Page 6
Volume 6, Issue 5
EPIB Trail
The prison beatdown By: Arcadia Papalski Have you ever thought about the social injustice and the U.S. prison industrial complex? be
very
issues
helpful
surrounding
tion in the U.S.
Statistics can to
analyze
mass
the
incarcera-
Our society has
been made aware that America holds the
global
title
for
prisoner
populations.
industry
has
quate
not
transition
the The
provided for
largest prison an
ade-
ex-offenders
back into society and leads to reincarceration.
Allow me to address
some important highlights. According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), we have seen a 790% increase in federal prisoner populations over the past 30 years. The
U.S.
Department
of
Justice
states that the 2012 yearend prison
populations 1,570,400
were
in
state
reported and
at
federal
facilities throughout the country. Total state spending in 2008 was at $52 billion, most of which was spent on
prisons.
offenders lately
Rehabilitation
has
and
been
a
hot
programming
for topic
given
to
offenders in place of jail time can be
poor
in
unhelpful.
quality
and
overall
Very few rehabilitation
methods are provided for inmates and this has led to a high recidivism rate, at approximately 70%. than
two-thirds
of
criminals
More are
rearrested within 3 years of their release. Countries such as Norway have taken steps to reform their penal system and provide offenders rehabilitation in place of prison terms. This is a controversial topic in the media, but their system does demonstrate that a punishment system can be reformed.
