There is no question or debate about the fact that we have serious problems within our criminal correctional system. More than four in ten offenders will return to prison within three years of their original release from prison (State of recidivism). We have a problem in which when people are going to prison, the root cause of their criminality is not being addressed or fixed. This is, unfortunately, because our prisons focus more on punishment than rehabilitation. To be fair, there are crimes that, if committed, should take away someone’s ability to be rehabilitated back into society. Violent rape, homicide, and child sexual abuse are examples of crimes that I do not believe should ever lead to a perpetrator being allowed the chance for rehabilitation. Though, for crimes like drug possession, petty theft, and other non-violent crimes, there are typically root causes that can be plucked out of a criminal.
All crime comes from a psychological root. Whether a person grew up around crime and it being all they know, or a person having a tendency for self-destruction, most criminals of non-violent crimes do not necessarily enjoy or desire to hurt others. For the most part, these crimes come from a normalcy of the act, a selfish attitude, or addiction. I believe that our prisons should better differentiate between offenders with a desire to harm others, or a psychology that causes their violent harm to others, from offenders that commit crimes with no desire or urge to harm others. Criminals who will harm others, such as violent rapists, should be held in an appropriate place for punishment. If someone has the possibility of reentry, their punishment should definitely be punishment, but more or less focused around finding the reasons they have committed their crime, plucking out the root cause, and helping the offender see life in a more positive manner. Most criminals do have some type of mental disorder or problem, so why do we expect them to leave prison and never commit those crimes again, whenever their time locked away wasn’t focused on helping them psychologically?
Too often, we see passive offenders imprisoned with serious, violent offenders. Along with that, even if the majority of prisoners on a socialized block are generally non-violent offenders, the state of the prison and way they run will make people go crazy. Being locked away, with no genuine help or care for your psychological needs, with dozens of other mentally struggling people, will not set a foundation for productive reentry. According to the article How Atrocious Prison Conditions Make Us All Less Safe by Shon Hopwood, the state of prison facilities is largely harmful and negative for a passive prisoner. “It is not difficult to understand why our prisons largely fail at preparing people to return to society successfully. American prisons are dangerous. Most are understaffed and overpopulated. Because of inadequate supervision, people in our prisons are exposed to incredible amounts of violence, including sexual violence. As just one example, in 2019 the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division concluded that Alabama’s prison system failed to protect prisoners from astounding levels of homicide and rape. In a single week, there were four stabbings (one that involved a death), three sexual assaults, several beatings, and one person’s bed set on fire as he slept” (Hopwood).
Parole is a good foundational idea but does not make up for the problems within the prison system. Simply being supervised in society does not mean the person is receiving adequate responsibility and psychological help for their crime and why they committed it. Parole is, in my opinion, a short-term solution to a long-term issue. Those who face no violent risk being put out into society, but with little to no productive means to prevent them from committing crime again. This lack of productivity leads to a cycle in which the problems of overcrowding, lack of rehabilitation, and others continue to circle. Mark A. R. Kleiman and Angela Hawken support this idea of mine in the article Fixing the Parole System, “Less attention has been paid to the role of supervision (as opposed to services) in improving the lives of parolees and the communities to which they return. Most current systems of supervision perform poorly as measured by the condition and behavior of those subject to them. Not only does parole markedly fail to control the behavior of its clients, it also contributes heavily to the prison-crowding problem by sending so many of them back. And the high recidivism rate among parolees, while casting doubt on the capacity of incarceration to achieve either deterrence or rehabilitation, also complicates the task of reducing the number of people behind bars: It is harder to make the case that large numbers of prisoners don’t need to be there when they have such a hard time staying out after they are released” (Kleiman, Hawken).
For America’s issue with reincarceration, overcrowding, and reentry to be solved, we must start taking the psychology behind crime much more seriously. To prevent crime, and heal our society, we must start with why people are committing the crimes they are. Along with that, simply punishing violent offenders is not enough, as we must study and learn their traits, behaviors, and more to understand the warning signs. When someone is sentenced for a crime, but with the likelihood of reentry, we should focus on showing them accountability, but also that someone cares for them, and if they are willing to work through their mental struggles and motivations with a professional, they can help prevent others from being in their shoes. We must give offenders a reason to want to go back into society as a productive person. The idea of being in a bad, undesired place is not enough to overpower a desire or motivation that has been growing and developing since childhood, and if not since childhood, possibly since an incredibly traumatic event happened. Most general criminals aren’t necessarily bad people, but their struggles lead them to do bad things. We have to give these people a reason to want to do good, and to heal from the root causes of their criminality.
Works Cited
Butler, Paul, et al. “How Atrocious Prisons Conditions Make Us All Less Safe.” Brennan Center for Justice, 23 Aug. 2021, www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-atrocious-prisons-conditions-make-us-all-less-safe.
Mark A. R. Kleiman, Angela Hawken. “Fixing the Parole System.” Issues in Science and Technology, 29 Apr. 2021, issues.org/kleiman-fix-parole-system-reform/.
Trusts, Pew. “State of Recidivism.” The Pew Charitable Trusts, www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/0001/01/01/state-of-recidivism.
Comments