Chapter Six: Prison

Chapter Six
Prison
Posted August 7, 2012

There are so many things wrong with our prison system today.  While I applaud the attempt at rehabilitation, I agree with Foucault in that it is, more often than not, an epic failure.   In 1983, the recidivism rate in the United States was 62.5 %.  In 1994, that rate jumped to 67.5% where it holds steady today (Recidivism, 2012).  With that being said, I do not believe the answer is to do away with the current penal system altogether; however, it certainly is in need of a major overhaul.  In Foucault’s Illegalities and Delinquency, he tells of a worker convicted twice of theft; and, upon his release from prison, he found himself unable to take up his trade as a gilder.  Living on the street with no food and no money, he met a fellow pauper named Lemaitre, and it was then that wicked thoughts of thieving came back to them (Foucault, 1975). My point is that the entire criminal and penal process is nothing more than a revolving door.  How do we correct this?  Although I am not claiming to know the answer,  I do believe our attempts at rehibilitation have been, historically, futile.  Perhaps the answer is a restructuring of the rehabilitation process; but, perhaps it is to increase the penalty phase of justice in order to prevent these crimes in the first place.  

References

Recidivism. (2012). Retrieved August 7, 2012, from Bureau of Justice and Statistics: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=17

Foucault, M. (2010). Illegalities and Delinquency. In M. Krasny, & M. Sokolik, Sound Ideas (pp. 456-461). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

K.J. Brubaker
Keiser University
Professor Fischetti