Prison Reform Essay

During the 1800’s, American citizens started reform movements in an attempt to help make the country a better place. One of the most important movements was the temperance movement. The temperance movement was in between the years of 1830-1840 and focused on eliminating the use of alcoholic beverages. During this time, alcohol was causing more problems than any other behavior; like crime, disorder, and poverty. This resulted in many social changes, for example, the rise of industrial production and breakdown of apprentice system. Women were huge supporters of this movement, however, most of the men were against this movement. The temperance movement was a time of terror, social reforms, and getting to power and will to stand up for your rights.

After women’s influence spread outside of the home into the public eye the women then felt it was their duty to make the world a perfect place. One of the main reform movements started by the women was the Temperance Movement, designed to moderate the use of alcohol in America. The average alcohol consumption at this time was seven gallons of pure alcohol per person in the United States, and most of this consumption was mostly credited to the men. Drinking became excessive and in many cases dangerous to the women and the children inside the home. Many Americans, mostly women, signed a contract stating they would never drink again, and they were known as Teetotalers. By 1857 twelve states in the union had banned alcohol use completely, showing the influential aspect of women in this reform movement. Through their role in the public sphere they began to reform society into the virtuous place they believed it should be. This was the first reform movement in which women had officially stepped outside of the home to take a stand about. The Temperance Movement marked a huge step for women concerning the public hearing their voice and opinions, and this was only the beginning of many reform movements that would ultimately shape the American culture (Ginzberg

In the late 1800’s people with mental illness weren 't accomdated like people are today. Often people with illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, we 're teased and forced to lock themselves in a room away from civilization. No one truly cared for those with mental illness or tried to find out ways to accomdate them in school or regular life. Even when mental hospitals became more helpful those suffering from different illnesses would rather stay at home in fear than to seek professional help because of the risk of getting teased or called pathetic. The mentally ill patients were made prisoners, sent to alms houses or forced to remain at home because the first colonist believed they were “sick in the head” due to practicing

“Thus came prohibition to the United States. Middle-class Americans—striving to revitalize and preserve American democracy and to usher in a new era of humanity, achievement, and progress—turned to prohibition as one device to achieve their goals.” (Callow) The Prohibition was a time where in the United States the sale and consumption of alcohol was illegal from 1920-1933. It was the 18th amendment which prohibited alcohol in the United States and it states, “The manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” (The United States Constitution) The Prohibition happened to occur during the Progressive Era where morals were valued, the was a rise in feminist and humanitarian movements, and there was action to dissolve corruption in business

Prior to the mid-1960 virtually all mental health treatment was provided on an inpatient basis in hospitals and institutions. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 was established with its primary focus on deinstitutionalizing mentally ill patients, and shutting down asylums in favor of community mental health centers. It was a major policy shift in mental health treatment that allowed patients to go home and live independently while receiving treatment, (Pollack & Feldman, 2003).

Today there are more mentally ill people in prisons and jails in the United States than any hospital or psych facility in this country. Cook County Jail in Chicago, Illinois is the largest mental health institution in the country. When a mentally ill person gets arrested for a violent crime they stay three to four times longer than a regular violent offender. “One third of those incarnated in cook county jail suffers from psychological disorders.” According to a 2006 Justice Department study, more than half of prisoners in the United States Suffer from some sort of mental health problem. The study also says that among female inmates one third of them have some type of mental disorder. In prisons and jails, prisoners sit in their cells majority

In the early 1800’s, Americans were beginning to reform and revolutionize the world they lived in. At this time, America was recovering from the aftermath of the financial and emotional effects of the War of 1812 and the Bank Wars. Considering the cleanliness of drinking water was not high, many people resorted to drinking distilled liquids. The amount of economical stress placed on men in the time lead them to overuse these distilled drinks, also known as alcohol, leading to issues within the home, such as abuse and women’s control of the household. Two main reforms that took place to correct these issues were the Cult of Domesticity and the Temperance movement. The Cult of Domesticity was a reform where women wanted to be represented

Does it make sense to lock up 2.4 million people on any given day, giving the U.S the highest incarceration rate in the world. More people are going to jail, this implies that people are taken to prison everyday for many facilities and many go for no reason. People go to jail and get treated the worst way as possible. This is a reason why the prison system needs to be changed. Inmates need to be treated better. The government treats prisoners as if they are nothing in this world. The U.S prison system needs to be reformed by building new and better prisons and making it more humane and fair.

During the mid-1800s the roles of women were considered to only be taking care of the children and the home. Only 1 in 5 women worked for wages in the workplace. Two women who fought actively for Women’s Rights were Sarah and Angelina Grimke. Angelina published An Appeal to Christian Women of the South, which told women “to overthrow this horrible system of oppression and cruelty”. Few men supported the women’s efforts for equal rights but they still continued to fight by holding national conventions. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott meet at a National Anti-Slavery Convention, which influenced them to hold a Women’s Rights Convention. In 1848 they held a national women’s rights convention, known as the Seneca Falls Convention. At the convention Elizabeth Cady Stanton created the “Declaration of Sentiments”. Proposed in the Declaration was “that all men and women are created equal”. Over 300 men and women gathered at Seneca Falls for the convention and unanimously voted for women to have the right to have equal rights as men. The Seneca Falls Convention was greatly influenced by the Abolitionist Reformation and the Second Great Awakening and truly helped women gain equal rights and prove they are just important as men. Today, women have gained many rights including the right to vote. If it weren’t for the Second Great Awakening women would probably not have most of the rights that they have

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was, no doubt, one of the most important activists for the women’s rights movement in the nineteenth century. Not only was she the leading advocate for women’s rights, she was also the “principal philosopher” of the movement . Some even considered her the nineteenth-century equivalent of Mary Wollstonecraft, who was the primary British feminist in the eighteenth century . Stanton won her reputation of being the chief philosopher and the “most consistent and daring liberal thinker” of the women’s right movement by expounding through pamphlets, speeches, essays, newspaper and letters her feminist theory . However, despite being an ardent abolitionist during the Civil War who fought for the emancipation of all slaves , her liberal feminist theory was tainted by a marked strain of racism and elitism that became more conspicuous as she started pressing for women’s suffrage .

More than 140 women came to Virginia from 1620 to 1622. Women in colonial America had extremely hard working conditions. They were called upon to enable household order. Women were to wake up early in the morning before the sun rose to the late afternoons after the sun went down to maintain the house while preparing meals (which could take hours) before the husband woke up, doing laundry, mending clothes, livestock, working in the fields and gardens, tending to the children (most mid wives had 5-8 children), and many other tasks. Most of all the women abilities were learned from their mothers. Men believed women did not need an education because women were to work at home and tend to the children. Wives of the wealthy had very different lives

The Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 was revolutionary for the time. A women’s rights convention that produced the historic, “A Declaration of Sentiments,” a document which contained a list of grievances over the rights that the women of the time were denied unfairly under the eyes of American law. Led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, the convention was a major step in the legal, social, and religious liberation of women (although it would be more than a century before all women were given the right to vote). Often citing Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson in the document, one of the first lines states that “all men and women are created equal (p2).” Many people,

The rights women were being deprived of was voting, the right to their own property, and the right to get an education. Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott were the main figures leading the women’s rights movement. Elizabeth Stanton was the one who drafted the “Declaration of Sentiment, Grievances and Resolutions” which explained to the people what the women desired. As a result of Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott’s hard work, and the women’s rights movement, the 19th amendment was passed giving women the rights they had desired. Shortly after Elizabeth Blackwell became the first female physician and Mt. Holyoke started accepting women into their

The Canadian health care system has many gaps that need to be filled in in order to improve lives of thousands of Canadians in need. The topic that I have chosen to study is mental health. Mental health is very important as 1 in 5 Canadians suffer from a mental health issue or have an addiction problem (Mental Health Commission of Canada). Mental health is defined as an individual’s state of well-being and ability to cope with the stress of everyday life, in their own way which can lead to essential contributions within and towards their community (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, 2013). It is important to understand that a mental hardship does not only affect the individual but also effects on the community, and

Mary Wollstonecraft is a key figure in the early beginnings of the women’s rights movement. Wollstonecraft, born in 1759, in London, England, experienced firsthand the inequality and oppression expressed towards women during this time. Throughout her life, she fought against her odds and worked to create equality between genders. In her most well-known work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, published in 1792, Wollstonecraft argues a simple point: women should be as educated as men and be treated with the same respect. Her arguments are straightforward and understandable, which is why they have made such a huge difference in the way women have been viewed and treated. To this day, Mary Wollstonecraft remains an influential figure who represents