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The Injustices of the Judicial System Essay Sample
Our prison systems have been praised by some but critiqued by many and rightly so. As a white, straight, middle-class American citizen I was raised to believe that criminals need punishment to learn what is wrong from what is right and this viewpoint of mine has changed drastically in the last couple of years of being in college. It has changed partly because of my major, psychology, teaching me that deviance is not purely natural, but rather the way they were socialized. Our capitalist mentality has led to the rise in private prisons which seem to put profit ahead of rehabilitation at every corner. I think that many Americans believe our prisons are all state-funded and this common misconception leads to confusion on what prisoners experience. Prisoners in private prisons often worked under horrible conditions making products or doing labor that nets the companies that own these prisons millions. This practice has been compared to modern-day slavery by some, and it is not completely unfounded as some prisoners make absolutely no money doing jobs in states like Alabama. The capitalist mentality works well for the American people in terms of economic and societal growth, but to blanket apply this school of thought in every facet of our society is foolhardy. Some systems need a specific approach that is not tainted by the run-of-the-mill capitalist ideas. Systems like the prison system in America would benefit from a new approach and we as a society need to start demanding just that.
It is widely known that the minority population of our country is affected disproportionately when it comes to incarceration rates. This simple fact should tell us that something should be done to rectify that problem and for the longest time, it has been ignored. This inequality could be attributed to decades of strife after the civil rights movement when racism persisted in institutions such as the police force and education. This has led to a point today where systemic racism still persists today which lends itself to the discrepancy in the incarceration rates that we see today. Many prisons today have separated their populations according to race with the explanation often pertaining to gang violence. This practice engrains in the prisoners that this is the natural order of things and will persist when they re-enter society. Gang violence in prisons could be handled better by the prison system if there were programs to educate them how this type of thinking is detrimental to not only the rest of their lives but to the lives of those around them.
Our prison system is not nearly as bad as many third-world countries and even developed countries. Some countries even have let prisoners run the prisons on their own based on "good behaviorâ€. Some countries prioritize rehabilitation in their criminal justice system, and this seems to have a wider impact in their respective societies. These impacts manifest themselves in lower crime rates and less amount of violent crime overall, as well as the ability for offenders to successfully integrate back into society by getting jobs and contributing to the community It is important to note, however, that America incarcerates the most amount of people in the world. It is ironic to think that the land of freedom puts the most people in jail, but this might be because we have the resources to enforce our laws. The ability to enforce our laws may be a double-edged sword as more inmates mean more expenses on the American taxpayer. Less enforcement of laws could save money that could be put into educational programs for offenders to take instead of being thrown in jail. These programs could catch repeat offenders at a young age and maybe be influential in changing their behaviors. In the end, it could pay for itself by removing future offenses that would be committed by the individuals that go through the programs. This could let people reintegrate into society by obtaining and holding down jobs which in turn allows them to contribute to the betterment of societies. Overall, I believe that America's prison system is one of the better in terms of enforcement but could do better in terms of rehabilitation.
As Americans, I think we accept the punishment as criminals because of our unique historical context. We are the nation that embodies the wild west and the vigilante spirit, and as a result, we enjoy the prospect of fairness or equal punishment. As a nation, we relish the prospect of being the world's police force and putting an end to injustice any and everywhere. This makes Americans very patriotic in the sense that we believe that if our government says that something must be done, then most of the time the American people will support it. The founding of our nation was throwing off the injustices imposed upon us by Britain. In a sense, we are a very young nation that has a strong patriotic identity and I think this is the reason that harsh punishments such as solitary confinement are imposed on those who take negative action against our society even if they are fellow Americans. We hold our society in such high regard that if someone takes negative action against our society then we are swift to enforce our laws and customs of punishment against the perpetrator. This makes us believe that the prisoner deserves the punishment and if they perpetrate more violence inside the prison walls then we are more than happy to up the ante. We put them in solitary confinement which drives many prisoners to suicide or mental health breakdowns. This is acceptable because as an offender to the society they have lost their status as American citizens and are now looked down upon.
