Prison System Pros and Cons

Thoughts on the prison system

Benefits

Advocates of the prison system have many reasons to support the current infrastructure. Not only do the prisons keep criminals away from the public, keeping the public safe but they punish the offender and deter others from breaking the law. 

The current view on prison focused on rehabilitation also makes it easy to support because the disciple and structure provided by the state controls, educates, and provides therapy for the convicted.

Problems

Despite these benefits, there are many problems with the current system. There are two things to consider when looking at the problems with the system, the effects on the convicted and the public.
The incarcerated population have the opportunity to talk to each other while in prison making it a great place to learn more about crimes and networking for when they are released. Along with this threat is the huge cost to the public. It costs a lot to keep someone in prison and if they were the primary breadwinner and their family needs help from government services, it just costs more.
You would think that this large check would come with some benefits but the system is lacking in resources to help the prisoners. Putting someone in jail doesn't address the problem of why they got there, it just separates them from their family and takes away their job. Along with this problem, all prisoners are treated the same, no matter the crime (although the time frame changes). This means that Martha Stewart is treated the same as a human trafficker. These criminals have completely different underlying problems that could not simply be solved by locking them up.


(Coggins, K., Fresquez, J. E., 2001, 9-19)