Do Prisons Work?

If you have ever had a friend or relative who has spent time in the penitentiary, then you are well aware of the reality of guys re-entering society. Many people get out of prison and have absolutely no idea as to what to do. Some may know what they desire, yet, due to lack of experience and the transitional phase of feeling displaced, they may falter. Faltering is all it takes to resort to the beliefs, survival tactics, negative mind-sets, and counter-productive behaviors which led them to prison in the first place. Then it's usually back through the revolving door!

Not everyone goes back through. Some manage to make good use of their resources and settle into law-abiding, comfortable, prospering lives. Still, the many who return inspired the question: Do Prisons Work? So, do they? Prisons are merely one aspect of the penal system. Many states have been allowing privatization of their penal systems... This is because of the revenue-generating potentials of prisons. Prisoners are required to work in most prisons throughout the country. Work assignments are usually provided. Many of the work assignments are required for the prison to be ran (ie., feeding inmates, laundry, etc.); however, there are many other assignments which have prisoners working on the roads and in communities. Some of these outside jobs are now contracted to the prisons by local governments and other entities.

Individuals are sent to prison primarily for punishment; rehabilitation is secondary and not mandatory. It costs a significant amount of money to send a person to prison. The system looks to privatization to cover and return these losses. Even when privatization isn't used, the practices are employed. The system doesn't work this way because the losses are never recovered. The industry is literally using the system to incubate criminals! The door is such a revolving door because criminals are not being rehabilitated. Some institutions have this breastplate/rubberstamp process inmates are required to go through before release. However, they watch videos, fill out forms, and are given information.... There is no type of interaction. There is no process to identify whether or not the inmates are absorbing the information.

Crime rates continue to fluctuate and new criminals are made everyday. We don't need a high recidivism rate on top of that! Someone needs to take accountability and it starts with YOU... So send your comments to arcane_life@hotmail.com in answer to the question: "Do Prisons Work?"