[Name of Instructor]

American Prison System

Introduction

It has been said by Dostoyevsky that “the degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.” This quote determines that prisons play a major role in explaining the level of civilization in a country. This is because studying the crime rate in a country enables us to know about the literacy rate as well as the civilization. People tend to commit crimes when they are illiterate of when they are unemployed. The population in the US is 313,847,465 which is why it is known as the third most populated country in the world. Therefore, since the population is so much, it is not an easy task for the government to manage the people and to reduce the rate of crime. 82% of the population is urban which means that most of the people are civilized. With regards to the history of the American prisons, we can easily judge the US society. The prison system of America has been a source of constant debate regarding whether the system is effective for the rehab of the prisoners or is it merely a waste of tax dollars.

The Realities Prison System

Prison since its inception has also served to those in power as a political prison. Its very existence represents a threat to those who are considered political opponents, religious or philosophical, and not just for those who commit crimes for other reasons. It is very common to hear that jail is a reflection of society, which is partly true, but a reflection is a measure that lets us see the degree of humanity and inhumanity. The prison is the product and is part of a social reality based on economic and political inequality (Elsner, pp. 123). The prison is or is constituted as violence itself and as such is also a violent space resulting in violent relationships and violent existence. A place where everyday life is manifested is given based on violence, that violence in turn is expressed in all its harshness in the everyday.

But like any architectural building has a function, purpose, prison is meant to objectify and alienate at its best men (convert them to numbers) and to fulfill that function, its structure must be alienating. The jail is not built to be appreciated aesthetically but can do so, is constructed to physically and mentally destroy men (Hawkins & Alpert, pp. 54). The space which is jail alienated not only limits the physical liberty of coming and going, the making and unmaking, it also limits the freedom of thought, freedom to dream, imagine, create and build, communicate, even freedom to develop the senses.

Violence in Prisons

History of American prisons has revealed that the US society was much uncivilized mainly because of physical, physiological abuse and mental abuse. In the previous years, the condition of the American prisons was extremely worse, and this is because the prisoners were treated very badly because of the torture they received. This tells us that the society ...