An ever-increasing number of people are spending time in jail. The British criminal justice system holds about 92,400 people incarcerated, the prison population increased considerably in size between 1900 and 2018. State institutions put people away because they consider them dangerous to society. Putting individuals convicted of crimes, particularly violent ones, makes the world safer for the rest of us. Nevertheless, if you take a close look at the situation, you’ll understand that the vast majority of those incarcerated in correctional facilities are guilty of minor violations of the law. The point is that it’s important to carefully consider the use of prisons.
In case you were wondering what the role of current prison systems is, you need to know that it’s not retribution, incapacitation or deterrence. No, correctional facilities are meant to rehabilitate people and help them get on the right path – in other words, to try to make the offender a productive member of society. Unfortunately, society nowadays is forced to choose between rehabilitation and punishment. The question now is: which one is the smart approach?
Incarceration isn’t meant to be fun, but it shouldn’t feel like a punishment
If state institutions in the United Kingdom weren’t able to achieve their purpose, they would be shut down right away. Correctional facilities should go out of their way to help inmates re-enter society, which involves commitment and work from their part. The sad reality is that ex-offenders are regarded as sub-citizens, constantly being discriminated against. It’s hard if not impossible for these individuals to secure gainful employment, find a home, let alone mend family and community relationships. Most of them return to prison after only a few years of liberty.
Examining the differences between rehabilitation and punishment
As mentioned earlier, in the adult justice system, there is a choice between rehabilitation and punishment. Before diving deeper into the topic, let’s explain the two concepts. Rehabilitation, which should be the only goal of the correctional system, implies re-educating and re-training those who commit crimes. Prisons should simply try to rehabilitate people and help them become successful again. Some are of the opinion that rehabilitation doesn’t work. Even if it does or doesn’t work, inmates should be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.
More often than not, inmates are punished for their crimes, so as to say. What happens is that they are put inside cramped cells, which lack modern comfort. The reason why the current framework is unsatisfactory. It doesn’t take into consideration the experience or the severity of the sentences. The recidivism rate refuses to decrease. More than 70 percent of ex-inmates reoffend within the first years of being released from prison. You don’t have to be a genius to understand that punishment isn’t the right course of action.
How are US prisons compared to the ones in the UK?
Surprisingly or not, the United Kingdom and the United States apply similar principles to their correctional systems. The aim is to protect society by confining people who commit illegal acts in controlled environments and ensure self-improvement opportunities to assist them in transforming into law-abiding citizens. So, what’s the difference? Generally speaking, American prisons are considered to be inhumane. In addition to being overcrowded, correctional facilities are quite dangerous. Almost everyone is familiar with the brutality that characterizes US prisons. Solitary confinement is more common in the United States as compared to any other nation.
If you want to find the whereabouts of someone who is in prison custody, it’s enough to deploy inmate-search.online. This is a public service that offers access to precise offender information. it’s a service relied upon when it’s impossible to determine the location of a person. If the incarcerated person has health issues that necessitate immediate attention, identifying their whereabouts becomes of great importance. Getting back on topic, UK prisons aren’t that bad. But neither are they the answer to preventing crime. The problem lies in the fact that they lack a meaningful rehabilitative action. Some of them, at least.
Not many like the direction that UK prisons are taking. Until now, no story of abuse has come out, so it’s safe to say that there is no reason to worry. It’s true that conditions in correctional facilities require improvement, but there haven’t been acute problems with violence, high drug use or building issues for that matter.
The most rewarding types of rehabilitation for inmates
The number of community sentences given had dropped significantly in the United Kingdom. The courts don’t want to impose unpaid work anymore. Scotland communities, in particular, consider that community sentences are ineffective forms of rehabilitation, which is a shame considering that serving local projects helps individuals become active and responsible contributors to the community. Besides giving offenders community sentences, it’s necessary to give inmates a sense of being connected. This implies having frequent conversations.
The thing is that inmates don’t lose only their physical freedom. The true punishment is the fact that they can’t maintain close contact with their loved ones. Offenders are required to reflect on their time spent in prison, but that’s all they do. It’s important to remind inmates that society hasn’t forgotten about them. Conversations definitely help the rehabilitation process, creating a sense of belonging and, well, happiness. Basically, they help those imprisoned to see life from a different perspective. Communication is what allows individuals to grow and it’s vital for everyone, whether incarcerated or not.
All in all, rehabilitation is without any doubt the only way that inmates can return to a normal life. The rule of law doesn’t mean that we’re taking advantage of a perfect system. Some things need to change, while others need to become obsolete. Prisons in the United Kingdom are far from being perfect. But at least they’re not the worst correctional facilities in the world. the correctional system needs to be reformed because it has long standing issues. If the ineffectiveness of the system is eliminated, then we’ll be able to create a constructive culture.