A prisoners’ standard of living varies greatly from those of us on the other side of the bars. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, since the beginning of 2018, there have been 2.3 million people housed in American correctional facilities, whether it be state prisons or juvenile detention centers. As the country with the highest per capita incarceration rate, the sheer volume of people in the correctional system in the United States is an issue that needs to be addressed. But it’s difficult to identify the best way to decrease the number of people who are put in jail.
In a 2005 study, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that “an estimated two-thirds (68 percent) of 405,000 prisoners released in 30 states in 2005 were arrested for a new crime within three years of release from prison, and three-quarters (77 percent) were arrested within five years.” This is the biggest flaw in our justice system. We are not helping inmates discover a place in society that is not behind bars.
People in correctional facilities do not have the opportunity to break the cycle of incarceration. But is it the responsibility of the individual to realize this necessity for change, or should the responsibility be placed on the justice system to help educate these people to reintegrate them into society? I believe in the latter. The purpose of the justice system is not just to put offenders in jail, but to create a more just country. This includes helping inmates who need assistance. The Prison Policy Initiative found that the cycle of incarceration is hardest on people with troubled backgrounds who see crime as their only option and are unable to find a way out. The justice system should be a catalyst for them to break the cycle.
Our justice system would function better if we as a country could create a prison system similar to that in Sweden. The Swedish system revolves around rehabilitation rather than imprisonment. Instead of prisoners living restricted lives where their every move is monitored, Sweden has “open prisons,” allowing prisoners to live more like regular citizens. These prisons offer prisoners educational and professional opportunities, allowing prisoners to improve their place in society. In an article published by The Guardian, Nils Öberg, director-general of Sweden’s prison and probation service, says that “our role is not to punish. The punishment is the prison sentence: they have been deprived of their freedom. The punishment is that they are with us.”
While there has been an increase in opportunities for American prisoners to receive an education or start their lives over, the battle for prisoner rehabilitation is far from over. Yes, prisoners made bad and sometimes harmful decisions, but they deserve a second chance. Don’t make them sit behind bars, idly counting down the days until their release. Grant them the opportunity to receive an education and reintegrate into society.
