...Prison Reform YourFirstName YourLastName University title Michigan Prisons are Failing Inmates: An Argumentative Essay Introduction It has been reported by American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that huge amount of fund has been utilized to make Michigan prisons better and more humane. However, at the same time it has also been reported by Ann Arbor News and later confirmed by Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) there are several instances of abuse, deprivation of water and food in many of the prisons in the state of Michigan. Alongside, there is a serious issue of overcrowding (Spence, 2014). It can be clearly stated that despite huge flow of public money, Michigan prisons are failing the inmates with overcrowding, deprivation of water and food and abuse. Food issues Food issues are vital in prison and there can be serious consequences. Denial of food and water to inmates, particularly those serving solitary confinement is extremely inhuman and such practice should be stopped. However, there several reports that confirm this practice (Morrison, 2013). There are reports of mentally ill patients being denied food and water for a prolonged period (ACLU, 2014). The prison meant for women in Michigan (Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility) is accused of brutality as the employees starve inmates in solitary confinement. They are also subjected to odd cruel punishments as reported by American Civil Liberties, Michigan. Many accounts from witnesses’...
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...There has been a long standing debate whether rehabilitation works over punishment and incarceration to decrease the rate of recidivism of past offenders and to successful re-integrate them in the society. In 1974, Robert Martinson an American sociologist observed no evidence that rehabilitation programs were reducing rates of recidivism, the tendency for past offenders to relapse into criminal behavior and re-commit offenses (Cullen, 2012). In his study “What Works? Questions and Answer About Prison Reform”, was highly influential that “nothing works” became a criminological doctrine in the correctional system. This presented to pursue the “get tough on criminals” ideology of the 1980s and early 1990s where many correctional practitioners...
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...In order to be effective, reform efforts require two main things: (1) The principles the correctional system espouses have to rest on a solid philosophical foundation. And (2) the day-to-day conduct of prison staff must support rather than subvert the system’s philosophical basis. Just as the wrong philosophy can counter legitimate efforts, the daily behavior of prison staff can undercut the right theoretical approach. Institutional practices that largely consist of irresponsible staff occasionally preaching the importance of living responsibly—to use an overly simplified example—aren’t likely to have much of an impact on offenders beyond evoking their incredulity. It only stands to reason that when institutional staff are either indifferent, jaded, or hold too many of the same values and premises as the inmates in their charge, the philosophical basis of the entire system can be undermined. Serious progress toward reform is unlikely to take place in such a noxious cultural atmosphere....
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...us found interesting, but we finally conceded on the topic of prison reform. Next, we had to determine if the topic of prison reform was relevant. So we researched prisons to be more informed about it, we found out that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This fact alone made our group question the efficacy of our country's prison system. The topic of prison reform was highly researchable, since there was a plethora...
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...English 112 Many incarcerated individuals have found themselves dislocated from society and into the judicial system. Most, unfortunately, are in this predictament due to a lack of discipline in the homes they were reared. Some lack communication skills, education, and motivation to perform productively in society. A much needed awakening for those sentenced in the judicial system is a military-like reform, centered around discipline, motivation, and accountability. Most, if not all, prisons and jails have work programs, honorary programs. However, not all of these seem to be providing the prisoner a benefit for real world tasks. Ultimately, this is an easy way to earn food and needed accessories to get by, but is not teaching real-world job ethics. This may prove to be productive in a prison environment, however, in the real world, communication, discipline, and motivation are core values in successful individuals. Furthermore, a stronger approach to education in the judicial system would be paramount in a new strategic plan to awaken incarcerated youth of America. Education should prove to be paramount in the reforming of criminals and those disruptive in society. The true act of education alone would broaden the perspective of individuals and create a new horizon giving them the foundation and tools for a bigger and better life. Implementing a strict eight hour school day, five days a week, beginning at 5:30 am and ending at 2:00 pm would polish the soiled...
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...What: In the 19th century the big question that this reform movement was all about was “Are these criminals to be treated like criminals or like human beings.” Another big problem was that prisons were used as punishment for serious crimes but legislatures wouldn’t supply the prisons with the money to run them. Since they didn’t have the money to fund these prisons they couldn’t have large amounts of inmates which they did in the 19th century so instead of holding them they rehabilitate them. Since there were so many prisoners prisons had chaos and the guards were forced to use torture to keep the inmates in line. (A) WHo: Dorothea Dix had a big impact on the prison reform movement. She helped inmates who were mentally ill in the US. She believed that the prisoners were being mistreated and deserved better treatment than they were...
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...Mcevoy 1 Brandon Mcevoy ENG 105 Malory Klocke April, 27, 2016 Prison reform in America For the entirety of our lives in America we all know of certain taboos, the no no’s of American culture. Examples being drugs, assault, theft, drug distribution. What needs to be discussed are how these infractions are handled in America, how our justice system operates, how mandatory minimum sentences are discerned, parole and probation are handled as well as their violations, and punishment for violations are handled. Dating back to Sweden around 1746 coffee was made illegal on the basis of public safety without any evidence. King Gustav the 3rd was fighting for prohibition of coffee for 20 years and citizens suffered because of the ignorance of the peoples in power (Gustav III of Sweden's coffee experiment). Alcohol was banned just the same, and the end result? Legalization and the realization that the governing bodies were essentially harassing people unjustly without truly understanding the substance in question. Yet it is common knowledge that using substances may be addictive and harmful. As well the sale of drugs could be considered tax evasion. These non-regulated drugs may be impure and even more damaging by way of containing harmful chemicals. The real issue is your brain gets used to operating on synthetic versions of natural chemicals or large quantities of the synthetic version. (“What drugs do to the brain”) Early prohibition of marijuana originated after the Mexican...
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...(b) End incarceration of juveniles. “The American rate of juvenile incarceration is seven times that of Great Britain, and 18 times that of France. It costs, on average, $88,000 a year to keep a youth locked up — far more than the U.S. spends on a child’s education,” wrote Nell Bernstein who authored Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison. Even as many states have attempted to alter their adolescent prisons, Bernstein says that incarcerating kids is the wrong strategy to manage most early life wrongdoers. Their detention behind those walls will shape who they are. (c) Reverse Bill Clinton’s cutting funding to 350 college programs in prisons around the country in 1994, as a part of his Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. (d) Implement Obama’s Second Chance Pell program to reestablish the federal grant to prisoners looking to enroll in college. A 2013 study by the Rand Corp, financed by the U.S. Dept of Justice, showed that detainees who got some broad instruction were 43% more averse to re-carry out criminal acts and go back to jail inside of three years than the individuals who didn’t get any...
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...the events of the rebellions inside the prisons of Brazil that, in fifteen days, left one hundred and thirty people dead. These rebellions occurred in ten different prisons which are located in eight different states: Alagoas, Amazonas, Paraíba, Paraná, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Norte and Roraima. Brazil, today, is the second leading country to have the most arrests in the past fifteen years, and has the fourth largest prison population in the world (Welle). Overcrowding and recurrent committing of crimes are the two contributing factors to these rebellions. One of the biggest problems with the Brazilian prisons...
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...Prison reform, the endeavor of enhancing the conditions within detainment facilities likewise to set up a more helpful punitive framework or actualize helper to detainment; helps the detainees to get ready better for their second life after their time serving in jail. At the NAACP's 106th national tradition, on July 15, 2015; Mr. President Obama recorded a bundle of reasons that the United States ought to change the criminal equity framework. What's more, a few reasons that the legislature will look more into the American groups and attempt to give more open door and more rights to every one of the general population in the country. President Obama has officially investigating the circumstance. The quantities of steps are “signing the Fair...
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...Online – Axia College There was a perplexing problem in the early 1800’s because the rate of women incarcerated was much lower than the rates of women incarcerated today. In reality women’s prisons did not exist, therefore the jails often treated women the same as they did the men, as well the women were punished the same way the men were “with the exception that pregnant women were often spared punishment until after they had given birth” (Foster, 2006, pg. 32). Most women incarcerated were because of prostitution and stealing. Foster also states that women incarcerated were generally mixed with the makes and they were supervised by males. (Foster 2006, pg. 32). According to Foster this began to change when Elizabeth Gurney Fry took a visit to Newgate Prison in 1813. Gurney Fry organized the Association for the Improvement of the Female Prisoners on 1817. In 1863, the Detroit House of Correction was opened. This facility had a unit separated for the women, and there were female guards in this unit. In today’s society, the female prisons are much like the male prisons. They operate with increased security concerns, and there are special housing units for the disorderly. While there was a movement to improve the prisons for women there were also reformers who were working hard to help reform the laws for children. In that era children who committed crimes were treated like the adults who committed crimes. As time passed, it was seen that children could not reason like adults do...
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...I would describe the prison environment as a tough a scary environment. There are numerous different types of criminals and you do not get to chose who your cellmate is. I think this creates a scary environment because some inmates commit more severe crimes then others, and it might be scary to live with someone 24/7 and not know what they are going to do to you when you go to sleep. The prison environment influence institutional management and custodies in many different ways. There are cliques in prison that range from gang groups, the white supremacist, and black cliques. When dealing with all of these different groups you have to be mindful of what is going on around you and you have to be sensitive to the races. Certain Strategies were put in place to separate these groups if things happened. They separate groups, put leaders in isolation; they also have started special teams to deal with these types of issues. I think any change would improve institutional management. I think if the prisons were actually controlled by the court system that might help. Maybe they could implement some sort of systems to put fear in the inmates so that they are easily maintained and understand what will happen if they have the slightest issues or cause the slightest problems within the prison system. Secure custody is when there is a request by workers from the prison to move someone, whether it is because they are a sex offender or various other offenders, this is done to ensure their...
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...prohibition. -child welfare Child welfare was a reform that people didn’t see to clearly because they would leave their kids to do the work of a grown person. There were many problems with that parents would have very tired kids that have been working all day which cause them to miss school and other kid things. A few people and places that helped make this better were Lillian Wald on Henry street settlement in New York. The federal children’s boreal helped keep the children out of these sweat shops. -Prohibition Alcohol was a major part of woman getting beaten up by there husbands. The woman’s christen temperance union (wctu) were one of the main people to help stop the sell buy and producing of alcoholic beverages. Frances Willard was the head of the wctu from 1879 to 1898 which made the wctu force for temperance and for the rights of women -civil rights Many people were not allowed there rights such as being a girl and being able to work. African Americans fought for some of the same rights as white people such as ending poverty expanding child welfare. The national association of colored women was one of the largest organizations of African American women which were founded in 1896. By the 1916s the organization had more than 100,000 members and campaigned against poverty and segregation and, lynching. To conclude my presentation of one of the three most important reforms Id like to state that the prohibition reform was the worst one because people would get abused...
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...intelligent well educated athletes. There are just as many athletically talented academics. Either/Or 3. Any change in healthcare will lead to socialism; we don’t want to live in a socialist country, so we can’t reform health care in any way. To say that reforming healthcare would completely change how society operates is a giant leap. There can be healthcare reform without creating a socialist United States. Slippery Slope 4. All teenagers’ text while they drive, therefore we should raise the driving age to 21. To say all teenagers is an inaccurate generalization. To raise the driving age to 21 would solve the problem of teen texting while driving is not logical. Hasty Generalization 5. If we don’t all drive hybrid cars, the world will end in the next decade of environmental damage. There is no evidence to support a claim that the world will end in 10 years if we do not all switch to hybrid vehicles. The statement goes straight to the most dramatic result conceivable however unlikely it is. Slippery Slope 6. Senator Range has been seen entering a strip club; therefore his economic reforms are not plausible Though perhaps immoral to some, such action has no bearing on the ability of the Senator to create plausible economic reform. One of these actions is part of personal life, the other is an action specific to professional life. Red Herring 7. Everyone else is getting rid of TV therefore we should too. The only argument presented is...
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...influential ways to make a difference, and there truly is a way for everyone to express their feelings. There’s art, literature, videos, photography, giving each person a way to be artistically heard. Media gives an individual who may feel like a speck in the world, a bullhorn so they can be heard by millions. Media doesn’t just reach to the people who it was originally directed to, it can reach to many different groups of people and eventually the world, making it an empowering way for your opinion to be heard. It seems like whenever there is a political debate or the news is on, issues regarding schools are constantly brought up. School reform is something that our government is always trying to regulate, but are these politicians always the best qualified to make the decisions about schools? Students are never asked their opinions on the reforms and laws that are directly impacting their education and consequently their lives. Documentaries are frequently made regarding issues in schools, but they are from the point of view of people not directly involved in the issue, giving it an outside clear view on what the issue truly...
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