How Prisons Have Changed On Today 's Prison System

The United States prison system struggles eminently with keeping offenders out of prison after being released. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than third of all prisoners who were arrested within five years of released were arrested within six months after release, with more than half arrested by the end of the year (Hughes, Wilson, & Beck, 2001). Among prisoners released in 2005 in 23 states with available data on inmates returned to prison, about half (55 percent) had either a parole or probation violation or an arrest for a new offense within three years that led to imprisonment (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder, 2014). Why are there many ex-offenders going back to prison within the first five years of release? Are there not enough resources to help offenders before or/and after being released from prison.

The Penitentiary Era 1790 to 1825 mass prison building era housed many prisoners with the goals of rehabilitation; deterrence and allowing the inmates to work during the day and when they returned were put into solitary confinement (Ortmeier 2006, 391). This new era was too focused on making prisoners think about their crimes and learn skills in workshops and general labor to reenter society as a productive member. Capital and corporal punishment were looked down upon by many and they did not actually fix the problems of rising crime. Often time’s prisoners were held in a large jail cells, men and women alike that resulted in rape and fighting among each other. The strengths of this era looked to keep prisoners safe and at times lessen

Prisons in America have been around for many years. They have been around since the 1600’s. The prisons in the 1600’s were small local jails for people who were waiting for trial. Punishment for people who went to jail during this time were executed, tortured and penalized. In the late 1600’s the death penalty was allowed for those who committed a murder.

Prisons were " among the first public buildings erected in the New World," and were considered as essential as a cemetery in every town (Lynch, n.d.). However, colonial American prisons were not "houses of punishment," as they would later evolve to be (Lynch, n.d). A person who committed a crime was sent to prison only while awaiting trial, and after the trial was complete, the sentence would entail something quick and decisive either death or release. Thus, early American prison systems certainly worked to the extent that they were only designed to temporarily detain suspects and occasionally house convicted criminals for longer periods.

She argues that the reforms suggested by the conservative party would cause unintended harm to the people they are attempting to help. The author forms her argument by analyzing the prison reforms initiative put forth by republican politicians. Bruenig concludes that these attempts to bring needed modification to the criminal justice system have not improved the lives of disadvantaged people. By focusing on cutting prison costs the author states, the conservative’s suggestion for reform will fail to provide support to community programs that help people stay out of prison. This would make the reform meaningless. It would also rid communities of prevention programs.

Do you think that prisons today are as strict as they were 150 years ago? What was wrong with the prison system then that is so different today? When it comes to people that have done crime and sentenced to life sentences and gets 3 meals a day , TV , outside privileges , classes things that will make their time pass and prevent from everyone hurting one another is not a prison, Why keep them in prison if they still get the privileges you can get outside of the prison. Prisons have changed during the years, contemporary prison happen and the era we are in that caused the change. Prisoners have more rights today in the past, you can put a prisoner in a dungeon. Because of the riots there was inmates were successful to changed the system so that they have several

In 2011, I spent time serving in prisons with a church organization who’s goal was to change the systemic problems within the prison system. This caused me to examine all aspects of inequality and oppression that disproportionately affects people of color.

The idea of prison has been around for thousands of years and seems to be an integrated part of the human concept. We remove the people that disrupt society and we put them away or get rid of them. We, as a modern culture,

Within this paper, you will find a comprehensive review of the United States prison system, and why it needs to analyzed to better support and reform the people of this country. I plan to persuade the other side (politicians and society) into seeing that the way the prison system is now, is not ethical nor economical and it must change. We have one of the world’s largest prison population, but also a very high rate of recidivism. Recidivism is when the prisoners continuously return to prison without being reformed. They return for the same things that they were doing before. So, this leads us to ask what exactly are we doing wrong? When this happens, we as a nation must continuously pay to house and feed these inmates. The purpose of a prison needs to be examined so we can decide if we really are reforming our inmates, or just continuing a vicious cycle. What is the true purpose of prison besides just holding them in a cell? There must be more we can do for these hopeless members of society.

With the population of the United States prisons growing every day we need to evaluate if they are doing any good. Personally, I believe that we need to keep our prison system, but we need to take steps in reforming them rather than abolish them altogether. The United States has the highest number of incarcerated people than any other country in the world. We must sit down and look at other countries and see what they are doing different than the United States. In this paper, we will first look at what the prison system in America is like and what we can do to improve upon our prison system. Then, we will also look at the Finland prison systems and see if we can learn anything from them, since they have one of the lowest incarceration and crime rate in the world. We will then look at reforming our prison system or abolishing it. Finally, we will investigate other punishment alternatives other than the prison system that we could use.

American prison system incarceration was not officially used as the main form of punishment in United States (U.S.) until around the 1800’s. Before that time criminals were mainly punished by public shaming, which involved punishments such as being whipped, or branded (HL, 2015). In fact, President Lincoln codified the prison incarceration system in the Emancipation Proclamation that indicated no slavery would take place in America unless a person was duly convicted of a crime (paraphrased) (White, 2015). In this era prisons were used more as a place where criminals could be detained until their trial date if afforded such an opportunity. However, one of the main problems with this idea was the fact that the prisons were badly maintained, which resulted in many people contracting fatal diseases. Yet, according to White (2015) unethical and immoral medical experiments were also conducted on inmates’ leading to health failures. Moreover, because everyone was detained in the same prisons, adolescent offenders would have to share the same living space with adult felons, which became another serious problem in that adolescent were less mature and could not protect themselves in such environments

Throughout history, there has been many different methods for corrections. Looking back over time, you can see how the correctional system has evolved from the harsh, brutal, inhumane ways of the 16th century, to the rehabilitation methods of today. In the correctional system, there are different types of correctional facilities, various custody levels, and a time where it all started.

Overcrowding in our state and federal jails today has become a big issue. Back in the 20th century, prison rates in the U.S

“The history of correctional thought and practice has been marked by enthusiasm for new approaches, disillusionment with these approaches, and then substitution of yet other tactics”(Clear 59). During the mid 1900s, many changes came about for the system of corrections in America. Once a new idea goes sour, a new one replaces it. Prisons shifted their focus from the punishment of offenders to the rehabilitation of offenders, then to the reentry into society, and back to incarceration. As times and the needs of the criminal justice system changed, new prison models were organized in hopes of lowering the crime rates in America. The three major models of prisons that were developed were the medical, model, the community model, and the crime

Although it may not be at the forefront of our minds, the current situation regarding prisons and punishment is worth discussing. On the matter of this often overlooked topic, Pope John Paul II said “Not to promote the interest of prisoners would be to make imprisonment a mere act of vengeance of the part of society, provoking only hatred in the prisoners themselves.” (July, 2000) The prison system is a global issue that affects the "human potential, free will and innate goodness in man." (Lyons, 2003) The issue is in regard to how offenders are punished when incarcerated and debates what theory of punishment offenders should serve their sentence under. There are many forms of punishment adopted by institutions in order effectively punish prisoners. These methods of punishment are diverse in both procedures and outcomes; however they all maintain the same objective – to successfully punish offenders. While Catholics endorse a combination between reforming and rehabilitating both offenders and victims, Islam prefers a harsh deterrent and retributive approach using fear of punishment as an incentive to not engage in criminal activity and from a completely secular perspective both protective punishment and deterrent punishment can be deemed appropriate. But conflict of theories from different points of views raise the ethical question of how do we effectively punish offenders without crossing moral and ethical boundaries?