By Mason Vargas
“A 2021 analysis of 116 studies found that prison time does not prevent people from reoffending and, in fact, can increase the likelihood that they will” (Bryant 2023). Currently, our nation is undermining our broken punishment and rehabilitation system that doesn’t do anything to help convicts reshape their lives and readjust into society. We must ask ourselves, should we only punish offenders? Or, should we punish said offenders and emphasize providing rehabilitation to reduce recidivism (the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend)? An astonishing one in every one-hundred and forty-two residents of the United States are currently incarcerated in prison or jail. Many people fail to recognize the root of these crimes as we all fall victim to the fundamental attribution error—the overestimation of another’s personality traits and the underestimation of the situation; as in reality, mental illness, substance use, and poverty are the sparks to this burning flame. The human brain is a developing organ throughout the entire life. Sometimes, people make mistakes and fall into the darkness, they’re kindling to the flame while the United States is the structure of the campfire. Studies show, “young adults with access to mental health services are 15 percent less likely to be incarcerated than those without access,” (Bryant 2023) and “[incarcerated] people who participate in postsecondary education programs, for example, have 48 percent lower odds of returning to prison than those who do not. What does the U.S lack in comparison to the rest of the world? Many Northern European countries aim to maintain a humane approach to imprisonment. This imprisonment is meant to serve as ways for criminals to experience self-growth and refinement, while facing separation from society as punishment. When an American judge visited a prison in Eastern Germany, a prisoner asked her what his sentence would be in America, she replied, “… that he likely would have received 43 years for grievously assaulting a fellow young person and causing brain injury. When pressed why she would have doled out such a long sentence, the judge tried to summon an answer, but hesitated, casting around for assistance from her fellow Americans. She could only say what sentence was both mandated by the law and typical of sentencing practices in her state. But she didn’t know why,” (Subramanian 2021). Why do we punish our offenders so intensely? Now some crimes and sentences are justified no doubt; however, the graph reveals, the population supports rehabilitation over punishment. The majority of these offenders rejoin society and communities. There is hope though, “Vera and MILPA’s Restoring Promise initiative operates within prison facilities to create housing units for young adults that are grounded in dignity, endeavoring to change correctional culture…[life] while in prison resembles life on the outside as much as possible. Vera’s research found that, in one South Carolina prison, people with experience in these units were 73 percent less likely to be convicted of a violent infraction compared with those elsewhere in the facility,” (Bryant 2023). The attempts prove that efforts to help rehabilitate really do work. Slow progress is still progress. The United States must wash out the flame of punishment and rehabilitation.