Penal Policy: Restorative Justice over Punishment
In the 1800s, the penal system in England with inhumane punishments was appalling. Activists sought to reform the system and create new forms of rehabilitation for prisoners, one of these forms being the treadmill. While prisoners were believed to not only be physically fit and contribute to society by crushing grains on the treadmill, it was obvious that this ‘rehabilitative’ method was rather a punishment. Inmates accumulated around 5,000 to 14,000 feet a day while working 6 or so hours on this torturous device. While the 1898 Prisoners Act banned this form of rehabilitation, it is apparent that most prisons today retain the ineffective mindset of inhumane prisoner justice with punishment
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First of all, every individual in society is entrusted by the government to obey the law and contribute to the community in a positive manner. However, incarcerated individuals have abused this trust by harming others and the community itself. Therefore, shouldn’t these individuals be further punished if they have committed crimes that made their victims suffer? Since it is believed that “human rights of prisoners are said to be ‘weak’ human rights,” then these law offenders could be punished by depriving them of their freedom with strict rules and even solitary confinement. In solitary confinement, prisoners may be punished by limiting human contact which have made prisoners “mentally even more ill” (Yamashita, “Human Rights of Prisoners”; Casey, “Solitary Confinement in the UK”). In the end however, further inhumane treatment would not affect changing morals in psychopaths for according to Dr. Bruce Gage, chief of psychiatry for the Washington Department of Corrections, they “tend to lack fear and have a ‘reduced response to punishment.’” Additionally, moral justice is not created if the penal system further damages the mental state of prisoners. For example, in the United Kingdom, one inmate claimed that there were “ten suicide attempts so far” in one prison, while another claimed …show more content…
While Halden’s prison focuses on restorative justice in the prison’s aesthetics and programs, Kenyan organisations, such as Kituo Cha Sheria, focus on changing morals by allowing prisoners contribute to society as paralegals. According to Catherine Fellows’s BBC.com article titled “Kenyan Prisoners Take the Law into Their Own Hands”, prisoners in Kenya such as Douglas Owiyo take law into their own responsibility by defending accused citizens in the court. Since 2007, these prisoner paralegals have partook in “more than 3,000 successful appeals, even though they are not fully qualified lawyers.” Not only would this opportunity allow prisoners to contribute to their community by being paralegals, but it would also change morals for these individuals are educated about their legal rights. With this knowledge, they can make better decisions regarding actions they take and also become more motivated, reliable lawyers once out of prison. Additionally, allowing prisoners opportunities to contribute while incarcerated gives prisons actual purpose other than depriving prisoners of human rights. Although historians believe that colonial governments established and left prisons congested and unsanitary because the prisoners were Africans, prisoner paralegal organizations exemplify that old views and justice in
Forcing Woody to communicate through writing when struggling with literacy already was even more punishable. Forcing other prisoners with disabilities to room with each other isolates and groups them together. All of these conditions and factors are unhealthy and emphasize the poor treatment and oppressiveness the prison system
People get incarcerated due to many reasons and sometimes they get harsh sentencing due to their crime. The crimes may either be intentional or accidental, but that is no excuse for the bureau of prisons. The prison sentences are sometimes doubled and tripled. These sentences are so harsh sometimes that the prisoners don’t get to see their family members anymore. Sentencing reform should be able to be in prisons not only statewide but globally because it will give prisoners a chance to fix their mistakes.
However, as many of these institutions began to change and reform prison sentences, many still viewed punishment techniques as “coercive forms of control” (Wright, N/D, p 318). Even though, prisons are meant to control inmates every movement, they are also abusing that power in separating
The effect of a failed justice system causes innocent people to feel “heartache of having missed so much of life” after serving time for a crime they did not commit (Baca 567). Often these innocent prisoners serve their time in solitary confinement. The isolation causes them to lose their sense of freedom, which can develop into a personality or mental disorder. They become
Solitary confinement began as a standard punishment of the penitentiary system in the United States in the nineteenth century. It was a response to the philosophical transformation influenced by the Enlightenment, that sought to distance punishment from brutality (Cloud, Drucker, Browne, & Parsons, 2015). The penitentiary system was developed as a more humane alternative to the torture and executions that were happening in England (Cloud et al., 2015). Instead of having corporal and capital punishment, such as public hangings and whippings, individuals were confined to their own cells (Guenther, 2013). Supporters, such as the Quakers, believed that this confinement would force the individuals to confront their own conscience, and they would
First you hate them, then you get used to them. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. That 's institutionalized.’ A prison should aim at retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation. I am very well convinced that prison has served its first three purposes by depriving offenders’ freedom, but the
As a result, they involved (in crime) parole into the federal system in 1910 to let convicted violent criminals who did well in jail out early. The only (loss of wealth, power, reputation/something that ruins something) was that every prisoner couldn 't get parole. The broad ability to make independent decisions of judges and parole (people in charge of something) came to an agreement on the length of prison sentences before the Sentencing Reform Act came from/was caused by an idea known as offender healing/repairing. Prison-based healing/repairing programs were designed to reduce crime by helping law-breakers to function(usually/ in a common and regular way) in (community of people/all good people in the
It is true to an extent that criminals do not deserve to be entitled but the inhumane dangerous living conditions found in most prisons are unjust. Inmates should not have to live in animalistic barbarian conditions. Inmates suffer long sentences to be released to no community or rehabilitation back into society. However, there is discomfort and there is bordering on torture. There are prisons that exist and do not put prisoners through harsh living conditions.
In order to outlive the prison experience, inmates are constrained to endure great psychological changes. Noetic harm inflicted whilst imprisonment as well the challenges posed have only grown over the last several decades. These challenges include a much-discussed de-emphasis on rehabilitation as an objective of imprisonment along with rigorous policies and conditions of solitary confinement. Thus, creating prisons more troublesome places to adapt and sustain oneself. Adjustment to advanced imprisonment demands particular mental costs of incarcerated persons; few individuals are more vulnerable to the pains of imprisonment than others.
What can be done The monitoring, prevention and treatment of mental disorders, as well as the promotion of good mental health, are part of the public health goals in prisons. According to World Health Organization (2017), even in resource-limited countries, measures can be taken to improve the mental health of prisoners and prison staffs, which can be adapted to the country’s cultural, social, political and economic environment (WHO, 2017). In the British prisons, some practices and policies have also been implemented, which reflect the positive impacts of prisoners’ mental health and wellbeing. Provide prisoners with appropriate mental health treatment and care.
, as the numbers continue to raise the question is do prisons work? ( http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN04334) To try to answer this question I will look at the pro 's and con 's of prisons, overcrowding in the prison system, the cost of prisons compared to alternative sentences such as fines, community service and probation. I will also look at whether incarceration has a psychological effect on prisoners and if it acts as a deterrence? Gone are the days …....
In Adam Gopnik 's piece “Caging of America,” he discusses one of the United States biggest moral conflicts: prison. Gopniks central thesis states that prison itself is a cruel and unjust punishment. He states that the life of a prisoner is as bad as it gets- they wake up in a cell and only go outside for an hour to exercise. They live out their sentences in a solid and confined box, where their only interaction is with themselves. Gopnik implies that the general populace is hypocritical to the fact that prison is a cruelty in itself.
However, crimes are committed whilst in prison, such as drugs and assaults. Some critics say the ‘three strikes and you are out’ law where repeat offenders get a longer sentence are wrong, as the third strike could be a lesser crime such as public disorder. Nevertheless, if just incapacitation and no rehabilitation some critics say will be costlier to society as they will go out and reoffend and, they are not employed and pay taxes. Rehabilitation is also a punishment which should improve the offender's behaviour and stop them committing crimes. Advocates of rehabilitation state prison does not work; however, critics of rehabilitation state prison does work as the criminal cannot commit a crime against the public while incarcerated (Cavadino, 2007 p 36/56).
PsPsychologists working in prisons apply psychological principles within a correctional setting to deal with a complex web of problems. The main function of sentencing an offender to prison is to protect society by removing the criminal from the streets and punishing him for his acts. This function is referred to as the function of ‘incapacitation’. This function seems to be in sync with the image of a prisoner who is seen as cold, abusive, harsh and dangerous. However, for a psychologist even prisoners need to be treated humanely, need to reformed and re-integrated with society.
This has detrimental effects, not only for the prisoner, but also for prison authorities in that a situation of "them" and "us" often develops. Behavioural treatment programmes can be the required motivation in an inmate's positive adjustment, both psychologically and sociologically, to the prison environment. * Although programmes should not be aimed at changing behaviour itself, a variable that can never really be evaluated, they may open a more positive dialogue between staff and prisoner, thereby establishing a sound foundation for the personal development of prisoners serving life