The Prison Fix And Mass Incarceration - 1882 Words

The Prison Fix and Mass Incarceration Why prisoners need to go to the prison? I can never forget the scene in The Shawshank Redemption, which Brooks Halten finally committed to suicide when he was released after 50 years life incarceration. The form of mass incarceration, prison, is supposed to be the place where prisoners can rehabilitate in order to return into society. Ex-offenders aren’t eligible for public welfare such as Medicaid and public housing (Stevenson, 2012). They are legally discriminated against when applying for appropriate jobs (Stevenson, 2012). So the issue rises: prisoners rehabilitate for what? To be thrown back into economy without jobs? To go back into communities without hope? If modern mass incarceration isn’t primarily concerning with rehabilitating prisoners, what is its purpose? Why the prisons are continuing in expansion? Whose interests do prisons serve? Mass incarceration is the tool of government to corporate with the capitalist to boost the economy, to discriminate the minority stealthily and to convince us to buy the propaganda. Most of us won’t really live for a minute behind the walls in order to be empathetic with the prisoners and that’s probably the reason we normally don’t feel a thing even if we read the inner life of the American prison (Gopnik, 2012). Adam Gopnik (2012) describes the life as â€Å" not that of lock and key but that of the lock and clock.† Time frozen behind the walls and electronic securities with panic, paranoia andShow MoreRelatedMass Incarceration And Its Effects On Society1492 Words   |  6 Pagesthinking about mass incarceration has it that mass incarceration is putting a stop to crimes. Today it has become common to dismiss the truth about mass incarceration. The Editorial Board of New York Times Magazine acknowledge that America`s imprisonment population has progressed to about 2.2 million (the Editorial Board). The Editorial Board is basically saying America is locking up more people than any country nationwide. What`s the solution? This has bee n going on since the 1970`s . The prison systemRead MoreMass Incarceration During The United States1322 Words   |  6 PagesEnglish 3 Honors 30 March 2017 Mass Incarceration in the United States There are too many people in prison in our country and any people in prison today are non-violent drug offenders. The American war on drugs has targeted people in poverty and minorities, who are more likely to be involved in drug use. This has created a pattern of crime and incarceration and â€Å"...[a] connection between increased prison rates and lower crime is tenuous and small.† (Wyler). The prison system in our country todayRead MoreCriminals Must Be Punished For Breaking The Laws Of The Land1489 Words   |  6 Pagesthe system of incarceration. Jails have functioned in our society to protect citizens, or those who obey the constitution. For years, our jails were able to separate criminals from obedient citizens as well as punish criminals for their wrong doings. In the past, people have questioned whether this system was effective or not. Now, we have shifted our focus onto how much longer our jails will exist due to our lack of resources. The longer we wait to find a solution to mass incarceration the harder theRead MoreThe Video Of Last Week Tonight By John Oliver884 Words   |  4 Pagesproblem of mass incarceration in the United States. He starts by talking about the extremely large prison population in America. According to Oliver America has a larger prison population than China despite having a much smaller overall population. In fact America has the largest prison population in the entire world. He then discusses how the prison population is mostly populated with minorities and that whites are extremely underrepresented in prisons. Oliver talks about how the prison populationRead MoreThe Sentencing Policies For Crimes1357 Words   |  6 Pageswould have in the poor communities were impossible to imagine. The policies which were changed to get tougher on drug crimes on the federal level followed with mass incarceration in the prison system. This was especially true with young African American males in largely poor communities. So t hese policies not only created a mass incarceration but also racially targeted certain race in America. These procedures which were created to protect the community and the streets actually did nothing but driveRead MoreMass Incarceration : A Major Problem Within The United States1695 Words   |  7 PagesMass incarceration has recently become a major problem within the United States. Although crime rates have dropped since the 1990s, incarceration rates have soared. This trend is largely associated with increased enforcement of drug-related crimes. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, this problem involves racial discrepancies when regarding these mass incarcerations. Incarcerations appear to be the most prominent throughout urban areas and the south, which happen to be the areas where AfricanRead MoreOur Penal System : The Operator Of America S Criminal Landfill1144 Words   |  5 PagesSYSTEM: THE OPERATOR OF AMERICA’S CRIMINAL LANDFILL Is incarceration the best way to deal with criminals? In the article written by Michael K. Williams, â€Å"America’s Mass Incarceration Habit Needs a Serious Fix,† this issue, among others, are tackled. He shares a personal experience and startling statistics to outline the reality that is prison. Through the use of rhetorical appeal, we delve into the mind of the writer and learn why incarceration is not an invaluable tool for non-violent criminals. WeRead MoreThe, Jim Crow And Mass Incarceration1056 Words   |  5 PagesMichelle Alexander writes and speaks about the 3 caste systems slavery, Jim Crow Laws, and mass incarceration. She asserts that racial separation has not gone away but rather morphed into present mass incarceration. Racial segregation has taken a new form and exists in prison systems and in socio-economic ways Caste system locks people up literally virtually. Alexander writes, â€Å"Jim Crow and mass incarceration have similar political origins. As d escribed in chapter 1, both caste systems were born, inRead MorePrison Overcrowding And The United States1555 Words   |  7 Pageslowest ones.† The prisons in the United States have been overcrowded for many years and require a change in order to fix this. Some of the main causes for prison overcrowding that will be covered in this paper are mass incarceration, long sentencing, recidivism, and prisoners of drug crimes. Overcrowding of prisons in the United States is a major issue that affects not only the prisoners themselves, but taxpayers and politicians. Although there are many different solutions to prison overcrowding suchRead MoreThe Problem Of Prison Population1536 Words   |  7 PagesAfter decades trying to prevent it, prison population continued to increase. Mandatory minimum sentences and the privatization created more prisoners, rather than cutting down on the amount incarcerations. Since the 1980’s, the prison population has quadrupled and today one in e very one hundred adults are in prison (Mandatory Minimums (HBO)). Infact, America leads the world in prisoners with 20% of the earth’s prison population (The Prison Crisis). In a study done by The American Prospect, charts