Have you ever understood the real reason behind why our society needs to punish criminal offenders? Logically, if you commit a crime, you should get the punishment that you deserve, however it does not guarantee that the same crime will not be repeated. Also, do you ever think it only to makes the offender more vulnerable if the surrounding population consists of other felons that enhance and promote crime? Grouping delinquents together, and not allowing them to be mentored into being a better person when the time comes for release, does no good to the delinquent or the family members involved. Recidivism is very common, and it is scary to think that these people are in our society could potentially cause harm to any innocent civilian. Criminals that are found guilty of a crime, a felony or a misdemeanor, usually endure a consequence. Criminal penalties are generally hostile and can range from simple fines to even death, while violently ripping apart families and removing almost all outside communication. The disciplinary actions given are not always the best way to change or promote a better person. During our generations’ lifetime, there has been an increase in incarceration, and the punishment of “lock up” does not seem to do the job for our country. By changing how we run our prison system we could see a drastic change in how our society improves. The question presented is: how does the effect of rehabilitation for prisoners change the convicted, their families, and the United States? By understanding the effects rehabilitation has on a criminal, implementing a different system resembling rehabilitation can improve our society that has been exposed to offenders that effect of our families, communities, and pockets.

 A very big factor in the development of our prison system is the amount of money involved to feed, run, and pay workers so it can function properly. Time sentenced to offenders is prolonged based on the extremity of the crime. Longer sentences will mean more money will be payed by tax payers to feed and provide security for these prisoners. However, if the system were to change to a more effective way to run a prison, it can benefit both the taxpayers and prisoners in some sort of way. The use of less violence punishments will allow for those disciplinary actions to convert to second chance opportunities that benefit those who pay, but also improve the lives of the convicted as well as their relatives.  In James Gilligan’s article “Punishment Fails. Rehabilitation Works”, he explains that rehabilitation is much more effective because it focuses on repairing each individual and eliminating the intentions of the crime committed (Giligan). Gilligan says, “Two-thirds of prisoners reoffend within three years of leaving prison, often with a more serious and violent offense” (Gilligan); this quote emphases the poor effects prisons have on our criminals. Therefore, by eliminating prisons in general and converting them to second chance opportunities that use rehabilitation, there would be less re-offenses, resulting in less financial support from the public going to prisons. Gilligan follows up with saying, “It would be beneficial to every man, woman and child in America, and harmful to no one, if we were to demolish every prison in this country and replace them with locked, safe and secure home-like residential communities” (Gilligan). This quote describes the change from prison to a more home-like environment that will allow for opportunities to open within individuals so they to steer away from their current, detrimental path. The fact that in prisons are shamed upon so strongly leads to the question: why is this method of punishment still being implemented? And what exactly is learned in during the time spent in prison?

The only rational purpose for a prison is to restrain those who are violent from inflicting harm on themselves or others. Therefore, if prisons are filled with unpredictable people, the benefits of lock-up are minimum. In Ismael Nazario’s Ted Talk, he explains what he has learned as a kid growing up in prison. Nazario states that, “Jails are actually supposed to rehabilitate a person, not cause him or her to become more angry, frustrated, and feel more hopeless. Since there is not a discharge plan put in place for these young people, they pretty much enter society with nothing” (Nazario).  At the end of the quote he finishes off by emphasizing that with no teaching or proper rehabilitation, it will lead to the opposite intended effect of what prisons are meant to accomplish. This means no change or benefits come to the prisoners themselves or their families, and they basically end up back where they first started. For our country to succeed, the people in our society must be on track to follow their goals and strive in becoming better individuals. To commence change in prisons it all comes down to the way the inmates are treated and what they are taught during their time in prison. As very popular saying goes, “treat people how you would like to be treated”. This creates a chain reaction of good deeds and actions since people want to treat others as if someone was treating them that way, and this chain continues to exponentially grow in size over time. Nazario tells a story that expresses such way of teachings very well. In his time in prison he got into an altercation that led to him and a correctional officer to fight over their disagreements. He then thought to himself, what was gained from that fight? He eventually concluded by saying “nothing was achieved through violence in prison, unless you like to be alone”, referring to solitary confinement (Nazario). The core of changing the prisons trickles down to how they run and the teaching within the walls of confinement. If there is no help in changing or teaching the prisoners the right way to act, what hope is there for a positive outcome when they re-enter society? Proper training of correctional officers is in great need and will benefit the prison system tremendously. The perception of prison will be a way of rehab and life changing for the people involved, allowing for a positive second chance at life.  With the correct mentality, the convicted will come into society with a plan and begin to flip their lives around. The developmental change into a better person will be motivational for the prisoners, as well as the people associated with them, and spark a healthy change for families and our shared society. 

Family is greatly affected when a loved one is sentenced time in prison, which can lead to many unbalanced scenarios, leaving children behind in families with weak financial stability.  In Nancy La Vigne’s scholarly article, she writes about the effects incarcerations have on prisoners and their family members. She begins by appealing to the emotions of the loved ones that are affected by not having constant contact with such prisoner. It is hard to return to living how it was before the individual was locked away, especially if the individual was a major factor in the financial stability and care for the family. The effects of detention can relay very different reactions throughout families. La Vigne, researched the different families and the negative effect of having a family member in prison. In this research, the trend of minority families negatively affected was much higher than the white race, and the convicts were the main source of income for the household (La Vigne 316). The imbalances in the family’s financial state causes for lawbreaking solutions to correct the hole missing in the total income. This act of continuous felony does no good for anyone tied into these kinds of situations. Therefore, complete detention from families does not make for a good solution in correcting a criminal. La Vigne later states, “In exploring how family dynamics affect criminal activity, some researchers have specifically focused on recidivism. With remarkable consistency, studies have shown that family contact during incarceration is associated with lower recidivism rates (La Vigne 316). Hence, it makes more sense to not take away family contact to reduce the chance of reoffending. The solution can be related back to eliminating prisons and making them into a place where it is possible to have close contact to loved ones, while at the same time learning and being shown a correct path in life.  This will show how differences are made on the outside, which promotes low hostility and a healthier lifestyle.

Rehabilitation is not always seen as a fair, or even beneficial way to change a person and show them what they truly deserve. In some cases, people find rehabilitation unjust because it does not meet the harsh punishments that criminals deserve based on the crime he or she committed. In Francis Cullen’s article “Rehabilitation: Beyond Nothing Works”, he describes how rehabilitation is not the best way to transform a targeted group, in this case prisoners. He explicitly argues how in order for rehab to be considered as a better alternative than prison, “two major challenges will need to be addressed”. First, with support from policy makers, practitioners must embrace evidence-based corrections and professionalism. And second, “criminologists must seriously take their obligation to develop a correctional science that can invent treatment interventions capable of reducing offender recidivism” (Cullen 299). His two arguments have valuable reasoning behind it, the first being that there should be a rule on who gets the opportunity of rehabilitation. Another source that backs up the prison system comes from Chase Riveland “Prison Management Trends, 1975-2025”. The article strongly makes a connection related to revenge toward a human’s misconduct (Riveland). Whether it was drugs, murder, etc., prison should seek to torture the criminal with eliminating the ability to live a good life and therefore creating a change in the person for the better. Prison is a way to frighten people by advertising the terrible torment that happens inside and gives hope that it will scare members of society from committing crimes that could potentially lead to prison. However, intimidating someone can only go so far, and the way the rates of incarceration are rising means prison is doing what it is meant to do. 

The reputation of our prison system in the past couple of years has been questioning the reason why we still follow its methods. Rehabilitation has shown that with less time and more quality life enhancing skills, it will be more effective for those in prison. In Antonowicz’s article, focuses on the essential components needed for a well-founded rehab system for prisoners. With research, different components are tested to see what reacts best toward the prisoners and show how rehab programs should work (Antonowicz). The study for proper techniques was used in 44 different groups to see what techniques were successful. The strategy that seemed to work the best was the one that appealed to emotion. With these simple strategies used in rehabilitation, it will decrease the recidivism rates and minimize the time spent in lock-up and away from their loved ones. 

In conclusion, rehabilitation has been seen to show many positive effects on the community. With this simple change in our society, many of our country’s problems can be resolved. Rehabilitation is not only intended for prisoners themselves, but their families and the society they live in. The change in our disciplinary system will result in a huge increase for opportunities to improve the life of individuals. In Becky Pettit article “Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in U.S. Incarceration", she tells how rehab will change the societies view on minority groups, which is shamed upon by the high volume of minorities seen in bars (Pettit). By understanding the effects rehabilitation has on a criminal, the implementation of the different system resembling rehabilitation will improve on minimizing offences that effect of our families, communities, and pockets. 
