The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other country in the world, with at least 2.3 million people behind bars in 2020. Incarceration can be justified in a number of ways – violent criminals should be locked up so that the rest of the country can be safe, those who committed crimes need to be punished so that they’re deterred from committing future crimes, and those who haven’t committed crimes are less likely to because they fear the consequences.
While these justifications seem reasonable to some, they don’t take into account the nuances of the situation. One of the many arguments heard when talking about prison reform is the imprisonment of drug addicts, who require treatment instead of incarceration. Another is about how a large proportion of individuals are in jail, not because they’ve been convicted, but because they cannot afford bail. Even when discarding these issues, something remains – the high recidivism rates seen in the United States. Two longitudinal studies (8 and 9 years) studied recidivism rates and determined that 83% of state prisoners, 39.8% of non-violent criminals, and 64% of violent federal prisoners reoffended. This fact alone is enough to question the efficacy of the current system.
Prison Reform in America Is Essential
However, this isn’t all that’s wrong with the prison system in the United States – from unsanitary living conditions to abuse by guards, there’s a lot to unpack when it comes to talking about prison reform.
Living Conditions
While most of us think of bunk beds in individual cells that we see in the movies and on television, this isn’t always the case – many prisons are overcrowded “dorms” with one large room filled with beds. Imprisonment is supposed to be the punishment for the crime, but it seems that prison living conditions are an additional punishment.
Physical and Mental Healthcare
When citizens enter prison, the state is responsible for their health. However, there is little to no physical healthcare, and a severe lack of mental healthcare. In fact, most prisoners are afraid to even ask for help because the result is them being thrown into solitary confinement. Suicide is common among those in solitary confinement, which makes this even more alarming.
Correctional Officers
While correctional officers are in charge of keeping the peace, a vast number of them are corrupt and allow assault, rape, and other violent crimes.
Hygiene
The lack of hygiene (particularly women’s hygiene) in prison is appalling – there have been reports of women not being given sanitary napkins, tampons, and even toilet paper. Pregnant women have it even worse – they’re not given any gynecological or prenatal care, and they’re often left alone for hours when they’re in labour. One woman was even forced to give birth alone in a cell despite screaming for help – she ended up having to chew the umbilical cord off.
Rehabilitation
One way to decrease recidivism is by providing proper rehabilitation to inmates – if those incarcerated are not taught skills to survive in society, they tend to reoffend. However, the current programs are very limited and very few prisoners can take advantage of them. To make them widely available is to strengthen the prison population and to rehabilitate them so that they can contribute to society.
In addition to knowledge and skills, prison reform should consider decriminalizing mental illnesses. Those suffering from drug addiction, for example, should be given treatment and sent to rehab instead of being locked up with violent offenders.
Until we treat prisoners as human beings and give them basic human rights, there is no way that society can be safe. Remember – most of the people who are being traumatized in prison today are going to be out in the same world as you. Do you want them to be rehabilitated or come out more damaged than when they went in?
Comment here