Blog 4 The Prisoner's Dilemma

2. Chapman states, “Almost no one contends any more that prisons rehabilitate their inmates. If anything, they probably impede rehabilitation by forcing inmates into prolonged and almost exclusive association with other criminals”(374). Do some research on recent developments in criminal rehabilitation and argue for or against the claim that rehabilitation of prisoners is a futile goal.

I personally agree with Chapman’s claim, and believe that for the most part criminals put in prison do not rehabilitate and become outstanding citizens. A large percentage of the criminals in prison are there do to violent crimes such as homicide and rape. This means that many of the inmates in a prison have a lot in common. Putting gangbangers with other affiliates only causes integration from a street gang to a prison gang. Violence inside of prisons is greater since there is a larger concentration of people with violent tendencies, causing prisoners to become more aggressive than before they were incarcerated. According to a CNN blog, the United States houses 2.2 million prisoners, more than any other country in the world. The blog also points out that “of the hundreds of thousands of prisoners released every year roughly 50 percent can be expected to return within three years”. It’s clear that there is no clear solution to crime, whether we mutilate, humiliate, or try to rehabilitate criminals, there is always a downside, from uncivilized manners to inefficient methods. In my opinion the solution should be focused on the prevention of crime more than the punishment. Many of the criminals are people who are not well educated, who come from dysfunctional families and backgrounds, and are taught a different kind of lifestyle, where violence and crime are glorified. http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2007/02/putting-human-face-on-prison.html