Her book may not outline the maneuvers of prison systems as much as other books, but her work demonstrates a deep analysis and statistical evidence as well as the understandings of society’s movement in the minimal amount of chapters and pages provided in this book. Her deep opinion and extensive research is viewed as a powerful look at incarceration; one that reveals much about my own perceptions of incarceration and criminal justice. However, the book left me thinking about these issues that were presented but I wanted to get past the problems and read more about the ideas for change that could perhaps help move past prison institutions and create something…
The last five chapters of the book “The American Prison: Imagining a Different Future” written by Francis Cullen, Mary Stohr and Cheryl Johnson discuss some of the various prison systems that can be found in America, and the issues that surround them. The main focus of discussion for each chapter is the history of the prison, its effectiveness in running, its social context in modern day America, and the authors of the chapter’s personal thoughts on the importance of that specific prison type. The four types of prisons covered in chapters 9-12 are the private prison, the green prison, the small prison, and the accountable prison; chapter thirteen of the book talks about the lessons that should be learned from the book regarding the harm and…
Although punitive approaches to criminal justice are still dominant today, the public acceptance of restorative justice programs is gradually increasing in the United States. Current restorative justice programs have made significant changes in communities all over the country, such as the Longmont Community Justice Partnership in Colorado. The main goal of this organization is to guide victims and offenders into strengthening their relationships while repairing the harm done by the crime. This restorative program has demonstrated to law enforcement administrators and the community in general how effective an approach to justice without punishment can be.…
So with all these statistics, it seems that the prisons aren’t doing what they were made to do, and part of that is true, prison just aren’t working and most inmates repeatedly neglected to the point of mental illness. This mental illness causes the free inmates to feel a sense of security in prison, and this is caused by the consistency of prison life and the lack of decisions, “Jerry confides during his interview that he’s had trouble sleeping at the shelter for homeless veterans where he lives: ‘It’s like my body left the prison, but my mind is still in there.’” Jails are also unsafe even for the more hardened criminals; the multiple ways to be assaulted are too many to count and millions of dollars worth of drug getting funneled through the system. The need to find a clique in jail has lead to a huge spike in prison violence showing that, “Causes for prison violence can include gang-related activity. Gangs are present within prisons and include groups and alliances that have developed both inside and outside of prison walls” (Blanco).…
Literature The multidimensional and complex issues surrounding prisoner reentry has become the most problematic dilemma facing the field of corrections. A radical change in the number of prisoners reentering society has occurred over the past decade. As a result, modification of probation and parole practices have triggered a more unstable…
1. Explain in complete detail Howard Zehrs ' approach to restorative justice. Restorative justice provides an opportunity for people who committed a crime and those who were impacted by it to communicate with one another on the cause, damage, and potential repair. The central concern of restorative justice is the repair of harm caused by the crime committed. Howard Zehr pioneered restoratice justice while directing a halfway house in Indiana.…
Archbishop Desmond Tutu expresses in the following simple yet elegant phrase the philosophies inherent in restorative justice, “…true reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, and the truth…”. The frank exposure of emotional, physical and psychological injury may, however, adversely impact the victim(s) or alleged perpetrator in the short term. While restorative justice can be a risky undertaking, “only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing”. In the criminal justice system today in the United States, “real healing” seems to be a secondary principle; priority is given to proving the innocence or guilt of the accused in a trial conducted by a judge with the services of lawyers and the jury. The main stakeholders,…
A brief review of the book “The Little Book of Restorative Justice,” by Howard Zehr, is based upon one idea, how should this society respond to wrong doings and what should be done with the victims and offenders? The book begins by telling us that the criminal justice system is not meeting the needs of the people with in that system, ultimately the system is failing however there still may be some good qualities. Zehr expresses that, “restorative justice is an attempt to address some of the needs and limitations,” (3) and by doing this he first tells his audience what restorative justice is not, to give us, his readers a better understanding of what it really is. Also to you could say that he does this so we can have a stronger foundation while learning what, The Little Book of Restorative Justice,” is and not being completely biased…
The sole purpose of prison is to punish criminals for crimes they have committed, protect citizens from crime, and rehabilitate those individuals to be honest, law-abiding citizens once they are released back into the public. Wilbert Rideau, author of “Why Prisons Don’t Work”, was in the Louisiana State Penitentiary and has first-hand experience with how the prison system works. Prison is the punishment, but the punishments within the prison are inhumane and ineffective. High re-offense rates show that the public is not being protected from criminals; nor, are they rehabilitating those individuals to be productive citizens. Prisons are harming the individuals inside of them more than helping, prisons do not work.…
Many people think that incarceration is like a vacation at a country club until they see what really happens behind the bars. Offenders do not get the help that they need when they are in prison. When offenders go to prison and when they are let out nothing has changed and they usually end up back in prison. The rates of population have gone up and prisons are becoming over populated. Craig Jones and Don Weatherburn proves, “The sentenced adult prison population has increased by about 20 per cent since the mid 1990s” (10).…
This policy proposal includes a brief introduction of restorative justice particularly focuses on youth justice conferencing. This paper will explain the penoligical principles underlying in restoration, and discuss the strength and weakness of youth justice conferencing. Finally, this paper will conclude with recommendation for future practice. Restorative justice is a framework that recognises accountability and the need to repair harm caused to victims and communities impacted by crime. It is a reform that seeks to engage all parties such as (victims, offenders, both their families or support persons, police officer and the facilitator) comes together to discuss the offence, its impact and what should be done to repair the harm, and resolve…
Integrating these approaches into correctional facilities can improve them and meet the needs of both offenders and victims out in the community. Theoretical Practices for Restorative Justice, Crime Prevention,…
Introduction: Restorative justice is the idea that harm caused by a crime can be repaired (Wallis, 2007) and that the victim and community can be restored to how it was previously, rather than resorting to punishing the offender…
Prison reform is a significant issue for many Americans. The prison population is expanding at a phenomenal rate, often beyond the capacity of the existing system to accommodate the expanding ranks of the incarcerated. The focus for many is increasingly on rehabilitation as a means to reduce recidivism and consequently reduce the number of individuals who must be placed in prisons every year. In the early 1990s, the number of people jailed in the United States topped one million (Waldman, 2013). By 2000, that number had doubled, and by 2003 more than 2.2 million people were living in prisons (Associates, 2005).…
In the last 40 years, incarceration in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. We have the highest incarceration rate in the world; we hold 5% of the world’s population, but house 25% of the world’s prisoners (Kelly 2015). The use of incarceration has gradually become a more acceptable and more used form of punishment. As a result, our prison population is overflowing with offenders ranging from petty theft criminals to violent offenders. As cited in the textbook, purposes of our justice system should be retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation, (Clear, Reisig, & Cole 2016, p.72-73) but we focus far too much on punishment first and rehabilitation second, if ever.…