Radicalism In Prisons

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In order to understand this statement from a radical point of view, we must first take a look at what exactly is the view of the radicals. Radicalism can be defined as the opinions and behaviors of people who favor extreme changes, especially in government. (**) Radicals are those who want to bring about change to our society to lessen the gap between those who are wealthy and in power to those who are not. The problem lies that those who are in power are the ones that are able to create and enforce laws, while everyone else has no choice but to abide by those laws. So radicals are faced with the vicious cycle of fighting those with the power to make changes and provide more contiguity for society as a whole. When it comes to the opinions …show more content…
They then create laws favorable to their positions, that often times elicit a behavior of the poor to suddenly be illegal. What happens when the poor break a law? They are punished. How do we punish those who break laws? By sending them to prison for lengthy sentences. A growing body of data indicates that rehabilitation through the use of prisons is illusionary. (**) So why do we still use prisons? Radicals believe that the use of prisons is simply a way of the wealthy maintaining social order and controlling the lower classes. (**class book) states that there are four pillars on which the traditional "orthodox" view of punishment stands on. The first is the assumption that the punishment is the will of the people. The second is that it is administered impartially. The third is that it is necessary to punish criminals to maintain society. Fourth, states that without the typical punishments, society would fall into chaos. Radicals believe however that this structure is not needed to inflict corrective action upon offenders. It points that many societies have existed where no formal punishment system has been implemented, and punishment is more seen as a social influence. Yet our prison populations over the past 5 years has steadily increased, resulting in a current prison population of 208, 609 inmates.(**) With all these inmates more and more prisons are required to house them. Who profits from these criminals being in prison? The radicals would argue that the wealthy are benefiting from prisons existing and the poor are the ones paying for them to be

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