Incarceration Vs Rehabilitation Research Paper

The United States prison system has an extremely high recidivism rate of 76.6%. The failure of prison systems negatively affects prisoners and civilians alike. First of all, prisoners are obviously negatively affected because they do not receive the rehabilitation they need to be productive members of society once released. In addition, the majority of the United States are negatively affected through taxes. Many prisons are funded by taxpayer dollars. Incarceration is extremely expensive, costing taxpayers 63.4 billion dollars per year. Therefore, lowering recidivism rates would save taxpayers money. To lower recidivism rates, convicts need to be rehabilitated rather than just punished. When prisoners are properly rehabilitated, they are much

For example, many prisoners struggle with drug or alcohol abuse issues. By providing counseling to drug addicts and getting them clean, prisoners who struggle with addiction are less likely to return to prison in the future. In addition, many convicts have mental health issues prior to prison or form mental health issues while in prison. Proper mental health care and rehabilitation can also decrease mass incarceration rates. Lastly, education has been found to lower recidivism rates. In summary, releasing a stable, educated, well-rounded prisoner is the best solution to lessen mass incarceration, and in turn, lower tax payer costs. However, in recent years, prison budgets have been cut. These cuts have led to less attention being given to prisoner rehabilitation which is only going to result in an increasing number of convicts returning to prison. Although these budget cuts are appealing to taxpayers now, they will end up costing more money in the future as mass incarceration

The most prevalent right now is therapeutic communities. Therapeutic communities focus mainly on drug addiction or other mental health issues. Through moral reform, prisoners are less likely to return once being released from prison. By healing the “broken self”, prisoners become more productive members of society in their life outside of prison (Kerrison). Not only are the treatment of drug issues vital to rehabilitation, treating mental health problems in general can greatly decrease convict’s chances of returning to prison. The best solution to lowering mass incarceration and recidivism rates is to release prisoners who are well-rounded. A well-rounded prisoner is mentally stable and educated so they can be a productive member of society upon release. According to Greta Ferkel, executive dean of Adler University, 40% of released convicts return to prison. 44% of prisons provide no education programs. These statistics show that education could be a possible solution to lower recidivism rates in United States prisons. In closing, when prisoners receive the help they need, whether it be drug counseling, education, or mental health treatment, they are less likely to return to prison in the