In the United States, many of our citizens are forced to spend time behind bars. As a result of many anti-crime laws installed across many states in the country, there has been an increase in the amount of people being sent to prison for even minimal offenses. According to an article by Business Insider, “707 people for every 100,000” are being incarcerated, whereas in Norway, an extremely wealthy and modern first-world nation, the incarceration rate is “just 75 per 100,000 people” (Business Insider). Our country has a problem with incarcerating people for every little offense, and with the prison system being designed to punish offenders rather than provide treatment for, the United States has an enormous prison population. This idea that
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We do have various support groups in different states, but for the most part, ex-cons just end up returning to the criminal world because they cannot seem to find support. Many feel as if they have been disconnected from the real world for so long that they cannot even manage to buy groceries. For example, in this article by the New York Times, two guys named Carlos and Roby have set up a service in which they help ex-cons take their first steps into the real world. They notice that many of the guys they come to pick up from prison experience great difficulty in finding their way through the modern world. The article states that while the government does make an effort to improve the lives of ex-cons, it seems as if it tends to forget certain aspects of their lives, as demonstrated with the quote “The movement tends to focus on solving structural problems, like providing housing, job training or drug treatment, but easily loses sight of the profound disorientation of the actual people being released” (Mooallem). Our government has programs such as public housing services, but it seems to have forgotten that prisoners need a way to sign up for any benefits before they can receive them. In the article, many ex-cons struggle with finding help because they have absolutely no idea how to register for any support, and so they just end up returning to the criminal underworld, where the comfort of illegal activity reminds them of the life that they have been living for the past couple of years they spent in prison. The prison system does a good job of scarring prisoners, as many complain that they develop strange fears that others do not. Common fears include “...navigating public transportation; they’re too frightened of crowds, too intimidated or mystified by the transit cards that have replaced cash and tokens” (Mooallem). The fact that these prisoners struggle to do the simple things that
We do have various support groups in different states, but for the most part, ex-cons just end up returning to the criminal world because they cannot seem to find support. Many feel as if they have been disconnected from the real world for so long that they cannot even manage to buy groceries. For example, in this article by the New York Times, two guys named Carlos and Roby have set up a service in which they help ex-cons take their first steps into the real world. They notice that many of the guys they come to pick up from prison experience great difficulty in finding their way through the modern world. The article states that while the government does make an effort to improve the lives of ex-cons, it seems as if it tends to forget certain aspects of their lives, as demonstrated with the quote “The movement tends to focus on solving structural problems, like providing housing, job training or drug treatment, but easily loses sight of the profound disorientation of the actual people being released” (Mooallem). Our government has programs such as public housing services, but it seems to have forgotten that prisoners need a way to sign up for any benefits before they can receive them. In the article, many ex-cons struggle with finding help because they have absolutely no idea how to register for any support, and so they just end up returning to the criminal underworld, where the comfort of illegal activity reminds them of the life that they have been living for the past couple of years they spent in prison. The prison system does a good job of scarring prisoners, as many complain that they develop strange fears that others do not. Common fears include “...navigating public transportation; they’re too frightened of crowds, too intimidated or mystified by the transit cards that have replaced cash and tokens” (Mooallem). The fact that these prisoners struggle to do the simple things that