The Pros And Cons Of Prison Recidivism

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It is not unusual to hear about people being locked up or going to prison; in today’s society it seems to be just another place any ordinary person will go. Sadly, this has become the norm in our criminal justice system. If you are caught with drugs you will be sent to jail instead of a rehabilitation center. Or maybe you are a more severe case such as a murder, unfortunately these offenders are not properly evaluated by the psychiatric systems and these criminals will be taken to prison as well. Hasn’t our criminal justice system ever considered that these so called criminals have bigger problems? Just maybe the drug offenders may have an addiction or physiological disorder that requires proper treatment. In prison populations today there…show more content…
Even though they have served their time in prison, they are not able to leave their past crimes behind them. They have a prior record and it makes it harder for felons to become a productive citizen in society. In the documentary Prison State, Keith Huff, a Louisville Detention Center resident, was interviewed. Keith had felony charges for possession and use of drugs. Not only was he a drug offender but suffered from Schizophrenia. He had served his sentence in jail and had been released. He had nowhere to go. He had to go into a shelter, and searched for work knowing no one would hire him since he had a felony background. Not only was he out of a home and job, he had no money to buy the medicine needed for his mental disorder. He was wasout of prison and had nothing to survive on. The prison system just sets prisoners. like Keith, up for failure. After being off his meds for several days he relapsed, skipped parole, and was on the run. Later he was captured and sent back to prison for a longer sentencing. How can we expect these prisoners to come straight out of jail and become a fully functioning citizen. They have no place to live, no job to support themselves, and sometimes they don’t have anyone else to help them? At least in jail, they have roof over their head and food to eat. Instead of living on the streets some prisoners don’t want to leave jail, just like Keith
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