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Why Prisons Don T Work Wilbert Rideau Summary

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Why Prisons Don T Work Wilbert Rideau Summary
‘Why prisons don’t work’ research response
I agree with Wilbert Rideau’s argument that the United States penal system is ineffective and can be fixed. Rideau claims “The only effective way to curb crime is for society to work to prevent the criminal act in the first place” (217). Prisons collect criminals but it won’t stop crimes from occurring. A bad criminal would be someone who was properly cared for and educated but, they crave to hurt others. Many prisoners from poor environments are not always bad and they deserve a second chance. I knew a boy from a dangerous side of town who took a bus daily, just to take a college level networking class at a different high school. He bragged about being in a gang and fights. Although he studied well for class, ironically he had poor grammar and he had never heard of Jim Crow laws that had hurt his ancestors. I believe education is poor in areas with high crime rates. If all of the youth are poorly educated, they’ll be easily influenced by other uneducated people who make poor choices. …show more content…
Singapore changed their penal system goal to educating the public and encouraging future success of prisoners that resulted in a “44 percent to a low of 27 percent” drop in crime rates (Dlugash, “Nudging Prisons”). Punishment can’t stop crime but, education is proven to work. Education can give people ambition that would lower the chance of them following a criminal lifestyle. Prisons must change to rehabilitate the criminals that have never received good education, in order to be effective. A prisoner that is illiterate yet not by choice, doesn’t deserve such severe isolation and punishment. Society needs to know that promoting ambition and education is the only efficient way to stop
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