It’s easy to understand the direct physical and mental harm that inevitably results from crime, but this is only a portion of the extensive impact a crime can have. External factors can often contribute significantly to the devastation a victim or offender experiences in the wake of a crime, including one’s relationship with friends, family, and even the surrounding community. From the victim’s point of view, after having their safety and security violated, it becomes very difficult to trust anyone — even their closest support groups. The trauma that results from a crime can, “breach the attachments of family, friendship, love, and community, [and] shatter the construction of the self that is formed and sustained in relation to others” (Herman,
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“The default punishment in the current system is incarceration” (Kleiman), as the justice system believes that imprisoning a person is the best way to teach a convicted criminal their lesson and ensure they never offend again. Unfortunately, this is a highly distorted perception. The prison system introduces prisoners to a culture of hostility and violence. When they are finally released from this environment, the norms they’ve become accustomed to in prison make the transition into regular society extremely difficult. The mental and physical trauma inflicted on an offender within prison is not easily overcome, and it sticks with them long after their release. Additionally, that individual will carry the label of a convicted criminal around wherever they go; it is inscribed on them and inescapable. No community actually feels safer around a past offender knowing that they’ve served a prison sentence; instead, the notion that they spent a long time among hundreds of other hardened criminals makes the offender seem even more intimidating and repugnant. Thus, it is not overly surprising that, “specific examples of prison time being ‘inscribed’ on the body [have been identified], which prove problematic for former prisoners” (Moran, p. 565). Given the experiences an offender brings with them when they leave prison, coupled with society’s unwillingness to forgive them and accept them in, the prison system makes it essentially impossible to adequately reintegrate an
“The default punishment in the current system is incarceration” (Kleiman), as the justice system believes that imprisoning a person is the best way to teach a convicted criminal their lesson and ensure they never offend again. Unfortunately, this is a highly distorted perception. The prison system introduces prisoners to a culture of hostility and violence. When they are finally released from this environment, the norms they’ve become accustomed to in prison make the transition into regular society extremely difficult. The mental and physical trauma inflicted on an offender within prison is not easily overcome, and it sticks with them long after their release. Additionally, that individual will carry the label of a convicted criminal around wherever they go; it is inscribed on them and inescapable. No community actually feels safer around a past offender knowing that they’ve served a prison sentence; instead, the notion that they spent a long time among hundreds of other hardened criminals makes the offender seem even more intimidating and repugnant. Thus, it is not overly surprising that, “specific examples of prison time being ‘inscribed’ on the body [have been identified], which prove problematic for former prisoners” (Moran, p. 565). Given the experiences an offender brings with them when they leave prison, coupled with society’s unwillingness to forgive them and accept them in, the prison system makes it essentially impossible to adequately reintegrate an