Should Prisons be Abolished?

Should Prisons be Abolished?
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Should Prisons be Abolished?
Prison abolition has been the subject of discussion in the criminal justice system. The modern prison system was developed to punish and deter crimes, but this perspective has changed due to the increasing number of prisons being termed as hotbeds for a crime. Currently, the rising number of criminal activities in prisons leaves people with no option but to believe that these institutions are failing to play their significant roles, and prisons are a very ineffective way to punish and deter cries. Studies show that prison sentences have little impact on crime. Instead, they increase the possibility of more crimes by exposing the convicts to all sorts of criminal activities (Brown & Schept, 2017). All the same, these institutions are incredibly costly, consuming funds that could go into other more effective government programs to fight crime. This essay will argue that abolition of prisons is necessary to address the inherent problems of incarceration: - the creation of additional crimes and the dehumanization of inmates.
Firstly, prisons should be abolished because they dehumanize inmates and deprive them of fundamental dignity (Dubler & Lloyd, 2019). Incarcerating individuals is equivalent to taking away their liberties and stringently controlling their lives. It is because prisoners are physically confined to small cages, and their freedom of movement is limited. They are also forced to follow a strict timetable, which denies them every freedom. These actions dehumanize prisoners and reduce their lives to that of an animal (Renzulli, 2021). Another dehumanizing aspect is that prisons limit human contracts. They significantly limit and monitor visits by families and friends. It means prisoners hardly spend time with the most important people in their lives. The last dehumanizing aspect is sexual deprivation. Sexual intercourse is impossible in prisons since these facilities are segregated by sex, and most inmates are heterosexual. It means that prisoners are deprived of a basic biological need or conjugal rights. These aspects render prison an extremely inhuman cage because it deprives individuals of their dignity.
Secondly, prisons should be abolished because they generate more crime. It mainly happens to ex-convicts and inmates. For ex-convicts, imprisonment causes economic hardship, which is the primary factor behind the crime. As Davis (2011) noted, imprisonment results in unemployment, homelessness, illiteracy, drug addiction, and mental illness associated with economic problems. Many inmates also find it hard to gain meaningful employment after completing their sentences. They are also vulnerable to social stigma, making it difficult for them to be given another chance in the workplace (Salah-El, 2014). For instance, when an ex-convict seeks employment, the employer may view them as criminals who are likely to re-offend due to their history. Some employers may not want to be associated with them, and despite the qualifications of the ex-convicts, the employers may not be interested in hiring them. The difficulty in getting ...