I have been meaning to write a blog on penal reform for a long time. This article will only touch on some of my feelings, and I will write more in depth later.
One of the key problems with our penal system in America is that it is largely revenge based, rather than rehabilitation based. We think that, by removing the criminal from society, by executing them or demeaning them, we are somehow "dealing with" the crime problem in this country. The fact is, that is just not the case. We are "dealing with" the crime problem in this country in the same way that giving aspirin for the headaches of a brain cancer patient is "dealing with" cancer. We are dealing with a few of the symptoms, to the exclusion of others.
The first thing that needs to be done for meaningful penal reform to take place is a better system of sorting out the inmates. Clearly, there are some individuals who should never see the light of day again, and these people, in my opinion, should be separated from the criminals who will eventually be released. I will not address the former group here, but the latter category of criminals should be part of an aggressive, ongoing attempt to reintegrate them into society. The fact that they WILL be released means, you have two choices: release a prisoner to reoffend, then churn them back through the system, or progressively work towards the rehabilitation of the incarcerated criminal. The second option is the clear choice for a stable, safe society, and yet it is the most often ignored.
What I see as a viable, workable system would go something like this: During the first two weeks of your incarceration, you have NO privileges. You have the basic rights (food, shelter, chapel, reading materials, access to hygiene facilities, etc), but nothing beyond the basics. At the end of the two weeks you have the option of working within the system. If you choose not to work, fine, but your status remains the same. If you choose to work, you begin to earn privileges. A portion of your wage goes to offset the cost of your incarceration, but a portion of your wage is discretionary, with only reasonable barriers as to what you may or may not buy. You may then earn your way up through the system, earning furloughs and trips into the community at the highest levels (this IS about rehabilitation, remember?). The idea is that, once released, you have some clue as to the work/rewards system that many of us enjoy, and you have some concept of what it means to be a productive system.
This is a thread I will continue further on future articles.
signing off,
Gideon MacLeish