The world is a tough and scary place.
This is the message we have always been told. Told by the stories from the media, from our parents, our friends, perhaps even through our own personal experiences. The media are constantly highlighting stories of rape, murder, robbery, etc. Our parents tell us "don 't talk to strangers." It seems as if anywhere, at any time, someone can and will take advantage of you if given the opportunity. Given the increase in riots, police shootings, and threats of terrorism, one would think that humanity is heading towards certain doom.
In light of this narrative, it might not be a surprise that the United States is tough on crime. In fact, the United States has nearly 25% of the world 's prison population, but …show more content…
Even more ironic is the fact that a country known as the "land of liberty" is more accurately described as the land of prisons. One might be tempted to argue that our current rates of crime are so low because we have locked up our criminals, but it doesn 't explain why the United States continues to send so many people to jail, and it doesn 't explain why there are so many other countries with much lower incarceration rates that also have much lower crime …show more content…
Prisons don 't cure criminals; there are studies that suggest sending people to prison increase crime. Rather than locking people up for non-violent crimes, our country should attempt to help these people become more functioning members of society. Our current criminal justice system only makes it more difficult for those who go to prison to reintegrate into society, which helps to explain why more people who go to prison in the United States end up returning relative to prisons of other
This is the message we have always been told. Told by the stories from the media, from our parents, our friends, perhaps even through our own personal experiences. The media are constantly highlighting stories of rape, murder, robbery, etc. Our parents tell us "don 't talk to strangers." It seems as if anywhere, at any time, someone can and will take advantage of you if given the opportunity. Given the increase in riots, police shootings, and threats of terrorism, one would think that humanity is heading towards certain doom.
In light of this narrative, it might not be a surprise that the United States is tough on crime. In fact, the United States has nearly 25% of the world 's prison population, but …show more content…
Even more ironic is the fact that a country known as the "land of liberty" is more accurately described as the land of prisons. One might be tempted to argue that our current rates of crime are so low because we have locked up our criminals, but it doesn 't explain why the United States continues to send so many people to jail, and it doesn 't explain why there are so many other countries with much lower incarceration rates that also have much lower crime …show more content…
Prisons don 't cure criminals; there are studies that suggest sending people to prison increase crime. Rather than locking people up for non-violent crimes, our country should attempt to help these people become more functioning members of society. Our current criminal justice system only makes it more difficult for those who go to prison to reintegrate into society, which helps to explain why more people who go to prison in the United States end up returning relative to prisons of other