The Rise of America’s Prison Empire Essay - 1927 Words

When envisioning a prison, one often conceptualizes a grisly scene of hardened rapists and murderers wandering aimlessly down the darkened halls of Alcatraz, as opposed to a pleasant facility catering to the needs of troubled souls. Prisons have long been a source of punishment for inmates in America and the debate continues as to whether or not an overhaul of the US prison system should occur. Such an overhaul would readjust the focuses of prison to rehabilitation and incarceration of inmates instead of the current focuses of punishment and incarceration. Altering the goal of the entire state and federal prison system for the purpose of rehabilitation is an unrealistic objective, however. Rehabilitation should not be the main purpose of†¦show more content†¦While all three are considered prison’s goals, punishment is most heavily relied on and rehabilitation, when attempted, is often halfheartedly executed to uninterested participants. According to authors Gerald Mel nick, et al. in their essay, â€Å"Treatment Process in Prison Therapeutic Communities: Motivation, Participation, and Outcome,† the lack of motivation an individual prisoner experiences regarding his success often contributes to his dropping out of an in prison rehabilitation program (634). Such programs are therefore futile because the inmates who would benefit most from the rehabilitation are often the most unmotivated and unwilling to participate. If an inmate does fulfill the numerous participation requirements for completion of an in prison program, the chances of his continuing treatment are exponentially low. Prisoners often neglect to extend treatment through the use of after-care rehabilitation programs upon release from jail (Melnick, et al. 636). The benefits of rehabilitation are therefore lost because after-care facilities are designed to further reinforce critical values gained by prisoners during prior rehabilitation. This means that even if a prison were to offer inmates the most innovative forms of rehabilitation, the programs would be in vain due to the overwhelming majority of prisoners who would not willingly partake in treatment. If a prisoner manages to acquire a job upon release, his rehabilitation may stillShow MoreRelatedTexas Tough : The Rise Of Americas Prison Empire1423 Words   |  6 PagesTexas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire In Robert Perkinson’s book, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, a remarkable amount of a decade’s worth of in-depth research is given regarding Texas and it’s astounding past regarding racism, prisons, and penitentiaries. Perkinson’s finding lead to how the only way to escape what could be the continuation of tragedy in this nation is to examine the history of this nation’s most severe prison state, Texas. 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