The main point of prison is for inmates to not re-offend. According to Lewis and Lockwood, “Over $80 billion is spent annually in the United States (U.S.) to imprison 2.3 million individuals”. However, the National Institute of Justice shows that “68% of released prisoners were arrested within 3 years of reentry, 79% within 6 years, and 83% within 9 years” (Bloom and Bradshaw). Despite the funds that are spent on prisons, the rates of recidivism are very high, costing the average taxpayer more while lessening effectiveness. The second reason is that the prison environment causes more harm to inmates. For about 40 years, psychology textbooks warned against using punishment. “They caution that punishment causes fear, anxiety, and anger, all of which can easily lead to heightened aggression” (Zimardo and Ruch). With the point of prison being to lower the rate of reoffending, heightening the aggression level instead of giving tools to work on aggression, it will put more ex-inmates back in …show more content…
To do this research, I will utilize the Oklahoma City Community College library resources such as EBSCO Host and Opposing Viewpoints. In addition to those, I will also be using statistics on recidivism rates and prisoners, as well as academic journals. The target audience is the people living in the United States. The prison system is put in place to protect the country. With the current prison environment, it cannot execute. This specifically affects taxpayers of America, since the amount of funds allocated to the prison system severely outweighs the effectiveness. All Americans can benefit from this information and being aware of what the prison system currently has, as well as what it is lacking to keep everyone safe in the end. Prisoners should be treated as the humans they are. When inmates are treated with punishment, they can turn into worse people than they ever started. If the problem is not fixed, prisoners can become a danger to themselves and others, thus the funds allocated to the prison system are essentially going to waste. Works Cited Bloom, Tina, and G. A.