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Prison Reform in the United States

The United States of America should change jails and prisons through rehabilitation

programs such as mental counseling, educational programs, and legal counseling. Prison reform

is one solution for the incapability of our equity framework that numerous states and the

government have investigated. Prison reform is centered on guaranteeing public security and

reclamation for those affected by wrongdoing through the production of a helpful culture inside

our jail framework. These changes try to modify the conditions of imprisonment in manners that

permit the framework to show and boost the perspectives, practices, and ways of life helpful for

moral obligation and restraint. Legal counseling, I believe is the most important. It will provide

the proper counseling before being sentenced for small crimes with longer sentencing. Also,

educational programs will give inmate the opportunity to grow, learn, and achieve their

educational goals while in prison that will help them once they are released. Accomplishing

these objectives through jail change normally falls inside two general classes. To begin with,

guaranteeing admittance to programs which assist people with picking up information, abilities,

work preparing, and positive qualities during their time of imprisonment. Second, by changing

remedial approaches to guarantee that negligible hindrances exist to keeping up certain network

connections during the time of imprisonment. By furnishing people with occasions to increase

gainful aptitudes and preparing them to fortify their positive connections, we can assist them

with accomplishing their maximum capacity and change their lives after getting back to our

networks.

Mental counseling will offer inmates the opportunity to become emotionally and

mentally stable throughout their prison sentence and this could potentially help themselves and

the legal system understand their actions more. It is a given that a great deal of prisoners need

mental advising. Prisoners invest a large portion of their energy inside, cooped up in their cells

and scarcely permitted outside to feel the sun on their skin. Being in separation for such a long

time isn't appropriate for their psychological prosperity, also the vast majority of the detainees

don't get treatment for any mental condition they may have. Mental counseling is more than

meeting with a therapist every week, discussing psychological events, and releasing one’s

feelings and emotions. James Ogloff, PhD, wrote, “Prisoners are two to three times as likely as

those in the community to have a mental illness (p.1).” Prisoners are jailed because of the crimes

they have committed but it seems as though, once they are held captive, their humanity and well-

being as a human, is often forgotten. Mental counseling is very important. Prison should be a

place for change, reform, and a chance for inmates to change or be given the chance to do so.

The opportunity to understand the “why” behind their crimes that inmates have

committed is likely to be ignored. They may have discussed what they have done during court

however, their thought process that led to their wrongful actions should be acknowledged. Many

suffer from bipolar disorder, ADHD, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other mental

illnesses that aren’t addressed during court and trial or during their prison sentence. Their

opportunity to express their emotional wellness should not be dismissed. I believe that in order to

understand and acknowledge an inmate’s way of thinking or their thought process that has led

them to commit crimes is to reform a criminal’s way of thinking. This could help an inmate’s

perspective on life. Therapy can help improve cognitive thinking and behavioral doings. Actions

can change once a person’s way of thinking is altered or reformed. Cognitive therapy has

developed to incorporate psychological aptitudes preparing, similar to how to take care of issues,

how to manage social circumstances, and how to control one’s anger. The thought is to change

the reasoning that lands guilty inmates in a difficult situation, similar to "I'll never snitch," "I'll

never back down from anybody," "I will take what I need," and "If anybody ever disrespects me,

I will make them regret it." Forms of intellectual treatment have become the transcendent

treatment for wrongdoers in the U.S. Hidden the acknowledgment criminal conduct is the

consequence of criminal perspectives, and that for guilty parties to change their way of thinking,

they should change the manner in which they think.

If prison systems reform and adapt to the culture of the inmates, understanding their

backgrounds, childhood upbringings, and mental well-being, prison could help save the

community and not just provide a place to punish inmates. The younger population including

juveniles are most vulnerable at adolescent ages than adult and because of this, this could

become more beneficial for them to seek help with coping with feelings and will reduce the

number of crimes they commit in the future. If prison systems accommodated the mental well-

being of juveniles at an earlier age, this could influence them to make the right decisions once

they are released. Children are easier to influence and if they are offered guidance and

compassion, this could introduce and establish a new foundation for juveniles and they are more

likely to have a positive outlook on life. The thought of someone willing to help them would

cause them to refrain from the continuous negative behavioral barriers they’ve been carrying that

led them to be imprisoned.

Educational programs can be a gateway to social and economic mobility for juvenile and

adult inmates. This opportunity is often denied for a large population of inmates in prisons. The

Zoukis Consulting Group talks about how education in prison impacting inmate’s outlook.

According to Christopher Zoukis, he stated, “Inmates who participate in educational programs

develop an improved outlook, increased self-esteem and confidence to set goals. Prison

education also has a positive effect on behavior, with prisoners often becoming role models for

others”. (p1) Because of this impact of receiving an education in prison, it is very beneficial to

the community they will be released to once they serve their sentence. Juveniles that are being

held in prison can seek their education that was delayed due to lack of support before being

imprisoned. Offering the necessary resources to help juveniles obtain their High school

diplomas, GED, or certification that can help deliver them, would give juveniles something to

strive for while in prison. In the article titled Prison Reform written by Peter Katel, he stated,

“Advocates of educational rehabilitation like Vera Institute executive director

Jacobson, who was trained as a sociologist, say the research is “pretty conclusive” in showing

that “the more education you have when you leave [prison], the better off you're going to be. It's

not in dispute.”

Informational guides and studies, books, teachers and knowledge could help juveniles

and adult when seeking employment and influence positive outlooks on the community. This

could reduce their chance of returning to prison. Educational readiness can prepare them to adapt

to living in their community. This could also benefit adult population and offer them the chance

to obtain their GED and to also take college courses.

Educational programs can influence juveniles to become influential leaders, mentors, and

teachers; they can aim to speak to the younger generation about their experience inside prison

walls to avoid other younger populaces from making the same mistake. The books and lessons

that juveniles are given while in prison can help them lecture other populaces that they can relate

to. The proper terminology and effective ways to communicate will be very helpful for them

once they are released.

Legal representation for juvenile inmates can have a great impact on the outcome of the

punishment in relation to the crime committed. Juvenile detainees are less likely to afford legal

counseling and representation. Their factors of obtaining legal representation may not be fair to

their level of sentencing. Most children or juvenile inmates come from low class and middles

class families and people of color. Juveniles are opposed to asking their families for financial

help because they know that they are not able to afford the cost of hiring an attorney.

If a juvenile cannot afford an attorney, a court appointed attorney will be given. Court

appointed attorneys have the tendency to side with the judge. They do not give their full potential

to help the juveniles that they are required to represent so therefore, this leads to unfair

punishments for small crimes. If court appointed attorneys inside and outside the prison walls

would work to strive to keep inmates out of the system, juveniles will not receive harsh

sentences for smaller crimes. The right group of legal counseling can motivate juveniles and set

them on the right path.

(OPPOSING VIEWS) Prison reform is a system that is already implemented in most

prison systems and states within the United States. Local taxpayers and the government would

see prison reform as a huge waste of financial resources as a whole and would not be an advocate

to support its purpose. Some may also oppose the meaning and potential effects of prison reform

because due to faith and beliefs not being the primary reason to implement prison reform. The

First Step Act is a bill that is set to reduce the number of inmates being charged for crimes,

signed in 2018. It achieves two discrete things, both pointed toward making the government

equity framework more attractive and more centered around rehabilitation. As per the National

Association of Assistant United States Attorneys (NAAUSA)— the government investigators

who are the first specialists on this administrative criminal law—the bill successfully minimizes

the jail time for a recurrent fentanyl dealer with the most noteworthy measure of fentanyl. Some

are here to perceive how this bill influences the dealers liable for a huge number of deaths in the

past. Shouldn't something be said about our narcotic emergency proposes that lessening the

punishment for dealing these medications is a savvy thought? These same opposers are certain a

significant number of people know somebody who has been influenced by illicit drug use or

even overdose and passing. Presently isn't an ideal opportunity to go delicate on the individuals

who are murdering our children.

Second, some alarmingly vicious wrongdoings meet all requirements for the bill's new

early discharge "time credit" framework. The FIRST STEP Act permits detainees to get early-

discharge credits worth up to 33% of their sentence. In our government framework, inmates as of

now acquire "great time" credits. This new framework is notwithstanding that—which means

solidified individuals will re-visitation of the roads a whole lot sooner than under current law.

Rebuttal(my view)

There is a sensible cost effective for jail prison reform: It is a financially savvy approach

to decrease wrongdoing and prompts long haul benefits over the whole U.S. populace. In 2016,

the RAND Corporation created a report that indicated that people who partake in an instructive

program while in jail are 43 percent less inclined to re-visitation of jail and prison. In addition to

reducing recidivism, education can improve outcomes from one generation to the next. Newer

construction of strategic planning and new ideas could implement new policies and structure.

Inmates who receive mental, legal and educational support while in prison can also reduce the

number of financial responsibilities to care for inmates. More than $8 thousand per inmate is

spent by the government and local taxpayers to “maintain” the establishments of inmates.

Imagine if we could reduce the cost by allowing inmates to have the opportunities to want to

become better while in prison and be released back to their communities. The money that is

being saved by doing so, can be spent on other reform programs and organizations such as

shelters, schools, churches, and etc. Prison reform is also not a losing moral battle, change can

occur. Some inmates are detained because of lack of support and resources prior to landing them

in the prison system. Building the right coalitions-inside and outside of the prison system can

help the community as a whole and not solely the inmate. People that want to change, can

change. I believe that they should be given a fair chance to do so and prison reform for those

being held is a great way to start.

(conclusion) The United Sates can benefit from prison reform. Mental, educational, and

legal rehabilitation are great ways to enforce change within the prison system and communities

where inmates live. Prison reform is one answer for the lack of ability of our value structure that

various states and the public authority have examined. Prison reform is fixated on ensuring

public security and recovery for those influenced by bad behavior through the creation of a

supportive culture inside our prison structure. These progressions attempt to change the states of

detainment in habits that grant the system to show and lift the points of view, practices, and

lifestyles accommodating for moral commitment and restriction.

Works Cited

Compassionate Criminal Justice, 22 May 2019,

vermontersforcriminaljusticereform.org/2019/05/22/how-a-therapist-can-help-an-inmate-cope-with-

life-in-prison/.

Bender, Kathleen. “Education Opportunities in Prison Are Key to Reducing Crime.” Center for American

Progress, 30 Nov. 2018, www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-

12/news/2018/03/02/447321/education-opportunities-prison-key-reducing-crime/.