Title: why prisons don’t work – Barbra Dozier's Blog
Headings: Barbra Dozier's Blog
Barbra Dozier's Blog
why prisons don’t work
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Content: These experiences made the inmate embrace a criminal culture in order to survive in prison. The only possible way that an inmate could survive safely at the prison was to acquire a reputation, which often entailed stabbing another person. Then again, there is the problematic issue of drug abuse in prisons. To illustrate this, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (2006), new inmates that have never consumed drugs before in their lives get their first experiences in prisons. When prison officials fail to engage inmates with constructive activities, the inmates engage in drug abuse to fight boredom. The inmates in prisons usually involve themselves in the use of drugs such as heroin, tobacco and cocaine, a habit they pass on to new inmates not used to drug use, thus frustrating the rehabilitation process. Prison reforms mainly intend to curb criminal activities before they happen. For the inmates that are already in prison, prisons should serve to teach the inmates to have respect for humanity and lead dignified and productive lives. However, too much violence present in today’s prisons only worsens the characters of inmates. For example, Steve (2003) gives an account of violence involving an inmate that went to prison for shoplifting.