Proposal Paper:
The rehabilitation system in America is ineffective. Criminals are in prison, feeding off of one another's ideas and enhancing their deviant skills by learning from each other. Many ex-cons, after being excluded from society only to be forced to create a new life, perform illegal acts because, for them, it is easier than obeying the law. This jeopardizes society in many ways; the criminal we have put behind bars as punishment will be released only to act as a more deviant individual. In my paper, I will explore how correctional facilities function and the many flaws that exist within its system.
In Texas, the prisoner capacity is now 153,320 inmates. If the incarceration rate stays the same, by 2008 the state will have 5,000 more prisoners than they will be able to hold (Graczik). This does not mean that more people are committing crimes; more likely than not, more crimes are committed by the same people. In 1994, 67.5% of released criminals were rearrested within three years. Of these accused, 25.4% were once again sentenced to serve time in prison (Department of Justice). One way to address the issue is by building more prisons; however, these "new" prisons will be filled to capacity all too quickly after being built, only delaying the pressing and apparent problems pertaining to our correctional facilities. By focusing our attention more on rehabilitating ex-criminals, we will decrease inmate population drastically, resulting in fewer crimes committed and smaller inmate populations in prisons throughout the country. [you may want to, also, figure out what the population growth rate in Texas is. If the population is expected to increase by 5,000 or more this may not be such a shocking increase in prison population. That said, it may also provide interesting routes for prolepsis to appear.]
My paper will prove that the labeling theory causes criminals to commit repeat offenses. Once a person's master status in society becomes their criminal one, they are rejected and are treated as outcasts. The easiest way for outcasts to survive is by joining together or acting criminally. This is what is expected of them. It is their only option because all others have been taken away.
Incarceration without proper rehabilitation only allows for criminals' hatred and revengeful attitudes toward the judicial system to grow. Guards have a nearly unlimited amount of power over the inmates they control, and yet the incarcerated are still susceptible to rape, drug abuse, harassment, and murder, every day. One way to go about dealing with this issue is to introduce Sensitive Needs Yards into all prisons. These are designed for inmates who have a high risk of being victimized by other inmates, usually for gang-related reasons. In my paper, I will prove that Sensitive Needs Yards already placed into effect have greatly reduced violence in correctional facilities.
My paper will show that the prison environment provides criminals with easier means of learning how to open a safe than how to obtain employment. I will explain how the overcrowding of prisons is leading to unsatisfactory living conditions for the incarcerated. I will show that building more prisons does not address the issue because the amount of people incarcerated is at a steady incline. Lastly, I will address how to repair the flaws of our correctional facilities, leading to a lower incarceration and crime rate.
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Not only an excellent, model project proposal, I think this will make a great final project. You are definitely on the right track and this looks promising.]
WORKS CITED
Bell, Barbara. "Drug Court Sees its First Case." Chicago Tribune. Jul 20, 2005. 12 November 2005.
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http://proquest.umi.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=869476501&SrchMode=1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1132208264&clientId=1360∞>
Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. Crime in the United States 2004. 2004. 10 November 2005
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http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm#recidivism∞>
Graczyk, Michael. Houston Chronicle. Houston, Tex.: Jul 25, 2004. pg. 8
First Draft:
The rehabilitation system in America is not working. Criminals are in prison, feeding off of one another's ideas and enhancing their deviant skills by learning from each other. Many ex-cons, after being excluded from society only to be forced to create a new life, perform illegal acts because it is easier than obeying the law. This jeapordizes society in many ways; the criminal we have put behind bars as punishment will be released only to act as a more deviant individual.
Arguments:
Labeling theory- criminals are known to be murderers, rapists, child molesters- becomes their master status in society. once society tells them that is who they are, they do only what is expected of them- by killing, raping, and molesting again
Philip Zimbardo- Stanford Prison Experiment- After two days of being labeled a prisoner or a guard, the volunteers for the experiment could not separate the study from reality, believing everything around them to be true. Guards developed a sense of power that they employed to control and manipulate prisoners. If an experiment had these results, do we really know whats going on in prisons across the U.S. today?
My paper will show that the punishment system in America is not good enough. Instead of repenting for what they've done, many prisoners use their jail time to fuel their feelings of revenge. I will propose that prisons be under extremely close supervision. Prisoners will attend classes in a structured setting where they will, if they need to, improve skills like reading and writing. They would also take a class that allows them to explore why they, themselveds, committed the crime and the effects on crime and society. Once they have completed their time, ex-cons will be forced to participate in a new rehabilitative program that helps them find employment, discusses financial problems, and alerts them to what is expected of them in society today. With this program, they will go back to where they lived before and work on making it a better place with community service, litter cleanup, and building reconstruction. Once they have completed their rehabilitation, they will be placed back into society and be supervised more closely than a parole officer does now. Little by little, after the ex-con shows he is capable of living a legal life, the supervision will decrease until the criminal is seen only once every few months.
-may cost more money to set up a better prison and rehabilitation system, but after a while once the effects start to show, their will be fewer criminals behind bars. This idea nearly eliminates the possibility of repeat offenders.