Incarceration In Prison

One-third of prisoners in state prisons are violent offenders convicted of murder, rape or robbery. The other two-thirds are mainly people who have committed property and drug-related offenses. There is a disproportion in the social stratum of prisoners, who come from the most disadvantaged sectors of society. Prisoners in state prisons have, on average, and less than 11 years of schooling. Some argue that this huge increase in incarceration reflects the success of a rational public policy: in the face of a pressing social problem, Americans responded with incarcerations and managed to reduce crime rates. Indeed, crime rates have dropped dramatically since peaking in the early 1980s, and the increase in incarcerations appears to have contributed …show more content…
Incarceration has been conceived in terms of the inmates' assimilation of prison habits, customs, and culture, as well as a general decrease in their repertoire of conduct, based on investigations mostly carried out in American prisons. These effects would take place both during the period of incarceration of the individual and in their later life in freedom. By incarcerating individuals to punish them for the wrong they have done, is one thing, but if we continue to attach tails to them after they served their time, is another. We are not allowing them a fresh start, to be able to make a change in their life, instead we are making them continue to suffer and pay, for something they already paid for. Reentry is difficult because life is more complicated when released back into society. Society does not accept people that have a criminal record, they do not want to hire them, because the stigma attached to a felon, instead everyone turns their back on them and in return they go back to the only thing they know, which is crime. To help us understand and be able to change this behavior, we need to be able to change the way the justice system is handling …show more content…
The reading discussed a lot of issues, ranging from the high level of incarceration, to the problems individuals face, after they served their sentence. There is no doubt about the importance of social support received, after being released from jail. Without the support, and positive role models, it is likely for someone to fall into the same bad habits. There is no cookie cutter solution to the problem, everyone has their own way of coping with their issues, what may work for one individual, may not work for another, but there are things that can be done, to alleviate some of the problems, a lot people are

Show More