the questions of the day are: how effective are this country's prisons? can we continue to incarcerate our population at an alarming rate and not have repercussions in the future? i think that these are questions we have to answer because the white folks regime is aging and retiring and our youth- especially 'minority' youth are being incarcerated at younger ages(being tried as adults) and in increasing numbers as gang numbers continue to rise. are you feeling safe in your homes in the 'burbs thinking that these folks are safely locked away? well, we are locking people up- many in state and county facilities- and killing them at increasing rates too. is that enough of a deterrent? would it behoove us to spend more money on rehabilitation services while these folks are in jail to prepare them to get out and back into the real world? or do we already spend enough money through our social services? do we do enough to integrate the people who do get back out back into society? what can we do about lowering the recidivism rate? we need to think about the gang problems and the drug problems- as these are big reasons that people- men in larger numbers than women but female prisoners are also on the rise- are arrested and sent away. let's have some dialogue
added note: visit quaker dave and his post on the subject
6 comments:
i worked for almost 6 years in an adolescent girl's group home and we had the luxery of having about a year to work with the girls- 12-21yrs. old- and try and 'fix' all of their problems before sending them home or out on their own. there isn't an easy answer to the problem but that doesn't mean that it will go away. unfortunately, many people in this country want to just lock these folks away and throw away the key. that doesn't work either.
This is a very interesting topic, to say the least. I am spectacularily unqualified to take part in a possible debate due to my lack of knowledge in thigs concerning with prisons and not being an American. However, maybe some common sensensy(?) outsider point of view is acceptable to you?
What bothers me the most is the fact that precious little has changed since Britts invented this institution. Granted that it served mainly to isolate those whom failed to pay different "pipers", in other words property related "crimes". The really bad dudes were conviniently sent to Australia and to some extent to your neck of wood. However, a huge number of people in prisons today are there not for the right reasons, such as a rehabilitation and a protection of the society. All the eggs seem to be in a punishment and in a get even baskets.
When I hear experts talking about prisons they ever increasingly tend to believe that prisons function primarily as a sort of higher learning facilities for career criminals. What little I know about your prisons don't make me believe that they have succeeded in their rehabilitation programmes. Thus it is kind of easy to see that instead being part of a solution they might be part of a problem instead.
Then there is a political aspect that some times overrules the common sense. Instead of looking complex issues in a thoughtful and reasoned manner, the politicians at all levels tend to give easy and mostly wrong answers. "Lets declare a war on this and that" seem to wake the voters and gain support and since politicians are smart and they want to get elected, it is no brainer that easy and wrong decisions are made. The effects are not the ones that one wants but in order to see it, one needs to connect the dots which requires thinking.
Although voters are to blame for being seduced by "strong" leaders, the main blame rests on the shoulders of a leader who knowingly peddle this nonsense. In short term they win, in a long term society looses. Complex issues do not, nor will they ever, have easy solutions. The key issue here is; how to get Americans to see it and vote the guys with hard questions, instead the guys with easy solutions.?
In the present mood in America and the attention span of an average American, I have hard time being optimistic that anything will change. My prediction is that prison related growth industry will keep on prospering and the individuals holding shares in these companies are going to get a nice return to their investments. Too bad, though, they have to spend some of the windfall on newer and better security systems and maybe even on a body armor.
Before we even think of "fixing" the children, we need to "fix" the parents. Big time. Especially as you noted, in our so called "minorities." Bill Cosby has been addressing this issue for some time now, and meeting fierce rejection for his efforts. Nobody wants to admit to failing their responsibilities.
There will always be x% of kids that grow up to form our repeat criminal element. But a large number of "criminals" could have been avoided with something as simple as a Mom and Dad working together. They don't need to be super parents. Just be parents period! "Single Mother" has almost became some sort of perverse badge of honor. That mentality needs to change.
thank you everyone for thoughtful comments. i agree with you all that this is a complex social issue that is not necessarily easily fixed. i got thinking about it after having watched numerous shows on state and federal prisons and the 'supermax' federal prisons- such as the one in colorado. what should we do with people who are in for life and have nothing to lose? what constitutes cruel and unusual punishment? most people think that these folks are safely locked away and doing their time- and so forget about them. well, most offenders get paroled and get parole early due to overcrowding. the question of some sort of rehab would seem to warrant an answer.
there are so many fronts to start on- like the 'family values' one. i have been thinking about that one based on beth's discussion of the welfare system in this country- and my own thoughts on classicism. i find it interesting that we always hear about family, family, family in this country- everything has to be family friendly as far as entertainment, transportation, etc- but the actual family unit is being eroded. i don't know exact numbers but- the black communities for example- have such a high number of it's young black males incarcerated that it will be decades before we realize the full impact this is going to have on the future of this country. blacks are incarcerated at dispropotionate numbers than any other ethnicity in the country. i think that this has had a big impact on our culture- though young people idealizing the gangsters and drug dealers that they see in the entertainment industry as well as in their own neighborhoods. ask a young black person in the 'ghetto' or any city who they admire or look up to- who are their heroes? i am sure the same could be said for any 'minority' in this country- it is most definitely a class thing as well as a race thing.
i urge everyone to go to the quaker dave sight for some links and stats if you are interested. sara over there did some research and has some numbers and links for additional info. thanks to quaker dave.
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