reform.
Furthermore, the current prison system punishes people for nonviolent drug crimes. As more research has been done on it, the scientific understanding of addiction has changed. Addition is a disease and it can be cured (American Psychological Association).
There are minimal systems in place to treat people with addictions in our current prison system. Without treatment, people are prone to relapse once they are released from their sentences.
There are a lot of factors in the prison system. In order to fully understand it, a great deal of nuance is needed. There are no easy answers, but there are many questions.
Sources:
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html
https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug03/rehab
5 facts about prisoners and work, before and after incarceration
I really enjoyed your blog this week, and you acknowledge a topic that is important and relevant. I can tell you are passionate about this topic through your writing, and as the reader I was able to grasp that same passion. This topic is something I have come across frequently, and it is frustrating to look into. Especially when you mention how most prisoners will be incarcerated again after they are released from a prior sentence. This just reveals that our prison system in the US is centered around punishment when rehabilitation is clearly a better strategy.
After reading your blog I wanted to look into countries that use a more rehabilitation-based prison system and compare the effectiveness to the US. What I found was that Germany and the Netherlands have implicated new methods that have had some promising results. These prisons focus on making life for prisoners as normal as possible. This is meant to simulate what it is like to live as a functional member of a community. These are skills that prisoners need to learn before reentering society, or else they will fall into the same pattern of incarceration. (Subramanian, Shames 2013).
In both Germany and the Netherlands sentences are shorter for most prisoners. The countries focus heavily on fines and other community-based sentences to avoid unnecessary prison sentencing (Subramanian, Shames 2013). I think this is the problem with the American jail system, a lot of prisoners have unreasonable prison sentences in compared to the crimes committed.
Another issue that you cover that is extremely important to address is the presence of mental illness as a third variable. Mental illness will not go away with a jail sentence, what these people need is reliable sources of rehabilitation. Instead, our prisons completely disregard them. As a nation we have to refocus our priorities and funds, to where they provide these resources for people long before they become incarcerated.
I also like how you address that our nation is set up to make it extremely hard for people to adjust to normal life after being released. This is because getting a job, and making large purchases is very difficult. In many cases these people turn back toward crime, as they have no other choice. I am a believer that if we helped these people develop skills to help live a life post prison, as well as removed the stigma we could greatly prevent people from becoming incarcerated again.
Bibliography
Ram Subramanian, Alison Shames. Sentencing and Prison Practices in Germany and the Netherlands. October 2013. 10 February 2022. .
I’ve heard about this topic a lot, however, I’ve never seen what Germany and the Netherlands do with their prison system. I think it’s really interesting how other countries have dealt with this problem and the US should look to them to reform our own prison system.
Hi Jill! Thank you so much for responding. I was so happy to read your insight! I’m so glad you mentioned the prison systems in Germany and the Netherlands; they focus entirely on rehabilitation (a stark contrast to the US). Just by treating people like human beings and giving them the resources to reform allows them to start anew after prison. It does seem to be working, Germany only has a recidivism rate of 35% and the Netherlands has 48% (Worldpopulationreview). This is in sharp contrast to the 76.6% recidivism rate in the United States! I’m so glad you brought that up. Comparing the US to other systems can give us a global perspective. This perspective allows us to analyze the benefits of different approaches!
Bibliography:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/recidivism-rates-by-country
I loved reading your response especially the part about the Germany and Netherlands prison system. I had no idea prior to reading your comment that they functioned in such a rehabilitative manner. I think that is excellent, and if the US could get behind that, I think that our prison rates could see a great difference.
I think it is tricky because there would have to be a line between who deserves to have this more rehabilitative treatment and who doesn’t necessarily. I personally don’t think that the rehabilitative style would make some people less likely to commit a crime again once released. In that case, I personally feel like maybe they don’t deserve to be functioning as a normal member of society while they are locked up.
That being said, there are so many that would benefit greatly from our prison system being reformed.
First of all, I love the first line of your post. That is so creative.
Also, I think it is so funny how as soon as I started reading your post and getting a sense of your topic I was immediately thinking about the Rational Choice Theory and was planning on making a comment on that. I took Crim 100 last semester so that is definitely very fresh in my brain.
On another note, I completely agree with your statement that there are no easy answers, but there are many questions. I think this perfectly encapsulates this topic.
Someone with a drug addiction being thrown into jail without proper rehabilitation is very likely going to relapse. The fact of being locked up and the dehumanizing of the system itself is likely to make them want to turn to drugs even more.
As for those with mental illness being locked up, if they are not receiving treatment, they’re not only likely to make the same mistake that got them into jail in the first place once they are released but their mental illness will likely even get worse during their time locked up.
I just read this story about someone with schizophrenia being sent to jail for shoplifting three minor gas station items. His name was Jamycheal Mitchell and due to lack of resources for those who suffer with mental illness he ended up dying in jail all because of a bottle of Mountain Dew, a Snickers bar and a Zebra Cake from a 7-Eleven. The same article also says that “About 37 percent of people in prison have a history of mental health problems, according to a 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Justice”. With this percentage, there needs to be more resources available within the system to properly attend to those with mental illness.
Unfortunately, deaths like Jamycheal‘s are not uncommon, but the sad thing is, they are fairly easy to prevent with the right resources.
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/03/mental-heath-inmates
The incarceration rate in America is an almost unbelievable statistic to think about in a vacuum. But then when you compare it to the rest of the world and see how high it is even when compared to some of the other countries with high incarceration rates you can see that America beats them out by a landslide. Which is a crazy thing to think about when we are renowned to be the freest country in the world. This is even more compounded when you begin to understand the lack of legal rights that there people have. The thirteenth amendment abolished slaver in America but not all the way. It made it so that people cannot be born into slavery but it did not eliminate the use of slavery as a penal punishment. Because of this prisoners are quite literally exploited for slave labor in the production of famously furniture and license plates as well as less public jobs like taking care of the prison facilities.
Another major issue with the American prison system is the extreme coast to up keep it as well was the related issues. Each year the American government spends more than 80 billion dollars on the prison system. This also does not account for the associated costs thar the families spend on helping there loved ones by giving them commissary money to buy hygiene products like soap or shampoo or the cost of phone calls or emails when personal visits aren’t feasible for what ever reason. This also doesn’t cover the huge sums of money the government spends on lawyers and processing fees to convict and appeal all of the legal cases that are needed to arrest some one. These legal costs are what make the often surprising statistic that it costs more to sentence some one to death than it costs to give them life in prison because when some one is sentenced to death the appeal process often lasts nearly 9 years. And finally this still doesn’t account for the loss of GDP associated with the loss of 12 million out of the work force.
The economic impact while easy to talk about certainly isn’t the most important factor to think about when we are talking about ripping families apart and denying millions there freedom.
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/12/17/the-hidden-cost-of-incarceration
https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/which-is-cheaper-execution-or-life-in-prison-without-parole-31614#:~:text=Much%20to%20the%20surprise%20of,is%20almost%2010%20times%20cheaper!
The debate between rehabilitation and punishment in the criminal justice system is a critical and ongoing discussion. While punishment focuses on retribution and deterrence, rehabilitation seeks to address the root causes of criminal behavior and help offenders reintegrate into society as law-abiding citizens. The choice between these approaches often depends on societal values, resources, and the nature of the crime. A balanced approach that combines both elements can be effective, recognizing that some individuals require punishment to hold them accountable for their actions, while others can benefit from rehabilitative efforts to prevent future offenses. Striking this balance is essential for a fair and just criminal justice system.
Hotmail