Prison equals Rehabilitation?

I live in Indiana, and the other day, I drove by the Westville Correctional Facility. Its a huge maximun security prison here. Its been featured on HBO a couple times, and whenever theres a documentary on tv, it always seems to show up. Not a nice place by any stretch. And, its one of 4 prisons in our state. Thats just OUR state.

I dont feel any particular sympathy towards criminals. They make their bed, theu sleep in it. But I wonder about the prison system itself. Who ever thought that taking someone, locking them up for 10 or 20 years in a cage then releasing them is any sort of rehabilitation? It seems to me to be more of torture than anything. It goes with out saying that there are ceratin people out there who need to be locked up and forgotten about, but to pack them in with some 20 year old kid who sold some pot to an undercover cop, is wrong.

There is a huge move to privatize prisons. This is also a terrible idea. Now, it is no longer a form of punishment. Its a profit making machine. And, the more money they make, the more powerfull they will become. In a cash driven society, such as ours, they will want to grow and expand as much as possible. I'm afraid that this will open the door to levels of legal abuse, the likes we have never seen.

Am I the only one who thinks it odd that here, in America, the land of the "free" we have more people locked up than anywhere else? And the numbers keep growing. More than half the people are locked up for some sort of drug conviction. I believe that violent offenders should be put away. They should be treated, but still punished. But the people who are there for simple possion charges, should not be locked up for years. It is a victimless crime. How can we be free on one hand, but then treated like children on the other? Its my body, and I have every right to do with it, what I choose.

Does a kid who was caught with a few ounces of marijuana deserve to be raped and beaten in prison for 4 or 5 years? What sort of positive impact is going to take away from that? The pyschological scars? AIDS? Did he deserve that? We were all young once, and Im sure alot of us were not angels either. God knows, I wasnt.

It had to take a pretty sick mind to come up with prisons. I see no good that comes from locking up people with killers and rapists. Treatment centers? sure. Some sort of life training? right on. Nightly rapes and beatings? What do you think you are going to release into society? A rehabilitated person, or an angry young man, who is headed down the same road. It seems to me, that they are breeding more of the same to keep the beds filled, and the money coming in.

Theres something wrong with justice system that is profit driven, if you ask me. Any opinions?

One might argue that prison isn't actually supposed to "help" the person at all. It's a punishment--and if someone doesn't want to be raped and beaten in prison, then don't break the freaking law!

Originally posted by southern_cross3
One might argue that prison isn't actually supposed to "help" the person at all. It's a punishment--and if someone doesn't want to be raped and beaten in prison, then don't break the freaking law!

true, true.. Like I said, you make your bed, you sleep in it. But when your 18,19,20 years old, you make mistakes. Everyone does. Some get caught, some dont. But do you think its wrong to lump them all into one group and lock em away? I do. Rehab for non-violent offenders.

The rapists and murderers get what they deserve..

I think it's sad how many people are sitting in US jails for minor drug possession, marijuana in particular. For an 18 year-old kid who made a stupid mistake to have his life destroyed doesn't seem like justice. There are some very bad people who deserved to be raped by Bubba in the next cell, well they may not deserve it, but I won't waste any tears on them.

But to stick young kids in jail with them does nothing but create more criminals. I've heard it said by a few prison guards that prison is the best education system for criminals. They come in screwed up, and they leave vicious, mean and with a hundred scams to pull. It's like a crash course in things they never would have thought of to start.

My brother is a good example. When we was 22 years old him and his friends pulled a REALLY stupid prank. They thought it would be funny to call in bomb threats to this little community college next door to them. Mind you, this was around 1986 or so. A long time ago.

Anyrate, he got 2 years for it. While in there, he must have made some great friends, for when he was released, it was less than a year before he was back in again. This time for stealing an ATM card and draining some girls account. Fast forward to now, and hes been in and out most of his adult life. Nothing violent, just stupid.

Prior to his first arrest, he was in the navy. He graduated from a private high school and was on his way to becoming a successfull adult. After being in and out, he sells furniture now and has no hope for a future. I have said numerous times, that he will be dead or in prison for good before his 40th birthday.

Now, this isnt a sob story for him. Again, I realize that we all make our own decisions. But it seems to me, that if some sort of behavior rehabilitation had taken place, he might not of ever gone back. Instead, when you get sentenced, you need to make a stand when you first get there. After long enough in a cage with these animals, you become a product of your enviroment. He was never off to become a criminal, but when thats all you associate with, well....

Does the punishment fit the crime? There are alternatives to locking people up, looke at all the corporate scandels. A fine seems to be suitable punishment, as well as labor. It costs money to keep people locked up. If we can just fine some of them, we can reduce the inmate population and make money off the fines.

P.S.-how did you get an animated avatar?

To dump a young kid in the prison system and leave him to the tender mercies of those within is just cruel. How can we expect them to integrate right back into society if they have had to fight, cheat, steal and strike up 'bad-news' friendships just to survive day to day? Once they get out, they have a record and will have a hard time getting a good job that will support them without resorting to crime.

In a lot of cases, sending young people to prison for minor offenses is akin to sending an new businessman to a networking seminar. It expands the world of crime for them and allows them to network and create connections that they will fall back on when the real world gets to hard for them. It's a shame that one stupid choice as a young adult can destroy your entire life.

It reminds me of highschool. As I wasnt a great student, they offered to send me to "alternative" highschool. It was a place that I could go only 4 hours a day, get credits for having a job and call myself off.

What I found was amazing. I was surrounded by all druggies and criminals. I made more contacts for scoring whatever I wanted in a week, than I did in 4 years of highschool, no kidding.

It seems that the state awards money to schools, based on their GPA for the students. When it came to us troubled ones, we were bringing down the average. So, instead of helping us, they shoved all of us, from all over, into one building and said "here ya go!"

Needless to say, I am now a proud GED holder. I did eventually make it to college, but so many others now occupy those cells that my brother did. Seems to me a shame

Up here, schools get their money on a per-capita basis, so we don't really have that. Our 'tough' schools are based on geographics. And most of the kids that go to them don't have much of a shot. You either have to join a gang or worry about getting jumped.

At that age, you don't realize what an impact this kind of thing is going to have on the rest of your life, and they are not equipped to deal with it. It sometimes seems they are being setup to fail.

BTW, where'd Kevin go? He went so well with your user name.

edited to note that Kevin has returned

[edit on 25-1-2005 by Duzey]

Being a person that did 4 and a half years 18 till I was 23. I think the only way it works is if you want to change, AND you have at least one person that is willing to help you when you get out. I mean real help, you are comming out and you have nothing, and unless you took the time to learn something in the time you where locked-up, all you are going to know is what you went in knowing.

I decided when I was there that I wasnt going to be in places like that when I was 30. There are people that will stay out all summer, then do something to get sometime during the cold months. CRAZY!

I opened my eyes, and seen how much my freedom really ment to me.
I learned alot about life and people. Its all about your mine set, and how weak or strong minded you are.

I wish I could discribe the noise factor alone on the doorms, 18 hour a day at the superbowl, yep that about sums it up lol.

People can change if they want to. Too many see it as fun or as a game, they will always be locked-up.

Some food for you.

to you for having the personal strength of will to improve your life!

I agree, if someone really wants to change, and they have the support, they can do it. A person can do most anything they set their mind to. I guess that just underscores how important it is to have adequate support and training programs in place, before and after release.

I have never understood why some people seem to actually prefer living in and out of prison, but apparently there are some. I guess those are the ones that the prisons are meant for.

BTW, where'd Kevin go? He went so well with your user name

hes back. Its a bear, not being able to upload here..anyrate...

spittin cobra-- i hear ya..change has to come from within. some people such as yourself are stong willed and lucky you had someone to help out. others, just get released...thats a shame

Glad to see he's back. I was worried something had happened to him, and I would never get to see 'The Passion of the Clerks'. I was really looking forward to that movie.

Of course Prison does not equal Rehabilitation.

Considering the state of mind of many of the prisoners they would be better off if they were put down like dogs. Save us a few dollars too.

Why is it America locks so many people up?
The US holds 5% of the worlds population yet holds 25% of the worlds prison population (I wish I could find where I read that but I forget).

www.thirdworldtraveler.com...

www.frederickpreston.com...

www.prisonactivist.org...