Populating Our Prisons

Throughout our history we have attempted to transform lives through the process of incarceration.   Our beliefs and goals vary from country to country but the ultimate purpose has been to reform criminals and prepare them for life after imprisonment. Have we done a good job at it? Lets take a glimpse at were the United States stands. Looking back in history and up to the present, we can observe the changes that have occurred with society and our prisons systems. Since the seventies, the prison population has expanded fourfold (Spelman). These changes do not reflect a positive outcome if we are willing to tell ourselves the truth. Prison numbers are growing, we are building new and “more improved” prisons everyday, and the turn around rate among minorities is staggering. Better yet, has imprisonment become another form of enslavement and/or a mega billion dollar industry? This observation allows us to ask the question, “What are we really creating and how far are we willing to go with it?”
How society is affected is only one facet of the whole picture, but it will be highlighted here because of some of the most obvious reason and one being the impact it has made on minority communities. There are also different levels within our society that will be viewed in order to substantiate this charge. The first level will focus on the impact among our family structures and what type of cost is incurred. In this let us look at the question regarding funding that may or may not have been used within communities that are negatively impacted and find out if there were any societal affects. Justice will not be served if we leave out legislative responses to various issues such as race, class, and gender, so these issues will be addressed also.
Secondly, we will note the direction that released men and women have taken once released and conclude whether individuals returning into society can keep up. And finally what alternatives have been used within our society and what new... [continues]

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