Summary and Response In Peter Moskos’s “In Lieu of Prison, Bring Back the Lash”, he argues that prisons are an ineffective and expensive form of punishment and suggests corporal punishment be used as an alternative. Moskos points out that prisons are severely overcrowded and come at an astronomical cost. He then gives a quick history of the prison system, stating it was created as a more humane option to replace corporal punishment, which was viewed negatively in our new country. Moskos states prisons were intended to rehabilitate criminals much in the way hospitals heal the physically or mentally ill. The author describes prisons as internment camps used for practically free labor and says while some criminals need to be incarcerated, most do not.
The second factor that needs to be considered is the routine the inmates faced on a day to day basis and the outcome of the rehabilitation. Prior to Pentonville, prisons were used as holding bays for those on death row and debtors, due to prisons being unfeasible for long term incarceration. Prisons were corrupt environments were ‘prisoners were in the company of criminals of every class and degree’ . Subsequently it can be claimed that having ‘passed time, he returns a greater adept in crime, with a wider acquaintance among criminals’ . During the time of the report the Lords Select Committee had promoted the silent system which had been adopted at Wakefield Goal and Coldbath fields in 1834.
REHABILITATION VERSES INCARCERATION Rehabilitation should be viewed as more key than incarceration itself. People who are convicted of crimes should be allowed to heal and better themselves. Many of those people have serious addictions and issues that need to be addressed. In jail however, those issues will only worsen or fester. When the prisoner is released, they may be very angry about the lack of attention they recieved, and become a repeat offender.
At times, there are even attempts through the legal system to have their sentences reduced and released on “good behavior”. James Hamm, like any other murderer was sentenced for first degree murder and sent to prison. Unlike many offenders, James took a turn for the better. He accepted full responsibility in taking an innocent life, and as a result, made positive steps towards becoming a better person, perhaps both for himself and for society. While incarcerated, James registered in several courses that improve self worth as well as every work program the prison had to offer.
These types of clients need a different type of program or plan from a case manager. They need to develop skill to deal with what has happened in their lives to bring them to their current state in that moment in time. Within the corrections, it is believed that all need the assistance. All inmates or clients in this type of setting have wound up here in some sort of manner that needs to be evaluated and corrected. The idea behind corrections facilities is to take a criminal and rehabilitate them so that they may reenter society a better person and as one that may become a contributor to society instead of taking from society.
Huffington Post writer, Paul Heroux, who is a government administration and criminal justice consultant, also having worked both in a state prison and county jail, argues that those who feel that parolees receive handouts are mistaken because they know how difficult it is to have to pay bills, work, take care of children, etc. He also mentions that those who feel this way do not have a criminal record, that they are blessed with family and friends that support them as well as not being required to abide by laws that prohibit them from working and living in certain places (Heroux). The common thinking of locking up inmates and throwing away the key proves erroneous because abandonment and harsh punishment do not solve the issue of them learning from their mistakes. They only feel fruitless and doomed to what they know despite of how much they want to change, so this is the leading cause of why they recidivate. Much of this anger is the fact that their futures are filled with impediment and aversion from the ones they need the
Additionally, they should be compensated for the time they served, for the emotional suffering, for the physical suffering they had to endure in the prison, and any other family problems they had to go through. I can't possibly imagine how I can calculate ones freedom in dollars but this is the best way I can imagine one can be at some ease. Overall, I think the police officers need to be more productive, and come up with better ways to investigate crimes. They need to consider that a certain population of people are mentally handicapped which should be taken into consideration from here on out. Further, these people should be provided with a counsel/attorney from the start who can make a better judgment on their behalf.
“Corruption has been a problem in prison contracting historically and it is a problem in other types of government contracting today. It is therefore quite reasonable to be concerned about the possibility of corruption in correctional privatization” (Logan, 1990,p. 211). Sometimes people can be tempted to keep some money for themselves when there is plenty of money around. There have been studies showing that employees and law enforcement have tried to get extra things like money, drugs and sex.
They STOP THE INCARCERATION AND START THE REHABILITATION 15 participate in anger management courses and substance abuse counseling if necessary, and do manual labor on the facility grounds or in the community. (Clark, 2013). Although shock incarceration is a better solution then adult prisons, it has been criticized over its incidents involving abuse of inmates by staff. (Cullen, 2012) Punishment and rehabilitation are a major part of the criminal justice system and will be effective in controlling crime if there is a way to incorporate the two factors to work together. Punishing and following up with rehabilitation through community supervision can help prevent crime.
Affect on society Community corrections affect society because some people do not feel safe knowing that there is a criminal out and about with the freedom to do whatever, he or she pleases. A person, whom commits a crime while in the community, will return to jail to finish up his or her time that he or she was sentenced, depending on the new crime committed, whether it is the same crime or not, the offender can have time added to his or her present sentencing. Hypothesis and Effectiveness Community corrections are forms of discipline that works when it is directed toward the correct group of people. Every person deserves a second chance, unless you are a person whom thinks that killing a person, is a good way to solve