PRISON REFORMS

Prison Reforms

Abstract

Prison Reforms are programs and projects that work towards the improvement of the conditions in a prison and create a penalty system that proves to be more efficient for the society as a whole. The prison reforms are principally targeted towards inmates who would be released from the prison one day. In the United States, the earliest efforts to improve prison conditions can be traced to the formation of the well known Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons in 1787, an influential Quaker organization committed to the humane treatment of criminal offenders. Efforts to reform America's prisons in the 1800s were part of a broader social reform movement that encompassed issues such as abolition, temperance, and women's suffrage. The reformatory programs offered in the prison aims to help develop earning skills in prisoners, so that they can earn their living through fair means.

Table of Content

Introduction4

Discussion4

Rehabilitation after Imprisonment5

Medical and Mental Health Care7

Work7

Educational Programming8

Substance Abuse Programming8

Negative Impacts of Prison Reforms8

Conclusion10

References11

Prison Reforms

Introduction

Prison Reform can be defined as the programs and projects that work towards the improvement of the conditions in a prison and create a penalty system that proves to be more efficient for the society as a whole. It is seen that, in a prison, a person experiences the economic and social effects of imprisonment that leads them to recidivism. The purpose of the prison reforms is to provide rehabilitation to the prisoners that would prevent them from repeating the same crime or getting re-engaged in other criminal activities after completing their sentence in prison.

The history of these reforms is different in every country. This is because the conditions of prison vary from country to country. Every country formulates its prison system based on the legal system of the country and is directly affected by the cultural and social factors. A few countries do not have detailed prison reforms but still manage to maintain a penal system that follows for generations. During the recent years, most of the countries have made numerous changes to their prison reforms. This paper discusses ways through which prisoners can be kept from returning to prison.

Discussion

The prison reforms are primarily targeted towards inmates who would be released from the prison one day. There are also programs for the inmates, who are sentence for life and will never become part of the society again, there are reforms for these inmates that make sure that they are given the basic rights and are also treated in an altruistic manner. There are programs for the inmates who are not so violent, they may involve in the rehabilitation program facility that provide them with different types of therapies, assistance and training (Lin, 2000).

Rehabilitation after Imprisonment

Despite the centrality, inmate programming to the fate of prison rehabilitation, the trends of rehabilitation for inmates has not been documented over time. In large part, this omission is due to the fact that research efforts are focused elsewhere, for example, on the framing of inmate programs by prison administrators and the ...