Halfway Houses
Halfway Houses: And Other Prison Alternatives
For as long as there have been people, there have been violations of societal norms. With these violations comes the question, how do we solve these problems or violations? There have been many attempts to solve these problems, for example, in many cases from the beginning of time retribution has been the answer. Another form of punishment was eventually invented that would isolate offenders from the rest of the community. This punishment called incarceration, or prison, takes the violator out of the society in an effort to stop any future misdoings. From their inception, prisons have attempted to act as both a deterrent and a rehabilitator. However, in certain times one of these is more stressed than the other. In the case of drug offenders the rehabilitation aspect would is more important. But, overall prisons encounter many different situations and must be very adaptive to all kinds of offenders and types of reform. The prison system today is a very important part of our society and will probably always remain that way. With all this in mind it seems that the prison systems of today would be able to handle the criminal acts that happen every day. However, despite much funding and hard work from all those involved, the prison system seems to have many problems. Is it possible to solve these problems and make the system work more efficiently? I feel that the answer to this question is yes. I say this because there are many ways that the prison system reform can start. Many areas can be looked at and worked on without affecting the system as a whole, or making rash decisions like up heaving the entire system. The current trends and success rates of today's prisons must be evaluated. One important idea to keep in mind is the rate at which offenders repeat crimes, this is known as the recidivism rate. If a prison is to be seen as successful, it must have a low recidivism rate. On the other hand,
For as long as there have been people, there have been violations of societal norms. With these violations comes the question, how do we solve these problems or violations? There have been many attempts to solve these problems, for example, in many cases from the beginning of time retribution has been the answer. Another form of punishment was eventually invented that would isolate offenders from the rest of the community. This punishment called incarceration, or prison, takes the violator out of the society in an effort to stop any future misdoings. From their inception, prisons have attempted to act as both a deterrent and a rehabilitator. However, in certain times one of these is more stressed than the other. In the case of drug offenders the rehabilitation aspect would is more important. But, overall prisons encounter many different situations and must be very adaptive to all kinds of offenders and types of reform. The prison system today is a very important part of our society and will probably always remain that way. With all this in mind it seems that the prison systems of today would be able to handle the criminal acts that happen every day. However, despite much funding and hard work from all those involved, the prison system seems to have many problems. Is it possible to solve these problems and make the system work more efficiently? I feel that the answer to this question is yes. I say this because there are many ways that the prison system reform can start. Many areas can be looked at and worked on without affecting the system as a whole, or making rash decisions like up heaving the entire system. The current trends and success rates of today's prisons must be evaluated. One important idea to keep in mind is the rate at which offenders repeat crimes, this is known as the recidivism rate. If a prison is to be seen as successful, it must have a low recidivism rate. On the other hand,
Bibliography: Allen, Harry E.; Simonsen, Clifford E.; Latessa, Edward J.; Corrections in America: An Introduction. Pearson Education Inc., 2004 Greenberg, David F.; State Prison Populations and Their Growth 1971-1991; Criminology, 2001 (August); Vol Swift, Morrison; Humanizing the Prisons; The Atlantic Monthly; August, 1911; Issue Vol. 108. Anonymous; Hard Time- Jails Trying To Cope; Corrections Forum; 2005 (Jan-Feb); Vol