Best Essays Words 12 Pages Open Document Do Prisons Work? Can Individuals be Reformed or Rehabilitated through Incarceration and Treatment Programs. Critically examine Based on research done by many authors, scholars, criminologists, sociologists, various survey agencies, some evidence has been presented on success of prisons. They argue that prisons are effective. According to Goodman (), who was former diocesan director of education as well as former chair of Independent M See more According to research conducted by Hurd ( ), prisons don’t work at all. Increase in imprisonment doesn’t reduce crime. He used England and Wales as an example. Number of
Is prison an effective form of punishment? | ULaw
Benefits of starting your studies in January. ULaw Criminology Lecturer Angela Charles completed her BA undergraduate degree in History and Criminology, followed by an MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice, does prison work essay. She is currently completing a PhD which explores the experiences of Black women in UK prisons through an intersectional lens. Her studies focus on the unique impact race and gender has on black female prisoners. Angela has worked within the criminal justice sector in a Secure Training Centre, the National Probation Service, and Youth Justice. Today Angela answers the question — is prison an effective form of punishment?
Reform is arguably one of the most important reasons why prisons are vital. The gov. uk website talks about providing the right services and opportunities that support rehabilitation to prevent a return to crime. Some of the areas they mention are:. I would add that offenders should also be supported in learning about money and finance, improving their confidence, developing their understanding of supportive relationships, dealing with issues that may arise or previous does prison work essay. Life after prison is the final theme on the website and this is the support needed by prisoners once they are released. This includes working with probation services. The main factors being employment and accommodation. When looking at the statistics for prisons achieving their target for accommodation on the first night following release, this is only These statistics raise concerns as to whether prison is successful in rehabilitation.
One woman I interviewed explained that none of the education options in the prison were suitable. She already had a degree, so did not need the English and maths classes that were provided. However, another Black woman said that being in prison had forced her to take level 1 and 2 English and Maths. She had been putting it off when she was in society but being in prison allowed her to take the time to do it. She passed and felt that she would have better prospects leaving the prison than when she came in. Additionally, she had been trained on how to clean up chemical spills and learnt all about the control of substances hazardous to health COSSH. Again, she does prison work essay new skills that she felt she would be able to use in the outside world.
Many women stated that they could speak to their loved ones regularly on the phone, which allowed them stay connected. However, some of the women complained about how costly phone calls were. Therefore, in some cases, relationships with families were put on hold. One woman talked about her drug recovery and explained how supportive her drug worker had been. They helped her through her recovery and were a source of support and consistency during her prison experience. Even when she moved onto another wing, she mentioned how this staff member still came to check on her. She believes if she had not come to prison, she would still be addicted to drugs.
In this case, imprisonment was effective and helped her to rehabilitate. Another example came from a woman who said that her prison experience allowed her to does prison work essay herself, deal with previous traumas, and come up with ways to deal with this. She used the prison experience to identify what things triggered previous traumas and how to deal with this, as well as living in the moment. In this sense, sometimes prison can be used as a period of reflection and self-improvement. The final example I want to give comes from several women that highlighted the systemic racism they felt was occurring in the prison. The women stated that many of the officers stereotyped them as aggressive, loud troublemakers because of their race. This had a knock-on effect because it affected how long it took for women to get moved from a closed prison to an open prison, does prison work essay, be released for day visits, to work and see family.
It also meant that they felt like they could not be themselves. For these women, prison was not effective because they were dealing with the disadvantage of being black and female. They had fewer opportunities for employment progression and they had few supportive relationships with staff. When we think about examples like this, we must determine how effective the prison would be for these women. It would be a punishment but would it help rehabilitate them or leave them bitter, angry, does prison work essay, frustrated and no better off than before they entered the prison? One argument for prison is that it is an effective deterrent. Prison can be seen as a tough type of punishment because it takes away your freedom, potential support networks and in many ways, it strips away your identity.
The thought of prison is enough for some people to not even contemplate committing a criminal act. Prison sentences are also a message to the wider public that this is what will happen if you commit a crime. Prison advocates would say this is a message to wider society about what is right and wrong and what will happen if you commit a crime, does prison work essay. Additionally, prison advocates argue that prison is such a difficult time for people that the experience should then deter them from committing any further offences.
However, we know that is not the case because many individuals who have committed an offence and go to prison then commit further offences. This makes us question, is prison a effective and b enough of a deterrence? Another argument for prison is that by putting people in prison, we protect the public by ensuring these individuals cannot commit any further offences. Additionally, prison sentences provide a sense of justice to the victims affected by the crime and the public. The first argument would be that prisons do not work.
Those advocating for prison reform highlight reoffending statistics as an example of the ineffectiveness of prisons. Almostproven re-offences were committed over the one-year follow-up period by around 25, adults. Those that reoffended committed on average 3. Research shows that long prison sentences have little impact on crime. Time in prison can actually make someone more likely to commit crime — by further exposing them to does prison work essay sorts of criminal does prison work essay. Prisons are also costly, using up funds that could go to other government programs that are more effective at fighting crime. Additionally, does prison work essay, there are arguments that prison does not rehabilitate prisoners.
Does prison work essay there are some opportunities in prison, this does not always meet the needs of the prisoners and does not help them on their release due to the views people in society have about imprisonment and criminal records. If prison punishes people through the experience itself but then does not offer those individuals the opportunity to improve and change their lives once they are released, can we realistically expect people to be rehabilitated does prison work essay not return to crime? Some believe that the whole prison system is an oppressive institution governed by the powerful that cages the marginalised and powerless.
They would argue that prison further damages people because it causes further trauma, exposes them to further violence, reinforces disadvantage and creates further crime and social harm. The prison also does very little to tackle the underlying causes of crime in communities, does prison work essay. However, some have argued that by reducing the prison population, we are still widening the net and criminalising people, as community sentences and alternatives to custody would be increased rather than looking at some of the structural inequalities that may lead to crime and criminal behaviour, does prison work essay.
Others argue that prison mainly holds those that are from lower socio-economic backgrounds and ethnic minorities, punishing poverty and disadvantage while protecting the crimes of the powerful. For example, where are the imprisoned individuals from corporations that cause widespread harm, such as those that need to be held accountable for the Grenfell Tower fire, multi-million corporations and so on? There are many arguments for abolishing prison, and then there are arguments that recognise prison cannot be abolished completely but needs reforming.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime highlights some of the reasons why prisons need to be reformed. These are:. The wider it gets, the faster it flows — and the harder it becomes to swim against the tide, does prison work essay. Rather than being guided to safer shores, those in the middle are swept into deeper currents of crime, violence and despair. What began as a trickle turns into a torrent, with problems in prisons spilling into the towns and cities around them, does prison work essay. In conclusion, when we think about the prison, and imprisonment as a punishment and reform option, there is a lot to consider. We need to assess the overall effectiveness of prisons and the need for justice against the harm imprisonment can have on an individual.
We must consider the long-term impact the prison has on an individual, not just mentally, but also considering the impact it will have on their life chances and their ability to reintegrate into society. If you have enjoyed reading this blog post, it is based on one of our Real World Lecture Series aimed at undergraduates. Book your place at our virtual undergraduate events now. Study Study with us, does prison work essay. Go to Study. View all locations. Careers and Employability. Go to Employability. Try our does prison work essay Career Finder tool. Find your career. Student Services. Go to Students. Moving to a new country can be daunting. We make sure you feel welcome.
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What would a world without prisons be like? - BBC Ideas
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According to research conducted by Hurd ( ), prisons don’t work at all. Increase in imprisonment doesn’t reduce crime. He used England and Wales as an example. Number of One argument for prison is that it is an effective deterrent. Prison can be seen as a tough type of punishment because it takes away your freedom, potential support networks and in many Evaluate the major changes of the following three pieces of legislation made to the criminal justice system: The Crime and Disorder Act , the Criminal Justice Act and the Legal Aid,
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