The Justifications Of Prison And Punishment

The Justifications Of Prison And Punishment
The area this dissertation will be focusing on is the justifications of prison and punishment, and looking at whether these objectives are being achieved
today in the current prisonsystem, with a thorough analysis of short sentences.
In order to analyse this, short sentences will be looked at to discover whether the prison system is working.
Throughout history, punishment has always had to be justified. For example, pre–19th century, punishment, which included being sent to the gallows or
being placed in the stocks, had the justification of being a deterrent, as punishment was a very public event (BBC, 2012). This type of punishment was
then met with "Petitions against executions and torture increased in the eighteenth century" (Poster, 1984), and as a result of these petitions, theorists
such as Beccaria (1764) spoke of creating a punishment that removed the element of torture. Foucault (1975) spoke of the moving of punishment from
the body to the mind, in order to "present the prospect that their acts would that their acts would cause more pain than pleasure so that, as rational
beings, they would avoid committing illegalities in the first place" (Poster, 1984).
Prison has therefore been justified since the Gladstone Report (Departmental Committee on Prisons,1895), which set the tone for penal policy, stating
that prison would have a deterrent function; there would also be a rehabilitative ideal about prison. The objectives of prison, as described by Jewkes et al
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Does Modern Prison System Work?
Ben Ward
Professor Yonce
English 1101
4 December 2014
Does Our Modern Prison System Work?
Rape, murder, kidnapping, these are just a few of the crimes that will land you into one of the prisons across the country. A few hundred years ago
prison systems began across the world forcing criminals to pay time for what they had done. In todays world most of us know of someone who has
been or is currently imprisoned. The question has to be asked, if our prison system is effective why do we hear about more people being arrested during
these times more than ever before?
There are nearly two million Americans imprisoned in our country today. The California Prison Focus notes the fact that there hasn't been another
society in our humanity that has imprisoned...show more content...
Nearly 10,000 of the inmates in California are prisoners on drug offences that pose as no threat to our human society. (Ifill 2) Instead of throwing
these people straight into prison, we need a better parole system. When they are immediately thrown into prison they receive no treatment to help
them with their addiction, and in result when they leave prison they go back to their old ways. (Ifill 10) Our parole system is far from fixed as well,
almost 200,000 paroles go back to prison because they miss an appointment or cant pay the monthly fee of $185. (Ifill 11)
Our prison system has been expanding and with that so has the amount of mentally ill prisoners we have. The US Department of Justice finds that
16% or 350,000 of people in prison are suffering from mental illness, and this number increases when we look at the juvenile custody. The amount of
prisoners with HIV/AIDs, tuberculosis, and hepatitis is also raising because the chances of getting raped in prison are so high. (Webb

How Does Prison Affect Society
When watching TV, or a movie, or reading a book, in the end for the criminal it is always death or prison. Jail keeps the bad guys locked up and out
of sight and solves the problem. But, in the real world, is the effect quite the same? Robbers, killers, rapists and other types of people that affect
society in an extremely negative way should be dealt with but is prison the best way? Can prison solve the causes of these problems? Poverty,
addictions, mental health problems, little or no education, childhood neglection or abuse. These are all causes of people committing crimes. For these
people crime may be a way to get what they never could or be a way of survival. Prison may give society a feeling of security and safety but in the end
is that

Prisons And Prisons : Prisons Essay
Prisons are supposed to be good thing, but when so much trouble comes out of them it's hard to remember what they're there for. Criminals go in to
be rehabilitated and to be able to come out as a better citizen. But when the prisons and jails effect that in a negative way things are not working the
way they are supposed to. Prisons can be change negatively with these factors, breaking on prisoner's rights, abusive and harmful guards, and how
prisons miss treat solitary confinement. Even though those are only a few they can still have a major impact on how a prison runs and how it effects the
inmates coming out of them. When a person goes into a prison they have rights that the government made so that they can be safe and not get cruel
and unusual punishment. While they are incarcerated those rights aren't always followed. Some of these rights are being free from sexual
harassment, entitled to receive medical care, free from discrimination, and to be free from any cruel and unusual punishments. There can be slip ups
when dealing with a prisoner's rights because if a guard was to violate any of the rights and that prisoner was to tell someone in charge most times
they would believe the guard and not the inmate. Unless they have video evidence they can't prove much. Depending on who is in charge and who is
the guard more things can slip by and be pushed under the rug. Throughout most episodes of Orange Is The New Black it is shown how the guards can
manipulate them and not

The Purpose of Prisons Essay
The Purpose of Prisons
In prisons today, rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution are all elements that provide a justice to society. Prisons effectively do their
part in seeing that one if not more of these elements are met and successfully done. If it were not for these elements, than what would a prison be good
for? It is highly debated upon whether or not these elements are done properly. It is a fact that these are and a fact that throughout the remainder of
time these will be a successful part of prison life. When a prisoner enters a prison, it is presumed he is guilty of the crime he was charged with. If this is
true, the prison has an obligation to do something about this criminal. They are not going...show more content...
This is proof that the prisons are doing their job in rehabilitating prisoners. Prisons not only rehabilitate, but they also deter people from going to
prison. The fear of going to prison is a great deterrence for a perspective criminal. Hard life styles along with loss of freedom tend to push the
criminal away from the chance of being incarcerated. Numbers show that there are fewer rapes, and fewer murders, each year, all an obvious
product of prison deterrence. After all, if a person has a friend who just got out of jail, and hears all of the war stories, that person would surely not
want to go to prison and end up like his friend. By making life in prison hard, the prison is doing a great job in getting the word out. Prison is no
joke! They are doing their job in deterring criminals from wanting to enter the gates of hell. For those people who are not deterred, they are
punished accordingly. They are removed from the street and placed in a tiny cell, usually with two people in it. There time for freedom is long
gone, and they live the life of prisoners under prison law. The prison sees to it that no longer will the criminal be able to rein terror on the
community because they are locked behind bars. The prison does a great job incapacitating criminals by striping them of their freedom and their
liberty. The public is now safe of these criminals all because the prison does its job accordingly.

Imprisonment and Social Control Essay
Imprisonment is one of the primary ways in which social control may be achieved; the Sage Dictionary of Criminology defines social control as a
concept used to describe all the ways in which conformity may be achieved. Throughout time imprisonment and its ideas around social control have
varied. Imprisonment has not always been used for punishment, nor has it always thought about the prisoners themselves. However when looking at
imprisonment it is important to consider the new penology. Therefore, it needs to be clear what the new penology is. The new penology is said, not to
be about punishing individuals or about rehabilitating them, but about identifying and managing unruly groups in society. It is concerned with the
managerial...show more content...
Throughout the years, the use of imprisonment has varied, along with its influences of society. It is thought that although prisons have been around
since the thirteenth century, prisons as we know them now to be have only been around for the last three centuries. The first uses of prisons were not
seen as a form of punishment instead they were used as a way of making people do something. People would be held in prison until they paid their
debts, or awaiting trial and then leading up to their sentence. McGowen (1995) suggests that from the early 1700s 'bridewells' a house of correction
have existed, however at that time being used merely for vagrants and drunks. At the end of the sixteenth century there was a shift in punishment to
imprisonment, along with this came a new, more humane idea of reform. Criminals would spend their days of prison carrying out hard labour.
However after the American Revolution, imprisonment took a step back and there was another change. There was mass overcrowding within the
prison service and although the death penalty was still being used it was a symbol of the power of the state. Therefore, an everyday way of dealing
with offenders would be transportation to the colonies, being either Australia or America.
It was with the work of Beccaria and Bentham that saw a change in imprisonment. Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832) insisted crime prevention was the
only way

Ben Ward
Professor Yonce
English 1101
4 December 2014
Does Our Modern Prison System Work?
Rape, murder, kidnapping, these are just a few of the crimes that will land you into one of the prisons across the country. A few hundred years ago
prison systems began across the world forcing criminals to pay time for what they had done. In todays world most of us know of someone who has
been or is currently imprisoned. The question has to be asked, if our prison system is effective why do we hear about more people being arrested during
these times more than ever before?
There are nearly two million Americans imprisoned in our country today. The California Prison Focus notes the fact that there hasn't been another
society in our humanity that has imprisoned so many of its own citizens.This staggering number shows that we have more of our own citizens
imprisoned than any other country. In 1972 there wasn't even 300,000 citizens imprisoned by 1990 this number grew to one million, and since 2000
that number has doubled to two million. (Pelaez para. 2) (Pelaez para. 3)
Investors have been using our prison system as a way to hit the jackpot. Investors on Wall Street have been investing into our prison system...show more
content...
There was a report done by HM Inspectorate for Prisons that recorded the amount of self–harm going on in prisons has gone from 274 to 316 prisoners
a year. With 660 prisoners between the ages of 18–21 being released its hard to imagine those people going back out into the world and being expected
to not have any problems blending in with everyone else. (Jones para. 2) Even more studies done in prisons have shown that suicides in prison have
gone up by 69% in just one year. Prisons are also being overcrowded, for instance Nottingham Prison is only supposed to hold 700 prisoners but
they're holding 1,000 prisoners. This causes the percent of assaults happening in prisons to skyrocket. (Jones para.

Essay on Prison and Treatment Alternatives
Prison is a punishment given to someone who has broken the law. Prison term is given to an individual who has broken the law from doing so again
and to discourage other people by his example. It has been used as a punishment in many countries for many years. The amount of criminals has never
decreased; it has only increased through the years. In United States between 1992 and 1995, a 43 percent rise in marijuana arrests and other crime were
accompanied by a considerably high increase in crime (Schlosser 90–102). Prisons does not solve the problem of crime (only in rare cases), instead it
has just done the following three things according to criminologist Norval Morris and David Rothman: "They provide a dumping ground for unwanted
people,...show more content...
The cost of incarceration in Canada is a large portion of 2 billion dollars per year (Griffiths 77). In Mother Jones magazine (July 2001) it says that
since 1980, the money spending on prisons has grown six times faster than what has been spent on higher education. That is just two of the many
facts about the cost of incarceration, but incarceration is not only about the offenders, it is also about the hiring of the 1000 new correctional
officers announced in April 1998. The ratio of officers to prisoners in Canadian prisons has increased by 43 per every 100, making the cost go
higher. The annual cost of supervising a convict on parole is 19 755 dollars per year (CSC, 2005). Putting America together, the country spent over
100 million dollars a day to jail individuals with serious drug and alcohol problems, plus 30 billion taxpayer dollars spent on incarcerate. These
numbers never decrease, they only increase. In the year of 2000, United States alone used a drug–control budget that reached 18.4 billion dollars
(Newsweek 2001 37–43). A new release of Obama Administration's has requested 15.5 billion dollars for federal drug control (PRWEB April 2011).
This was a high amount of money spent on controlling drug problems and incarceration. Instead of using all this money on the idea of imprisonment,
they should use it on something that cost less and works more effectively; drug courts

Work Rehabilitation In Prison
After release, it is critical for a criminal to acquire a job in order to regain self–confidence and sense of belonging in the society they live in. Securing a
job marks the start of a new life for the ex–offenders, hence work rehabilitation is the very first step for the inmates to reintegrate into the society.
Work rehabilitation assist the inmates to secure a job through employability skills training, this is a pre–release program for the inmates, where they get
to experience a real working environment outside the four walls they faced for the past months. The inmates would then be able to better adapt to the
working hour when they manage to obtain a job, also with these experiences they are able to pick up skills such as people's skills

Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their
criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are
many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison
affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has
its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means...show more
content...
G., & Greene, J., 2006).
"In 2007, one percent of American adults were in prison, which is by far the highest incarceration rate in the world."( Trachtenberg, B., 2009). Why?
Trachtenberg believes it's because prisons do not rehabilitate people. A violent criminal is sent to prison because he is a threat to society. He is
supposed to serve a lengthy term so that he will learn his lesson and become a productive member of society. During his time there he is supposed
to learn to appreciate work by cooking, doing laundry, or some other prison job. While he is there he can receive his GED so that he can get a job
when he gets out. This plan has good intentions but it has been proven to be ineffective.
First off, the time this violent offender is supposed to serve will most likely be cut short due to overcrowding. "Prisons in America today are
operating with a population between 117% and 137% of their intended capacity"( Muhlhausen, D. B., Dyer, C. C., McDonough, J. R., et al., 2006).
Even though budget cuts are forcing prisons to be closed, all the prisoners in those prisons cannot be released; they have to be crammed into the
remaining prisons to the point where there is simply no more room. Obviously there will always be people breaking the law, so just because the
prisons are full does not mean that there are not new people who need to be brought in. Therefore, if 50 prisoners are brought in that means 50
prisoners must be

Do Prisons Rehabilitate? Essay
Do Prisons Rehabilitate?
In this essay, I shall be focusing on the whether or Prisons rehabilitate offenders. I will do this by focusing mainly on the Prison Service in England
& Wales, the reason for this, being that the data and statistics for England & Wales are easier to obtain than that ofother countries. The main
information I will be referring to will be the rates of conviction, types of imprisonment, types of non–custodial sentences. Also I will explore some of
the current methods of offender rehabilitation.
Her Majesty's Prison Service is composed of two main types of prisons, they are open and closed prisons. Following the Mountbatten Report (1965)
Prisoners were placed into security categories, ranging from category...show more content...
In general, it would be fair to say that the majority of people in England and Wales would agree with the statement that prisons are not working. The
reason for this is that on average 50% of prisoners within 2 years of release will reoffend. Hence this shows that prisons do not rehabilitate everyone
who passes through them, Norman
Brennan is quoted below saying that it is not the prisons that fail, but it is the inmates that fail. I think that the only way that the prison service can
rehabilitate offenders is if the offenders themselves are willing to be rehabilitated.
"It is wrong therefore to say that prisons fail; it is their inmates who fail. If on discharge from prison the ex–prisoner re–offend, it confirms that a
custodial sentence was right in the first place..."
Norman Brennan, Director of the Victims of Crime Trust, and a 23–year serving policeman
Often now, it is believed that a prison sentence is not always the most effective way of punishing an offender. As stated below, often a custodial
sentence causes more harm than good. The main reason for this is that when a offender is sentenced to prison, they often loose their job and the
chance to see and be seen by their family. In many cases this is not likely to cause a difference in the offenders criminal behaviour because when they
are released they will have no job and are often rejected by

Prisons Don't Work Essay
Right now in the United States of America murderers, rapists, and child molesters are being set free. Prisoners are watching T.V., eating a meal, and
using exercise equipment while law abiding citizens are starving and living in the gutters. Prisoners even have their own periodical. Dangerous
criminals are walking the streets and crime is a way of life to many Americans. In America, crime does pay because our nations prison system is not
working.
The nations prison system must be changed because of major problems with the system such as overcrowding and the fact that early release programs
do not work. Building more jails is expensive and does not solve anything. These problems can be solved by giving prisoners no chance for parole
...show more content...
This promotes good behavior in prison and keeps the prison population lower. However, many released prisoners just commit another crime and are
returned to jail. In 1992, one in three state prison admissions was a probation or parole violator.(Byrne 50) Also, a special report from the United
States Bureau of Justice Statistics stated:
State courts in 32 counties across 17 States sentenced 79,000 felons to probation in 1986. Within 3 years of sentencing, while still on probation,
43% of these felons were rearrested for a felony. Half of the arrests were for a violent crime (murder, rape, robbery, or aggravated assault) or a drug
offense (drug trafficking or drug possession).
This proves that the current system puts dangerous criminals back on the streets without being rehabilitated and that imprisonment is not a successful
deterrent. The three times your out strategy attempts to solve this problem. Although it is a step in the right direction, criminals should not be allowed
to break the law three times before they are punished. It would be a much greater deterrent if they were not offered parole at all.
Prisoners should not be given a parole opportunity. Criminals should know that if they are convicted of a crime they will not be able to get out early.
This creates a heavier deterrence for people who are considering criminal acts. It would also assure that dangerous criminals are kept behind

Why Prisons Don't Work- Wilbert Rideau Essay
Wilbert Rideau– Why Prisons don't work.
According to Wilbert Rideau's opinion, prisons do not work, and there are various reasons why this happens. As indicated in the last paragraph essay,
one of the major problems of prisons circulates in the fact that politicians take the easy way to make the people think they are doing something to
combat crime. They invest in police and prisons that do nothing but keep us in a repetitive circle without giving us any solution. Although prisons do
have a role in society safety, they do not provide people total security. Actually there are big criminals that are not inprison and the ones who are in
prison are not getting rehab.
Prisons tend to focus on punishment than on rehabilitation. As Rideau...show more content...
Government should take action by making plans that involves young kids in activities that keep them away from criminal activities. By sending
teenagers to prisons they would be getting a criminal education instead of a real education. In cases crimes have a lot to do with economy. If
government instead of making inversions on polices and prisons that do not represents decrease on crime use those funds to invest on working
programs that could result on less robberies. This will just not lower the crime–rate, but decrease the prison population.
Prison is obviously not working on rehabilitating prisoners because there are prisoners who are released, but they don't return to prison. Yet, the
majority of prisoners released do go back to jail. Criminals think they're not going to get caught or they're so emotionally desperate or psychologically
distressed that they don't care about the consequences. To lower the recidivism prisons should offer real rehabilitation to prisoners. Criminals are not
all waste people; most of them could just have haven a crisis that make them commit the crimes. Rehabilitation can work for them, but until prisons do
more for rehabilitation prisoners won't change. The convict who enters prison illiterate will probably leave the same way. To change this prison should
be less a place to

The Need for Prisons in Britain Essay
The Need for Prisons in Britain
The prison population in England and Wales currently stands at 71,800. According to the Home Office estimate this figure is projected to rise to
83,500 by 2008. Similarly in Scotland, which has a separate legal system and its own private service, there are similar pressures. Prisons can be
successful in their four aims: retribution, protection, deterrence and rehabilitation. Reconviction rates are at a substantial low, but is that enough?
Whilst compared with the problems facing prisons aquestion arises, 'is it really prisons Britain needs?' There are several other approaches to punishing,
deterring and rehabilitating offenders whilst also protecting the public....show more content...
This is particularly accentuated whilst studying women. In November 2001 a third men's jail had to be converted to take female prisoners in response
to a sizeable fluctuation in the female prison population. A record of 4,045 women are housed in British prisons. In 2001–2002 the female prison
population increased by 28%. It is conclusive that women are incarcerated, predominantly for drug–related offences and violence. This significant
increase has placed the women's prison educational and drug rehabilitation programmes in jeopardy due to overcrowding.
It is a similar feature when investigating men's prisons also. Due to overcrowding there is a shortage of workshops, educational projects, drug
treatment and offending behaviour programmes not to mention staff shortages. Nearly two thirds of the UK's prisoners are being held in
overcrowded jails and Shrewsbury is a typical example of this with 331 prisoners but only 184 places.
Contrarily, the prison service is also beneficial to the inmates it detains and also Britain as a whole. Crime is falling. Why? Prison works. Crime has
fallen chiefly because more offenders are in prison. Between 1993 and 2001 the average number of people in prison rose from 45,633 to 66,300, an
increase of over 45%. What happened to crime over this period? According

How Prison Life Really Works Essay
How prison life really works Prison life is much harsher than jail. In prison you stay inside until you are done with your sentence or until you die; jail
is nothing compared to prison. Each prisoner is locked out from the outside world. Each inmate is in there for different crimes they have committed
outside and inside the prison. It is very interesting to see how the inmates survive in prison and how they adapt to their new lives because in prison
they are blocked from the outside world. The inmates don't exist to the people on the outside anymore. Violence is a big part of the problem in prison
because everywhere in prison someone gets hurt. The weaker inmates get sexually harassed by the ones who have the power to control whatever...show
more content...
The violence between the inmates is brutal. Some inmates use violence to show others that they are the strongest and that they are in charge of the
whole prison and other inmates that are under their protection. They take control of everything that is going on inside the prison. In the article of
Enforcing the Convict Code: Violence and Prison Culture, it talks about how violence in prison differs between women and men, "For instance, while
both women and men used violence to control the behavior of others, men tended to use it more often while women tended to use rumors', gossip,
and avoidance to deal with bothersome inmates." The inmates use violence to gain control of the prison. Violence happens when inmates talk or say
terrible things about each other. To a large extent there is violence between the inmates because either they don't get along with each other, or they
can't trust one another. In the article of Enforcing the Convict Code: Violence and Prison Culture by Rebecca Trammell, "mates understand violence
as a social process" the inmates only understand that violence is a process that they have to live with, it is their life to survive this process and follow
it. Inmates only know how to use violence to control the environment in the prison and the behavior as well. In the article of Enforcing the Convict
Code: Violence and Prison Culture by Rebecca Trammell, she tells us that inmates use this to control others "try to control

The Importance of Prison Reform Essay
In this world we live in many feel that prisons exist to punish, not counsel, offenders. That may be true that Prisons exist for punishment, but they also
have an important contribution to make to reducing re–offending by engaging prisoners in rehabilitation programs and purposeful work. Society is
flawed in its thinking that by putting criminals in a place away from society we would be better off. To make it worse I am sure that more that 60
percent of Americans are against social reform because they have made up their mind that once a crook, always a crook. This is flawed mainly because
it seems to assume that showing people that what they've done is wrong will always accomplish something, that punishing those who commit crimes
...show more content...
Prison life can be harsh, and time spent in a isolation is even worse. A majority of those in prison spend countless hours in idleness. It would be much
better if they used that time to reeducate themselves for a productive life on the outside. Some of the prisoners have serious emotional and mental
problems that are never addressed and it is illogical to not attempt to correct these problems before they are released.
There are even worse scenarios that exist in today's prisons. The prison guards have little control and prison can be a violent place because again it
is not a place that specializes in rehab. On television shows you see inmates stabbing each other and are quick to assume that it is a dramatization,
but it really an occurrence that happens often, in prisons all over the world for that matter. In an article by Raphael Rowe he writes about how a part
of him died in prison, and he had to be on his guard constantly, "Once, I was sitting in the television room watching football when someone I knew
came in and told me to leave the room. I didn't ask questions: I just left and stood outside. A few seconds later, three other guys came running past me,
pillow–cases with eye–holes cut out over their heads, carrying a huge cooking pot full of hot oil. I heard the screams long before some young black
guy – a sex offender – came running out, his skin dripping from his face." Such horrid tales should let the general public know that we need to
reevaluate

Do Prisons Work Essay example
Do Prisons Work? Can Individuals be Reformed or Rehabilitated through Incarceration and Treatment Programs. Critically examine the Current
Treatment Programs offered and Subsequent Impact on Recidivism upon Individuals being released globally and WA specifically.
This study will examine the effectiveness of current prison treatment programs in Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, United States of America
in rehabilitating or reforming an individual and coinciding recidivism rates upon a prisoners release. Prison based treatment programs for sex offenders
in Western Australia, New South Wales and New Zealand are examined and recidivism rates compared. Treatment programs for offenders with drug
and alcohol issues and the...show more content...
The main objective of the program is to empower fathers and for children to feel loved, which then improves the lives of the prisoner's children
(Needham, 2009). Prisoners are given the opportunity to record their child's favourite bedtime story on a CD with sound effects, personal message and
CD cover (Needham, 2009).
Current research indicates that fathers who have been imprisoned tend to withdraw from life outside the prison and subsequently lose contact
completely with their children (Needham, 2009). Statistics show that six out of ten children whose father is a current or ex– prisoner become involved
in criminal activities and consequently find themselves in similar situations to their father's in prison (Needham, 2009). The Storybook Dad's program
runs in eighty prisons in the United Kingdom and maintains family connections and reduces reoffending (Needham, 2009).
The National Fatherhood Initiative runs a similar programme called the Incarcerated Father's Program which operates at Branchville Correctional
Centre in Indiana (Gosnell, 2006). It is similar to Storybook Dad's programme in helping prisoners reunite with their children and families (Gosnell,
2006). One study monitored 186 men for three years after release from prison with only five returning (Gosnell, 2006). Three men returned for small
offences whilst two came back on a long term basis

Prison Rehabilitation Statistics
According to Fairsentencingofyouth.org 45% of all incarcerated youth are African American, 30% are white & 25% hispanic. Youth of color are
treated more harshly than other racial groups. For example, in Florida two–thirds of juveniles transferred to adult courts are African American. Fewer
than 50% of Florida's prison inmates are black, the state's population is 17%. Recent studies show that minority juveniles are given a more harsh
punishment than Caucasians with similar criminal backgrounds. In fact, "African Americans are likely to get sentenced twice the prison term than
whites that committed the same crime under the same circumstances" inferred from...show more content...
Blacks make up 13.3% of the American population but make up 34% of the prison population. African Americans are charged and incarcerated at 5
times the rate of Caucasians. Although the two races may be charged for the same crime African Americans receive the harsh end of the punishment.
For instance, Blacks and Whites use and abuse drugs at similar rates but, according to www.NAACP.org the imprisonment rate of African Americans
for drug charges is almost 6 times that of whites. This is not including the 52% of African American children who are in adult courts for petty crimes
such as "Speeding tickets". The state of North Carolina currently houses around 37,000 inmates according to www.census.org.The states African
American population is 1.6% while around 55% are incarcerated. 1 and 3 Blacks will be incarcerated in a lifetime according to www.justicebureau.org
that is a little over the population of African Americans. To sum it up www.Naacp.org states "If African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at
the same rates as whites, prison and jail population would decline by almost

Does prison work
BA CJ Assessment Front Sheet – 2008/9 Year 1
This section to be completed by student:
Student Number:
S11003263
Assignment Deadline
27th November
Module Title & Code
Study Skills SOC163
Word Count
754
Declaration
In submitting this assignment I confirm that this is the product of my own work and I am aware of and agree to abide by the University 's regulations
concerning plagiarism. Haydn Roberts
This section to be completed by module leader:
1. PRESENTATION
Layout, Word Count, Page Numbering, Type set, Spacing,
Referencing, Quotations, Bibliography,...show more content...
However Newburn (2009) also compares this to how prisoners are seen in the eyes of the law, he suggests that offenders should be seen as no different
from anyone else in society. Rehabilitation programmes are being run within prisons. The media often criticises prisons for making criminals worse
than actually helping them. Ramsbotham (2005) argues that prisoners are poorly educated on prison life before they enter, making them more likely to
follow other inmate's routines and behaviour. This means that while in prison offenders can be influenced by worse behaviour of other inmates. The
Home Office (2005) shows that while in prison one in three prisoners use drugs. Another problem with rehabilitation in prisons is that the majority of
offenders receive short sentences, this can affect their rehabilitation as rehabilitation staff are given a limited and insufficient amount of time to
re–educate prisoners (Joyce, 2006). On the other hand key performance indicators have been implemented to monitor the effectiveness and success of

the prisoner's rehabilitation (Davies et al, 2005).
Security is another factor that relates to rehabilitation of offenders, which suggest that prisons are a primary place of punishment and not a place of
rehabilitation (Joyce, 2006). Joyce (2006) also explains that the extent or availability of training and education is considerably influenced by inmate's
security and risk

The Justifications Of Prison And Punishment

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The Justifications Of Prison And Punishment