2 of 22

Write now Article Tools

With more and more media publicity about crime on the rise and repeat offenders on the streets, American society can only ask one question of itself. Are U.S. prisons really rehabilitating criminals? It seems that the American justice system is recycling criminals more than eliminating them. Why? What changes do we need to make to the Penal system to make it a solution to the problem, not a contributor?

Most ordinary law abiding citizens don't give prison a second though until they read the news or see the television reporting yet another career criminal once again arrested for a heinous crime which the media is sensationalizing. Do we stop to think about the reason why there are so many people in prison and the job the prisons are doing? Are prisons really serving their purpose or are they perpetuating an already out of control criminal element in American society?

Let's take a more in depth look at the history of the penal system in America and how it functions in society. In colonial America, there was no organization of penal codes, no generalized system of incarceration. Most criminals were punished according to the local regulations and laws, some crimes being more serious in one place than in another. Penance was enforced by local officers, usually in the form of some type of torture such as stockades or whipping. There were some towns that placed the offenders in a prison like environment similar to the work houses in England where the offenders were dependent on outsiders to provide food and other necessary items as the prison did not provide this. Some were incarcerated in a building designated for this purpose, others were simply placed on a type of house arrest where their activities could be monitored by local authorities.

The prison as we know it today began to develop over the decades with ideas brought forth by radical social reformers who saw the prison as a way to reform and rehabilitate a criminal and as a form of penance for offenders. Many different types of prison styles were tried and failed before the modern prison was developed.

Earmarks in the development of the modern prison were the Walnut Street Jail established in 1790 in Pennsylvania. This is where the practice of isolating prisoners by building separate cells and segregating prisons by age, gender and types of crimes began. The idea being to eliminate the criminal element and to reform the prisoner by instilling moral values. This idea of "rehabilitation" was something that

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Do US prisons really rehabilitate criminals??
We want to hear your view. Write now!