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Prison Workout Home Essay

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The first aspect of our proposed utopian prison is the addition of workout facilities to correctional prisons. American correctional facilities often lack workout amenities to accommodate the health and wellbeing of the inmates. Exercising regularly has proven to have very significant benefits to one’s mental and physical wellbeing. However, many prisons do not offer such services because of lack of space and funding. In fact, overcrowded prisons often allow for unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, drug abuse, and inactive lifestyles. According to Professor Cashin at the University of Sydney, the amount of regular exercise is positively related to the decreased risk of developing a chronic illness such as cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, …show more content…

Professor Cashin describes the psychological explanations of the mental benefits of exercise. These include the sense of control and achievement (67). Many prison inmates often feel a sense of hopelessness while in prison because they lack control over their environments and many aspects of the future and current lives. Since exercise is a social activity, it can help the self-esteem of inmates through improved physical fitness and body image. A sample workout facility to appeal to inmates would include a very light room with easy available equipment. According to Claudia Battaglia, supervised exercise training can improve one’s well-being and quality of life, which can encourage inmates to better themselves and shape their futures. Physical activity can help inmates become less bored and burn off tension because it teaches discipline, record-keeping, and goal-setting. Part of the utopian prison would include goal-setting worksheets that inmates will fill out, outlining their plans and how they are going to achieve their ambitions. This way, they can visually see their process and be motivated to do even better. At the end of the day, access to workout facilities can be used as an important component to help the mental and physical health of prison

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