Punishment Vs Rehabilitation In Prisons

In prisons today, the use of punishment or rehabilitation is a very controversial topic. Throughout history, prisons were originally intended to punish felons. Prisons would use strategies like torture, public executions, and large amounts of imprisonment (Jacobsen). These imprisonments were sometimes stretched out to life terms. Today the battle is to help prisoners through rehabilitation programs. The United States has failed to do this. As stated by Michael Jacobson, the director of the non- partisan Versa Institute of Justice, “The United States has about five percent of the world’s population, but also twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners- the United States incarcerate a greater percentage of the population than any other country …show more content…
Punishment and rehabilitation contradict each other, so it would be impossible to do these two steps simultaneously. By separating them, both steps would be more effective, and the amount of time a person is required to spend in prison would be minimized. This grants an earlier parole for him or her, which would also allow for greater cell space and use of resources. Prisons could punish their felons with jobs that could better society. In the article “Factories Behind Fences: Do Prison ‘Real Work’ Programs Work?” Marilyn C. Moses and Cindy J. Smith bring up the idea that inmates could build homes, clean cells, and pick trash up on the interstate. The money the prisoners earn would be used to offset expenses that currently drain tax revenue ( Moses and Smith). After serving the required time, the offender would go through the rehabilitation stage, which would consist of therapy and remedial programs with the support of friends and family (De Luca). Prisoners need to be able to have a promising future when released. By providing the inmates with job training and other beneficial employment choices while behind bars, they might strive for a more hopeful future when let out of …show more content…
Reducing overcrowded prisons would also put money back into taxpayers’ pockets. The money spent on prisons can be reduced by allowing punishment and rehabilitation to be separate stages in order for each of them to be more effective. In the article “Improving Our Prison Systems Begins with Prevention” by Dr. Gwendolyn Puryear Keita, it elaborates about how rehabilitation in prisons can help change the inmates’ negative attitudes about life and help them understand why they are behind bars. Counseling would help reform the prisoners. Overall changing behavior instead of just suppressing the symptoms is how rehabilitation will improve the prison system (Keita). By improving the prison system, this world will progress to a more safe place in which everyone can