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Alec Gorbell

ENC2135

Whitney Gilchrist

9 April 2017

Research Proposal

Is the United States prison system doing its job, or is reform and change required to

improve the efficiency of rehabilitating inmates?

This project will be about the United States Prison system and how they are failing the

people in them. The US has a system that is overflowing with people and depleting funds of the

government. Currently the prison system is host to about 2 million people and as one inmate

leaves another two are put back in. Why these systems are overcrowded and how to stop it is a

question many ask. At a time when crime rate is going down and prison population has a lack of

fluctuation it is clear that the system needs a revamp.

In order to reduce the population of inmates, those released need to continue to stay out

of prisons. The rate of recidivism or rate in which inmates go back to jail after release is at about

68%. This is astonishing, jail cells have become revolving doors as its only a matter of time after

release does an inmate go back to jail. Changing the methods of prisons and how inmates are

treated is an idea contributing to solutions of the major issues. The current system of

dehumanization of inmates and locking them behind cell walls 23 hours of the day is proving to

be an ineffective way of dealing with criminals. It is time to change ways and stray away from a

strictly punishment ideology and move to a more rehabilitation style of punishment. Instead of

trying to throw the problem in a cage and not address it, these inmates should be helped and

changed rather then put in there to rot.

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How to make the change is the question that needs a very complicated answer. The US

has had the same ways and ideas for a long time and it is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks,

but not impossible. An altered method or improved system needs to be put in place to turn things

around. Looking at other countries methods and figuring out how to use and adapt them to a

country (US) unlike anyone else will be a difficult task. The balance between punishment and

rehabilitation will allow for a more effective prison system that helps everyone.

I chose this topic because Ive had a family member that has been incarcerated for non-

violent crimes and have seen the struggle of someone who has changed try to get back to a

normal, valuable person to society. He eventually did get a good job and one that allows him to

make money and be his own person, but the struggles dont stop. It is hard to escape your past

with a record and that is one of the reason I think so many people go back to jail.

One of the challenges I may face when researching this topic is that it may be difficult to

find alternatives and highly effective ways of finding the balance between punishment and

rehabilitation. If someone commits a crime it is a problem, it is something they should be

punished for, but how in ways that are effective. I think lots of countries have good penal and

prison systems that are effective, but many of them would not fit the size or standards of the

United States. Addressing the problems are easy but providing a solution or alternative ideas will

be the hard part of the research.

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The United States Prison Systems Need for Change

The United States prison system is one that is crumbling and leaving thousands of people

behind. Currently in the United States over 2 million people are behind bars, this is more then

any other country in the world (Bureau of Justice Statistics). With the US being a global

powerhouse and a country many other countries look up to this is not a statistic one would want

to be at the top for. Many of the individuals incarcerated will spend the rest of their lives behind

bars as many of them should. However, for others they are, or have spent too much of their life

serving time not only in prison, but after in the real world as well. The prison system in this

country is one that focuses much to heavily on the punishment and dehumanization of criminals,

rather then the rehabilitation and improvement of these incarcerated individuals. Through careful

law making decisions, a changed perspective from government officials, rehabilitation of inmates

and a changed pre-conceived notion of inmates after release the countries penal system can one

day be effective and used for the purpose of an improved society.

As the US continues to move people into jails and very few out there is a continuous

trend of jails becoming overcrowded (Kirages 226). This overcrowding is not only making things

harder for inmates and prison workers but for all the people of the United States. With a

government that is responsible for a great deal of debt, 19 Trillion (Tepper), adding to that debt,

and continuing to carry a cinderblock of fees that keep prisons functional is not helping anyone.

The overcrowding of prison is becoming an increasing problem throughout the country, and with

the largest prison system in the world the US needs to find ways to reduce this population.

(Bureau of Justice Statistics). Prisons around the country are bursting at the seams constantly

having a revolving door, one inmate out the next one is coming in right behind them. These
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prisons arent being built to make room for prisoners theyre being built to be filled with

prisoners. For many many years now the US prison systems have been over crowded, the

solution for government officials, build more. In the last ten years prisons have continued to

increase This memo catalogs over 110 prisons that have been 1) newly opened and

accommodate 500 prisoners or more, or, 2) renovated to increase the inmate population by more

than 500, since the 2000 census. (ORourke)

As state and local governments realize the extensive amounts of money being sucked up

by the prisons government officials realize that this can no longer be the solution. Since

legislation is running out of room to put convicted criminals, they must either find alternatives or

pick and choose who deserves jail time and how much with a little more detail. According to the

Legislative Analysts Office of California, to incarcerate a single individual for a year costs about

$71,000. This is an insane amount of money to be wasted for someone to sit behind bars. These

are funds that could be spent in schools or public facilities that are being thrown away so

someone can survive in a jail and spend most of their days sitting in a six by eight-foot cell.

President Obama is someone who knows the issues of America better the no other and he

feels strongly on the matter as well. In his finals weeks in office, the president published a

commentary in the Harvard Law Review where he discusses the urgent need to change the penal

system and reform current incarceration methods. Among the multiple ideas and his views about

the role the president plays with this issue, President Obamas views on the matter were clear and

direct We simply cannot afford to spend $80 billion annually on incarceration, to write off the

seventy million Americans thats almost one in three adults with some form of criminal

record, to release 600,000 inmates each year without a better program to reintegrate them into

society (Obama). The numbers are evident it is just too expensive to send someone to prison.
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Every prisoner in the United States has access to healthcare free of charge all from government

money, not even every person in the country has health care and those who do are paying for it.

Adding individuals to jails is not only making them more crowded but also taking away $70,000

from something or someone that needs it.

The inmates are the people being failed by the poor prison system the most. Although,

many might argue that inmates are criminals who dont deserve help, but instead punishment,

this is not the way prisons should be looked at. Jails and prisons should not be seen as places for

people to rot and think about what theyve done, instead it should be a place where people can

learn from their mistakes and turn this into a positive outcome. Now some may argue many of

these criminals dont deserve to see the light of day, which many of them shouldnt; heinous and

violent crimes are not ones to be taken lightly. However, the man or woman serving a few years

for a small drug charge other arrangements can be made to change the ways of these people.

Currently the system isnt working instead of inmates being treated like animals only getting let

out of their cage to go outside for a little bit these people should be getting help. The walls of a

prison should not be seen as walls to trap people in they should be a sign for all to want to stay

out.

The way the current system is set up is like a very rundown hotel. The police car is you

valet service; you get taken right to your room (cell) where you get to enjoy your stay until your

back again. Much like many of the hotels prison might as well have a revolving door because

once the guests leave they for some reason love to come back. The revolving door idea is known

as recidivism, the rate at which convict recommit a crime. The Bureau of Justice Statistics

conducted a study in which they found, During the five years after release, prisoners in the

study were arrested about 1.2 million times across the country. A sixth (16 percent) of released
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prisoners were responsible for nearly half (48 percent) of the arrests. About two in five (42

percent) released prisoners were either not arrested or were arrested no more than once in the

five years after release. This is a prime example that shows, once someone goes to jail once, the

odds of them going back are substantial. It is clear that prisons are not doing the job intended

which is to punish someone so that they dont want to go back not force them to need to go back,

it seems as if prisons are doing the exact opposite of whats intended.

A major part in the reasoning of this very high recidivism rate is that in todays society

felons struggle to be accepted back into society after release, it is hard for them to get jobs, loans,

a house and more. Leaving jail these people are being set up to fail and return, the path for many

is to get back into their old ways and get involved with the same people that landed them in jail

in the first place. Even for the one who want so badly to get out and never go back may get

forced into a lifestyle or a decision that will land them back in prison. Living in this US takes

money and a lot of it, for individuals with a record jobs are hard to come by. Today, 90% of

businesses run full background checks on applicants (Weissert 1534). This makes it difficult for

individuals with a record to find employers that will overlook their history. Money is necessary

for survival and many will do what they have to do, whether right or wrong, to get it. For many

once their stay at the bad hotel is done they go back to the way things used to be.

Many inmates have their ways of killing time in prison some workout, play ball or read.

Counting days, hours and seconds of ones life away shouldnt be how their time is used. Instead

of wasting time prisoners should be getting rehabilitation and learning job skills that will allow a

transition back into society a little bit easier and help the success of these individuals once

released. In an article, De Giorgi talks about five major reasons for mass incarceration and

changes necessary for improvement policy reform initiatives that emphasize personal
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responsibility and the provision of second chances for deserving individuals, postrelease

programs aimed at shoring up labor market competition, and rehabilitation models purporting to

address endemic social problems by making some individuals more employable. (Giorgi 24) If

ex-cons were able to get back into society and become a law abiding citizens that benefit society,

then not only are they helping themselves but also the economy. Instead of the ex-con going back

to old ways committing more crimes and ending up back in jail they can work, purchase a home,

and pay taxes instead of absorbing tax money. Throwing people in jail to punish them is not the

way to improvement, but instead the root to some of the major issues involved with the US

prison system.

The development of alternatives and ways of reforming prisons is in the works but isnt

producing enough interest or results. Introducing various programs and One major way to

reduce recidivism and increase cost savings is through reentry-oriented reform, i.e., instituting

pre-release readiness [programs], reintegration training, job preparedness[,] . . . discharge

planning and other like programming to prepare individuals leaving prison to reenter the

community. (Feeley 1419) Developing effective ways of making these individuals feel less like

lost causes and giving them hope for change will allow an easier transition back into society.

Using methods like rehabilitation camps for non-violent drug abusers, or low level crimes

instead of using bars and barbed wire is one way to help keep inmates on a road to recovery over

a road to reentry. Expanding and harshening the use of parole and house arrest are away of

keeping people out of prisons and allowing them to improve. In an article written by the families

Against a Mandatory Minimum (FAMM) they list many possible cheaper alternatives to prisons

including specific crime relates courts such as drug and mental health as well as ideas such as

halfway houses, boot camps and rehabs. These resources are available to be used by courts and
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legislation there is just a lack and effort and optimism towards them. Continuing to put criminals

in jails and filling them to max capacity causes a hotbed for crime. These jails are host to crime

everyday and that will never end. Locking a bunch of criminals in a room together is like filling

a room with diseased people and expecting them to all just miraculously get healthy. It doesnt

work, it will never work and alternatives are absolutely necessary.

Reform of the prison system is needed and change is necessary. The system is failing the

the inmates as well as society. The system, rules and ideas need to adapt, people need to get rid

of the notion that the sole purpose of jail is to punish and put away. Out of sight and out of mind

is not the way to handle people, improvements should be made to rehabilitate inmates and

prepare them for their entrance back into society. As change is made the movement and trends of

prison overcrowding and recidivism will reduce. An effort from legislation to change laws and

ideas of governing officials is one that needs and will be made in order to improve a very

ineffective way of serving justice.

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Works Cited

Benson, Sara M. "A Political Science of Punishment: Francis Lieber and the Discipline of

American Prisons." New Political Science, vol. 37, no. 3, Sept. 2015, pp. 382-400.

Bureau of Justice Statistics "3 IN 4 FORMER PRISONERS IN 30 STATES ARRESTED

WITHIN 5 YEARS OF RELEASE." Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). N.p., n.d. Web.
24 Feb. 2017

Devonis, David C. and Jessica Triggs. "Prison Break: Karl Menninger's the Crime of Punishment

and Its Reception in U.S. Psychology." History of Psychology, vol. 20, no. 1, Feb. 2017,
pp. 92-121.

De Giorgi, Alessandro. "Five Theses on Mass Incarceration."

Social Justice, vol. 42, no. 2, 05 Dec. 2015, pp. 5-30

FAMM. "ALTERNATIVES TO INCARCERATION IN A NUTSHELL."

Families Against a Mandatory Minimum. Web.

Feeley, Malcolm M. "The Unconvincing Case against Private Prisons."

Indiana Law Journal, vol. 89, no. 4, Fall2014, pp. 1401-1436.

KIRAGES, DREW. "Reentry Reform in Indiana: Hea 1006 and Its (Much Too Narrow) Focus
on Prison Overcrowding." Indiana Law Review, vol. 49, no. 1, Dec. 2015, pp. 209-239.

Obama, Barack. "The Presidents Role in Advancing Criminal Justice Reform."

Harvard Law Review, vol. 130, no. 3, Jan. 2017, pp. 812-866. EBSCOhost

O'Rourke, Sheila V. "New and Expanded Federal and State Prisons since 2000."

New and Expanded Federal and State Prisons | Prison-based Gerrymandering after the
2010 Census | Prison Gerrymandering Project
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Tepper, Taylor. "5 Things Most People Don't Understand About the National Debt | Money."
Time. Time, n.d. Web.

Wilkinson, Reginald A. Prison Reform Through Offender Reentry: A Partnership between

Courts and Corrections, 24 PACE L. Rev. 609, 611 (2004).

Weissert, Elizabeth P. "Get out of Jail Free? Preventing Employment Discrimination

against People with Criminal Records Using Ban the Box Laws." University of
Pennsylvania Law Review, vol. 164, no. 6, July 2016, pp. 1529-1555.