Ryann McGee

April 6, 2016
CAS138T
Persuasive Essay
Why Does the American Prison System Fail Us?

The idea of modern day slavery may seem shocking, yet it is alive and flourishing in our
society. From child labor to household slaves to prisons, slavery is still contributing to our
economy and society. Although modern day slavery is illegal, it is hidden in plain sight to the
average eye. According to dictionary.com, slavery is the state of working under duress or without
freedom. Using this definition, the most overlooked form of slavery is hidden within the
American prison system. The American prison system is tremendously damaged and is in need of
a change. Stoptheaca.org argues that the four main purposes of prison are retribution,
incapacitation, deterrence, and rehabilitation. Retribution is the punishment for crimes
committed against society. Incapacitation focuses on removing criminals from society in order to
eliminate their chance of harming innocent people. Deterrence is the act of trying to prevent
future crime. It is also hoped to scare people away from prison due to the lack of freedom. To
have your freedom stripped away from you should be enough to deter people away from prison.
Lastly, the idea of rehabilitation in the American prison system is where problems arise. While
prisoners spend time in jail, they are offered educational programs to help them become law
abiding citizens. The jobs that are offered are supposed to provide prisoners with skills that are
needed outside of prison walls. Often times, psychologists or social workers are there to provide
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support as well, but these opportunities are not effective. The American prison system is failing
due to the inadequate amount of proper rehabilitation offered to inmates. Adopting a policy
called CARE, Cornerstone of Adequate Rehabilitation for Everyone, would allow the American
prison systems approach to be revisited and corrected in the most effective way.
The American prison system is an $80 billion industry, there is no plausible reason as to
why it is failing. The Hamilton Project, 2010, page 13 explains that the United States spent
more than $80 billion on corrections expenditures at the federal, state, and local levels. The
United States is able to spend so much money in the prison system simply because of
overcrowding and imprisonment of people for non-violent crimes. For instance, New York is one
of the countrys most vibrant states. It is also one of the most expensive places to live for
residents and prisoners. The Independent Budget Office (IBO) explains that New York alone
spends $167,731 annually to provide housing, food, and care for a single inmate. There are
approximately 12,287 people incarcerated in NY which sets the total to $2,060,910,797 annually.
This number is astonishing especially becomes it only represents one state. The problem does not
stop in New York, it is a nationwide dilemma. Money.cnn.com proves that 11 states including
Pennsylvania and Colorado spend more money on prisons than higher education. Often times
focusing on the monetary value leaves out the argument of how these astronomical numbers
impact people on personal levels. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), in 2013
2,220,300 adults were incarcerated in US federal and state prisons, and county jails, thats the
equivalent to every 1 in 110 adults in the US population. That means over 2 million families are
impacted on a personal level. This breaks families apart, allowing children to be raised without
parents and loved ones, and calls for former inmates to have mental problems. Therefore, the
American prison system impacts nearly everyone in the country, from tax payers to children to
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the inmates themselves. A major concern with the prison system is what causes people to land
behind bars and why they keep coming back. The National Institute of Justice shows that 76.6%
of prisoners, within five years of being released become repeated offenders. Criminology: A
Sociological Understanding by Steven E. Barkan explains why this process happens. Many
prisoners return to criminal activity almost immediately after they get out of prison because of
the labeling theory. The labeling theory highlights the idea that criminals become who they are
labeled as. Labeling these humans as criminals cause them to live up to that name and promote
deviant behavior, they become a self-fulfilling prophecy which leaves them with little to no
choice but to become who they are labeled as. American prisons suffer from overcrowding
because many people are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes. Drugwarfacts.org explains that
approximately 50% of inmates are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes. The American prison
system desperately needs to be corrected in order to help the US economy and to save the
families of Americans.
A new policy needs to be implemented because the guidelines that are currently held as
standard are impacting Americans negatively. A concept that would be most effective would be
an approach that closely mimics a prison reform that has proven to be successful in the state of
Mississippi, the H.B. 585, alongside of Norways restorative justice system. This policy is called
CARE, it stands for Cornerstone of Adequate Rehabilitation for Everyone. Although it mimics
most of H.B. 585s ideas, components are added such as a restorative justice system that will
allow it to prosper at a national level. This policy would include 3 major areas:

Nonviolent offenders do not go to prison

Prison beds should be used to keep violent and career offenders. Approximately 50% of inmates
are incarcerated for nonviolent crimes. This includes property crimes such as theft,
embezzlement, arson, fraud, tax crimes, drug and alcohol related crimes, prostitution, gambling,
and bribery. These crime will not result in prison time.

Community supervision and other forms of correction

Instead of placing nonviolent offenders in prison, the policy would allow them to stay in society
with limited freedom. Community supervision would call for community service / interactions
with the community such as helping with non-profit businesses. This section also includes
ensuring certainty in sentencing. It would provide prisoners with a clear view of a release date.
Lastly, the use of technology will serve as reminders for things such as court dates.

Those who actually get imprisoned get the proper care and rehabilitation

Strengthening supervision and intervention will provide tremendous results. This section
includes the idea of a restorative justice system. restorativejustice.org explains that the
restorative justice theory follows these three steps: identifying and taking steps to repair harm,
involving all stakeholders, and transforming the traditional relationship between communities
and their governments in responding to crime. This system allows for proper and thorough
rehabilitation.
Local, state, and national governments will be held responsible in enforcing these ideas.
The first step to making this change would call for prisons to release prisoners that have been
incarcerated due to nonviolent crimes. After their release they would be placed under community
supervision programs. CARE will then be enforced heavily help reduce the amount of people
going into prison while also providing the proper care of prisoners. Eliminating nonviolent
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crimes from prisons, will place less people will be placed behind bars. With having less people
behind bars, services that are offered to prisoners will now be used properly.
CARE is an excellent way to help improve the American prison system. Local, state, and
national governments will be held accountable for enforcing this policy. Requiring all levels of
government to work together is a major drawback in this approach. All levels of government
enforcing this method will call consistent joint effort, but as demonstrated by the state of
Mississippi, it is possible for this method to be implemented through consistency and hard work.
Having all levels of governments engaging together on this problem will cause for the policy to
have a higher probability of creating positive outcomes. The components of CARE that originate
from H.B. 585 require a lot of courage but rewards with drastic results. Over the next decade,
Mississippi is expected to save $226 million. This proves that on a national level, the $80 billion
prison industry will decrease significantly. Also, the prison population will decrease due to the
lack of nonviolent criminals being incarcerated. Lastly, the components of CARE that correct the
rehabilitation part of prisons make a lasting impact as well. This component introduces a
restorative justice system into CARE. Restorative justice is a theory that stresses the importance
of finding where the problem originated from. This theory is implemented in Norway and is
proving to be successful. Norway holds one of the worlds lowest recidivism rates at 20%. In
Norway, less than 4,000 citizens out of a total population of 5 million were incarcerated as of
August 2014, according to prisonstudies.org. Arne Wilson, a clinical psychologist explains to
The Guardian, in closed prisons we [the American justice system] keep them [prisoners] locked
up for some years and then let them back out, not having had any real responsibility for working
or cooking. In the [Norwegian] law, being sent to prison is nothing to do with putting you in a
terrible prison to make you suffer. The punishment is that you lose your freedom. If we treat
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people like animals when they are in prison, they are likely to behave like animals. Here
[Norway] we pay attention to you as human beings. The benefits of adopting CARE outweigh
the cons tremendously.
So, why does CARE propose to be the most beneficial policy? CARE offers ample
opportunities to reconstruct our economy and society. It allows people who make minor mistakes
to have another chance at freedom and life. Although, there are drawbacks such as the amount of
cooperation involved, the benefits outweigh them. Reducing the amount of money spent in this
$80 billion industry will allow for other positive things to be funded, such as higher education
and proper rehabilitation. With using this policy, the US can look forward to being on levels with
countries such as Norway that have 4,000 out of a population of 5 million behind bars.

Works Cited
"About Restorative Justice." Centre for Justice and Reconciliation. N.p., 2016. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Barkan, Steven. Criminology: A Sociological Perspective. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
"Budget Basics." Budget Basics. N.p., 2002-2008. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
"Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Correctional Populations in the United States, 2012." Bureau
of Justice Statistics (BJS) - Correctional Populations in the United States, 2012. N.p., 19 Dec.
2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
"Crime, Arrest, and US Law Enforcement." Crime, Arrest, and US Law Enforcement. N.p.,
1998-2016. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.
Gingrich, Newt, and Van Jones. "Prison System Is Failing America." CNN. Cable News
Network, 22 May 2014. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
Kearney, Melissa S., Benjamin H. Harris, Elisa Jacome, and Lucie Parker. "Ten Economic Facts
about Crime and Incarceration in the United States." Ten Economic Facts about Crime and
Incarceration in the United States (n.d.): n. pag. The Hamilton Project. The Hamiliton Project,
2006-2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.dictionary.com/>.
"Office of Justice Programs." N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.
"Perceptions of Criminal Justice." (2014): n. pag. Mississippi's 2014 Corrections and Criminal
Justice Reform. May 2014. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
"Purposes of Prisons. Stop the Crime." Purposes of Prisons. Stop the Crime. N.p., 2002-2011.
Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
"United States of America." Institute for Criminal Policy Research. N.p., 2016. Web. 6 Apr.
2016.