Looking for a Solution

by Trieu Nguyen

America imprisons more people than another country in over the world. This country has to pay a lot to run the prisons. It is said that many Americans think that putting the offender in jail is a good solution to keep peace and security in this country. This essay tries to show that incarceration is not the best way to deal with offenders because it costs a lot, is not humane, and has not been proven effective.

Firstly, incarceration requires the United States to pay a lot for running and maintaining the system of prisons. It is clear that to lock up many prisoners, the American government has to spend money to house, feed, clothe and care for prisoners as well as to pay the salary and other costs for those who run prisons. The article "Fixing America’s Prisons" explains that taxpayers “spend more than $80 billion a year to keep all people in locked up” (The week, 2015). Therefore, it is reasonable to think about several alternative solutions so that the government can decrease tax for citizens.

In addition, because many people are locked up,  they cannot contribute to the common good of society. In a certain way, they become the burden of society instead of making a good contribution to the society. Some may argue that when the bad people have been locked up, our society is safe and stable; consequently, the economy can grow. I totally agree with that argument; however, we need to keep in mind the fact that when offenders are locked up, their future could be closed and they find it difficult to re-entry and contribute positively to their family as well as their society. This means that incarceration not only limits a current and active participation of an individual in the society but makes them difficult to participate actively and productively in the society in future.

Secondly, it seems that incarceration is an inhumane system if we think that it is the only and best way to deal with offenders. The fact that we just want to put them into jail demonstrates that we do not or do not want to believe in their ability to convert and become a good person. This mentality could come from the “throwaway” culture of today's society that discards anyone who is unproductive or harmful to our society as Pope Francis frequently says. Republican former Texas Gov. Perry agrees that “when we lock people up, we never give them a second choice at redemption” (The week, 2015). Therefore, it seems that America is negating some certain values of human beings. When some occasionally do something wrong, they no longer have a chance to convert and re-entry society. In a certain way, it could say that they are thrown away without hope for a better future for themselves as well as for their family. In my opinion, this policy of America reflects a negative point of view about human nature. As a result, this could affect social relationships negatively, especially on the education for young people. A more humane system requires that prisoners are treated like people. They need to be given a chance to become a better person as well as to have a hope that they would benefit society when they get out.

It is justified that some crimes have to punish with sentences of prison for long-term but this is not reasonable in every case. It is necessary to distinguish a different kind of crimes. It is not fair when we consider burglary, robbery equal with rapist or homicide. For example, Leandro Andrade was convicted of stealing children’s food and was sentenced to two 25 to – life term (The week, 2015). In order to respect human dignity, it is necessary to take account of different circumstances relating to an offender. These could be the intention of offenders and the circumstances in which the offenders have committed crimes. Besides that, some alternative solutions need to be applied such as probation program or re-entry program.

Finally, incarceration has not been proven effective. Its efficacy is still debatable. It is difficult to find a direct correlation between incarceration and crime levels. Some argue that when crimes are punished by putting in jail people would be afraid and don’t dare to commit crimes. However, we don’t have many evidences to verify that claim. For that reason, we need to find out other solutions to deal with offenders and this process needs to be done step by step. The kinds of crimes and circumstances as well as human dignity need to be considered for those who involve in process of making this decision.