The Rise of America’s Prison Empire Essay example -- Analysis, Robert

When envisioning a prison, one much conceptualizes a grisly scene of hardened rapists and murderers wandering aimlessly down the darkened halls of Alcatraz, as opposed to a pleasant facility catering to the needs of troubled souls. Prisons have long been a source of punishment for inmates in America and the tip over continues as to whether or not an overhaul of the US prison system should occur. Such an overhaul would readjust the focuses of prison to rehabilitation and incarceration of inmates instead of the current focuses of punishment and incarceration. Altering the goal of the entire state and federal prison system for the purpose of rehabilitation is an unrealistic objective, however. Rehabilitation should not be the chief(prenominal) purpose of prison because there are outlying f promptors that negatively affect the success of rehabilitation programs and such programs would be too costly for prisons currently essay to accommodate additional inmate needs. Throughout his no vel, Texas Tough The Rise of Americas Prison Empire, author and professor Robert Perkinson outlines the three current dominant purposes of prison. The first, punishment, is the act of disciplining offenders in an effort to prevent them from recommitting a particular crime. Harsh punishment encourages prisoners to behave because many will not want to face the consequences of farther incarceration. season the purpose of punishment is often denounced, many do agree that prison should continue to be used as a means of protecting law-abiding citizens from violent offenders. The isolation of inmates, prisons second purpose, exists to protect the public. Rehabilitation is currently the third purpose of prison. Rehabilitation is considered successful when a prisoner does n... ...ing further sex offenses should be allowed (554). It is too dangerous to risk potential victims so that the offender may complete his rehabilitation program by assaulting a someone a few additional times.In the event that a prisoner (particularly a sex offender) does complete rehabilitation, he carries with him a stigma upon reentering society. People often fear living near a prior drug addict or convicted murderer and the sensational media hype surrounding released felons can ruin a newly released convicts life before it beings. What with resident notifications, media scare tactics and general concern for safety, a sex offenders exponent to readapt into society is severely hindered (554). This warrants life-skills rehabilitation applied to him useless, as he will be unable to even attempt to make the right termination regarding further crime opportunities.