I’m writing this after watching coverage of Troy Davis’s execution, which has given me plenty of reason to reflect on the shortcomings of the American justice system, and in turn the failure of our correctional system. I don’t feel that prison is an effective method of reform for criminals of any kind. At best, it prevents convicts from inflicting suffering on the general public, but it does not appear to rehabilitate them or to deter people from reoffending. The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, and all those locked cells aren’t even making a dent in the problem of crime.
I don’t know any exact figures off the top of my head, but as a general rule, convicts who serve time in prison are extremely likely to reoffend. With each subsequent trip to prison, the likelihood of committing yet another crime increases exponentially. It would be easy to write off these criminals as bad or broken people who are incapable of being rehabilitated, but I think there is more than one side to this issue.
How does the correctional system contribute to the problem of reoffending? Given the long history of the prison system and the amount of money that gets poured into it every year, wouldn’t you think that they would have developed more effective methods of rehabilitation? I think there must be something to be gained from having so many people consistently locked up, and the convicts aren’t on the receiving end of that benefit.
I know that there are education programs offered to prisoners to help them gain the necessary skills to live a crime-free life on the outside, but the recidivism rate remains high. What happens to criminals once they are released? From what I can gather, the parole system is in place to help keep an eye on people. I assume they probably offer helpful resources to people trying to assimilate back into society, but I can’t know for sure. It seems like a lot of the time, convicts are released from prison right back into the situation that got them locked up in the first place. What’s really going on? Do they feel like the system has already given up on them? Do they often find their way back to prison because they know no other options?
I’d really like to interview some people who have gone through (or are still involved in) the correctional system. How do they feel about the men and women on the other side of the bars? What is lacking? What are the reeducation methods really like?
Obviously at this point I have more questions than answers, but that makes me feel confident that I’ve chosen a topic that warrants further research.
I can't wait to read your paper because I also followed the Troy Davis case. I think the justice system sucks. Inmates have no voice and it is unfair. Innocent people are put to death and really no one gets justice. I hope that you can make some sense out of our justice system, because I sure can't.
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