What is the purpose of a prison? Is it to protect people from dangerous individuals, and to help bring justice to victims? Do prison serve a separate purpose other than to punish wrongdoers? For instance, is it a standard for prison to have a rehabilitation program to help prisoners integrate within society? All of these questions pose a significant concern over the status quo of the current prison system in America. Historically, America’s prison system is founded under the premise to provide a system to to punish those who have commit offenses, aid victims or families victims in the fight for justice, and protect society from these violent individuals. However, today’s prisons has largely failed to adequately reach these goals. Through
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While the prisons in America are well-regarded as system to protect society from dangerous individuals, it has largely been inefficient, as more than a handful of those convicted of a non-violent crime are sent to prison. In the article “The Incarceration Explosion”, Conyers explicates on the status quo of the current prison system in America, and how it has failed. For instance, he presents the statistical collection of the rise in imprisonment rate, when he states, “The United States has experienced a precipitous rise … over the last forty years. During that period, the number of individuals incarcerated in our nation has risen from approximately 300,000 to more than 2 million. We now have the highest incarceration rate in the world, with more than 700 out of every 100,000 Americans behind bars” (Conyers 377). In accordance with the following statement, the rate of incarceration has considerably risen since the 1970s. Throughout the past four decades, prisons have overflowed
While the prisons in America are well-regarded as system to protect society from dangerous individuals, it has largely been inefficient, as more than a handful of those convicted of a non-violent crime are sent to prison. In the article “The Incarceration Explosion”, Conyers explicates on the status quo of the current prison system in America, and how it has failed. For instance, he presents the statistical collection of the rise in imprisonment rate, when he states, “The United States has experienced a precipitous rise … over the last forty years. During that period, the number of individuals incarcerated in our nation has risen from approximately 300,000 to more than 2 million. We now have the highest incarceration rate in the world, with more than 700 out of every 100,000 Americans behind bars” (Conyers 377). In accordance with the following statement, the rate of incarceration has considerably risen since the 1970s. Throughout the past four decades, prisons have overflowed