Homework Question on Prisons and Imprisonments
- ((Chapter 11 of Conscience and Convenience (the book) or you can use any readings or anything that might have the answer of the questions , after , write a paper 3-4 pages in length explaining your answer to the question below, using examples from the readings argues that prisons cannot both punish and help at the same time, and that imprisonment is used largely because it provides a convenient response to a complex situation. Explain why you agree or disagree with this argument.
- Questions to consider:
- What purposes have imprisonment served throughout US history?
- What purpose does it currently serve?
- How successful have various attempts to use the prison to help people been?
- How has the prison system balanced higher ideals and convenience throughout history?
- What effect does mass incarceration have on the individual and the community?
Homework Answer on Prisons and Imprisonments
Could prisons be used to punish people and at the same time be expected to help them? Are they used simply to provide a convenient response to complex situations? There would be no other ways to effectively deal with criminals apart from taking them away from the society, where they will be isolated and their behavior regulated. Prisons serve as a tool for reducing criminal threats on the members of the society from those they perceive to be harmful to them.
Members of a society are free to do their daily activities when those that are a threat to them with acts of crime are eliminated for the society. However, it is not true that jails cannot punish and at the same time be used to help people. They go through a difficult time from the suffering they undergo both emotionally and physically. For instance, there are those criminals whose imprisonment is accompanied by several strokes depending on the level of crime committed.
They have to cope with the new home conditions. For instance, they have various duties to do in the prisons. In most jails, only security guards and supervisors are present and thus it implies that the prisoners render all the other services. Emotionally, they are isolated from their friends and relatives and have to establish another family in prison. They are punished by having a limit on their freedom. Establishing a new prison means that they have to find companionship from fellow prisoners.