Punishment VS Rehabilitation: the Need for Reforms in Prisons

I firmly believe that we need to rehabilitate prisoners, to give them a fighting chance to successfully rejoin society. I think the prison system is currently ill-equipped to adequately address the high recidivism rate in this country. This punishment vs rehabilitation essay will argue that educational programs in prison can help lower the recidivism rate. Recidivism is defined as the tendency of a convicted criminal to re-offend. According to the National Institute of Justice, within three years of release, 67.8 percent of released prisoners are rearrested. Within five years of release, about 76.6 percent of released prisoners are rearrested. It’s a problem because offenders are being released and committing new crimes since they don’t have the proper tools to succeed in the community, which puts the entire community at risk.

One of the main reasons why offenders find themselves back in prison is because it is difficult for the individual to fit back in with ‘normal’ life. They have to reestablish ties with their family, return to high-risk places, often have a poor work history and now have a criminal record to deal with. Prisoners are dehumanized and are reluctantly absorbed into communities - which further increases their alienation and isolation. Most prisoners’ that have been released from prison are given a one-way bus ticket and told they have to report to parole within 24 hours. Once they report to parole, they are given the ground “rules” of parole, which consists of a curfew and things they aren’t allowed to do (commit a crime, drink, drugs). Other contributors to recidivism include the difficulties released offenders face in finding jobs, in renting apartments or furthering education.

Countless policies aim to reduce recidivism, but many involve a complete overhaul of societal values concerning justice, punishment, and second chances. Some of the approaches were to increase the presence and quality of pre-release services (within incarceration facilities) that address factors associated with addiction, mental-health counseling, and education programs/vocational training. It failed because in most facilities if planning for re-entry takes place at all, it only begins a few weeks before the release of an inmate. Other proposals have little impact due to cost and resource issues and other constraints.

The first part of my proposal is to have classes while incarcerated in areas of employment, personal banking, budgeting, and other essential resources to help the offenders rejoin society. We can elect inmates to teach the classes, so there would be no cost. The U.S has more people incarcerated than any other country. That is incredibly sad to me. Even more sad, sixty-seven percent of inmates are rearrested within three years of being released from prison. The correctional system doesn’t correct much of anything. It is the system itself that needs correcting.

The second part of my proposal would be to offer degree programs in prison. Bedford Women’s Prison in New York has an educational program that includes academic studies, as well as technical and computer skills. Since the program started in 1996, not one inmate who completed the educational program has returned to prison. That statistic says a lot, in that we have to give inmates a fighting chance to survive in society; not to just let them rot in a cell. Jane Emory Prather, a sociology professor at California State University-Northridge and an adjunct professor at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York states, “The issue of punishment vs. rehabilitation is no longer the relevant question. Instead, we need to reduce the number of inmates and prevent their return to prison”.

Governor Cuomo has already commended Bedford Women’s Prison and their educational program, which consists of many volunteer professors from Columbia and Cornell. Cuomo has supported the Bedford Prison education program, along with Manhattan’s District Attorney, Cy Vance. In a CBS interview, in favor of the educational program, Vance stated, 'This is a public safety issue. I know that data supports my decisions and therefore, I think the citizens of the state should understand that this makes sense in terms of community safety'.

The Bedford Hills program costs about $250,000 a year to run, has been supported since 2004 by a $2.5 million privately funded endowment. Doris Buffet, sister of billionaire Warren Buffet, has contributed $8.5 million to more than 20 college prison programs, most of them launched in the past five years. The Ford Foundation just granted $500,000 to Bard College for its 10-year prison initiative. To implement my proposal, we would need to get the sort of acknowledgment like the Prisoner Rights Movement, which was extremely effective. The media, governor, and politicians all need to be on the same page. We could make a plea to wealthy individuals and organizations and ask for donations to help with the cause. The justice system needs to take it seriously, hire the appropriate people that really want to make the change, and society has to change how they view criminals. We can help improve others’ lives, lower crime, and make our community’s safer.

There are 5,000 prisons in the U.S. detaining over 2 million prisoners. America’s correctional system costs taxpayers $60 billion a year, or $164 million every day. New York City paid $167,731 to feed, house and guard each inmate last year, according to a study The Independent Budget Office released. Doug Turetsky, the chief of staff for the budget office, said, “It is troubling in both human terms and financial terms.

If we aren’t able to get private endowments, the state would pay up front for the costs. However, my proposal would essentially pay for itself once up and running, since the cost to educate inmates and not have them re-offend and return, would save the state millions of dollars each year. My proposal will fade in over a few years, starting with a few correctional facilities and expanding outward. I realize persuading society would be the hardest part, however, I truly believe if we can band together with a couple of top leaders to be our spokesperson, we can persuade the public of the benefits for us all.

With the right experts to instruct the prisoners and help them get a degree before being discharged, offenders would have more confidence and a superior shot of becoming employed. We would request that other college professors help the cause by volunteering their time, in return for a tax credit. We would likewise have a volunteer site, where individuals could donate books, their expertise, or make a cash donation. According to The Bureau of Justice Statistics, less educated inmates were more likely than more educated inmates to be recidivists. Additionally, inmates without a high school diploma and those with a GED were more likely to have a prior sentence than those with a diploma or some college or other postsecondary courses. This statistics is powerful; clearly, there is a connection between education level and crime.

My proposal will save the state money, educate inmates, and it would help keep our communities safe by reducing crime and the recidivism rate. If we continue to do nothing about the reoffending rate, the percentage will keep increasing and make us all vulnerable to crime in our community’s. Bedford Hills College Program was founded with this mission statement, composed by the Inmate Committee at the institution in 1996:

We understand the public’s anger about crime and realize that prison is first and foremost a punishment for crime. But we believe that when we are able to work and earn a higher education degree while in prison, we are empowered to truly pay our debts to society by working toward repairing some of what has been broken.

We can stop the revolving prison door by standing together and being more mindful about what happens inside our prisons and who the guards are fundamentally forming before releasing them back into our communities. Rehabilitation can work if you treat people with respect and give them the educational tools needed to thrive in our society. There is no human difference between an inmate and a correctional officer, each should be treated with respect, fairness, and dignity. People make mistakes and commit crimes. The question is whether they should be punished or rehabilitated for that mistake or crime. The answer is both. But not the way most of our prisons are run. People need to be educated to help them be successful and make better decisions in the future.

This course has taught me to be more socially aware. Knowledge is power, and I hope I can make a difference one day. People need to wake up and become aware of the ongoing social injustice in our country.

Bibliography

• Albert, M. (2016). Inmates in NY Get an Ivy League Education Behind Bars. Retrieved from CBS News: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-state-prisons-expanding-higher-education-program-for-prison-inmates/
• Bedford Hills College Program. (2011). Retrieved from Prison Studies Project: http://prisonstudiesproject.org/2011/08/bedford-hills-college-program/
• Harlow, C. (2003). Education and Correctional Populations. Retrieved from The Bureau of Justice Statistics: http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=814
• Marklein, M. B. Students Behind Bars. USA Today
• National Institute of Justice. Retrieved from https://www.nij.gov/Pages/welcome.aspx
• Page, D. (2012). The Prison of the Future. Law Enforcement Technology.
• Santora, M. (2013). New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/24/nyregion/citys-annual-cost-per-inmate-is-nearly-168000-study-says.html
• Subramanian, R., & Mai, C. (2017). The Price of Prisons. Retrieved from Vera Institute of Justice: https://www.vera.org/publications/price-of-prisons-2015-state-spending-trends