History Of Prison Reform

Words: 815
Pages: 4
Open Document
Various forms of prison reform have been happening in both domestic and international governments for the last few centuries. Yet here in the United States, the prison population is becoming an alarming issue, one that is so alarming that leaders on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill are coming together for a movement called #Cut50. This movement, aims to reduce the extremely large and growing prison population by fifty percent by the year 2025. Through various reform programs and rehabilitation techniques, the goal of reducing our prison population within the next decade could become a reality, but more than just a few programs can do this. In the article Envisioning a Broader Role for Philanthropy in Prison Reform, Jennifer L. Bryan …show more content…
(Bryan, Haldipur, Martin and Ullrich, 2015) have been around since the early colonies. Yet other methods, such as parole (early release from jail) have only been around since the middle too late 1800’s. This shows that progress, just like time, moves forward for prison reform efforts. Bryan notes though that some such as Robin Martinson, who was a sociologist that wrote a piece as a proponent of prison reform, that could slow or even halt the efforts. (Bryan etal., 2015, pg. 574) Now one would normally ask why would you want to slow or halt prison reform, and I believe that the research this gentleman did showed that at that point in time, prison reform programs and rehabilitation techniques did not have positive results, showing a waste of money towards these programs. This in turn led what was called a tough on crime initiative in the late 1980’s and 90’s, which included but was not limited to mandatory prison time for drug offenses. With this tough on crime initiative led by the government, the prison population …show more content…
or “How does this affect the social welfare aspect of helping former convicts?” Some will be able to tell immediately, that as a social worker we have the opportunity and power to intervene and possibly be part of the reason some do not go to prison, through programs for education, vocational and life skills, work programs, substance abuse counseling and housing. All of these programs, which will benefit and prosper the community that these individuals come from, in turn creating and establishing a positive impact which all equals less prisoners in prison. There will be proponents of these reform programs, such as budgets or the companies that the private prisons are owned by, but the goal at the end of the day is the same: to cut the prison population by fifty percent by the year 2025. Prison reform starts creating a better community in today’s world, by showing former offenders that there is help out there, and that their personal future is their own, and what they choose to do is their own decision that may be impacted by a source other than themselves. As social workers, our job is to help the individual to better themselves. So at the end of the day, the social worker just points them in
Show More

Related Documents: History Of Prison Reform

The Reform of the Mentally Ill Essay

The Movement and Reform of the Mentally Ill Everyone has been to a hospital. Many people know what an asylum is. Some people know someone that has been to an asylum. Some people have visited an asylum. Before 1845, those asylums were nothing like today's. The mentally ill were put in horrible conditions and were treated the same as murderers. The mentally ill reform movement changed that. It made sure that the mentally ill were treated with care, and some of the tactics that were made at that time…

Words 1108 - Pages 5

Prison Reform Research Paper

for Prison Reform Helen R. L. Hajasz First Colonial High School LSA Honors English 10 Mrs. Weddle Date (for student papers). Did you know that the United States holds 22% of the world's prisoners? Yet the population of the United States represents 4% of the world's population (Lico, 2020, para. 1). The adage of the adage. The prison system in the United States is at the center of an epidemic of issues, leading to the US having the highest incarceration rates in the world. Prisons play…

Words 1723 - Pages 7

The Impact Of Dorothea Dix's Impression On The World

money to asylums and prisons to improve their conditions. She also argued for reform. She met a man named Pope Pius IX, which read her reports and was so shocked by these horrible environments, so he decided to build a new hospital for the mentally ill in Europe. Next, is gonna be how Dix made an impression on the world. Dorothea Dix made an impression on the world because she supported many individuals who were mentally ill. Dix wrote reports from other asylums and prisons she visited. With these…

Words 530 - Pages 3

The American Correction System: Objectives and Principles Essay

methods explored throughout history in the punishment of criminals have resulted in the emergence of four main principles: deterrence, incapacitation, reformation, and rehabilitation. These four principles all have different intents and affects. Some may work well and other may not, depending on the circumstance, sentencing intent, and the individual prisoner. The American correctional system has four primary objectives in punishment. The aim is to deter, incapacitate, reform, and rehabilitate. Deterrence…

Words 1427 - Pages 6

Asylum Reform Movement

congested prison cells, whipped until their raw flesh is trickling with blood for misbehaving. This was how prisons operated. Suddenly, in came people who were known as reformers. They led reform movements that have had a significant impact upon American history. The women’s suffrage movement created a sense of equality between men and women, the temperance movement called for the abstinence of alcohol, but one specific reform has shaped human rights and rehabilitation; the asylum and prison…

Words 550 - Pages 3

Changjiang Liu Essay 2

Changjiang Liu AMST 252 Essay 2 Professor Francille Rusan Wilson TA: Maytha Alhassen 11/10/2013 When talking about the perspective of Assata Shakur, we always remember her radical style. Assata felt the power of oppression when she was a child. As she narrated in her autobiography, there was a zoo near her grandparents’ home. Everyday she would beg, plead, whine and nag her grandmother to take her to the zoo. However, one day her grandmother told her that they were not allowed to enter the zoo because…

Words 1493 - Pages 6

Enoch Wines Reform

The Age of Reform was a time period in the history of America that included many social and political changes to the government. This was in the middle of the 19th century, when issues like slavery, women's rights, and prison reform needed attention. For many of the serious crimes that were committed, the sanction was usually something along the lines of the death penalty or confinement. Many of the prisoners' families had to pay for the costs of food and lodging. Prior to the 1830s, inmates would…

Words 1151 - Pages 5

History Of American Prison System

American Prison Systems Introduction In many countries national prisons are operated and supplemented by provinces and state counterparts. Prisoners are held in prisons and jails throughout the country and globally convicted of various crimes and offenses. The nature of the offense determines where the prisoner is held and the lengths of times. There are institutions that vary in level of security in both the state and federal prison system. However, the majority of prisoners are…

Words 928 - Pages 4

Professional Ethics Essay

Keiyana Morris Professional Ethics October 1, 2013 Professor Rayman The Scientific Knowledge of the Individual In the book, Discipline and Punish, by Michel Foucault, Foucault explains the reform of the penal system and how it shifted from punishment to understanding the criminal as an individual by reaching “...the thoughts, the will, and inclinations”(DP, 16). Foucault states, “certainly the ‘crimes’ and ‘offenses’ on which judgment is passed are juridical objects defined by…

Words 566 - Pages 3

Solitary Confinement

Reform and self-improvement programs are often denied to solitary confinement inmates, causing high recidivism rates. It is for this reason that the use of long periods of solitary confinement on juveniles and adults should be abolished because it is damaging to the psyche and negatively impacts reintegration efforts upon release. The practice of solitary confinement has an extensive, yet irregular history dating back almost 200 years ago. The idea of…

Words 2454 - Pages 10