An Alternative to Incarceration

A detailed Summary of An Alternative to Incarceration

Prisons take the nonviolent offender and make him live by violence. Place them in overcrowd cell-blocks, deprive them of meaningful work, and the result is an embittered underclass. This essay will analyze the current problems with our prison system such as economic and social cost. And finally it will propose a solution based on restorative justice, which is a working program for non-violent and low risk offenders.

Americans literally pay a great deal for prisons to fail so badly. Like all big government solutions, they are expensive. In the course of my studies dealing with the criminal justice system, I have learned that the federal government spends approximately $80,000 dollars to build one cell, and $25,000 per year to keep a prisoner locked up (Kain 2002). The cost in state prison for example California is significantly lower, $40,000 to build one cell and $15,000 per year. Both figures are higher than it costs to educate a student at the college level. These figures are not getting any lower. There is a better way to deal with crime and punishment in America. Our prisons are currently overcrowded and to maintain our current prison population it is estimated that more than ten billion

dollars needs to be spent on construction.

Basically, I am suggesting that when a non-violent criminal is convicted of his or her first offense, he or she be given the option to enter a "work program". Assuming they choose the program they should not be sent to prison until they have failed the program. The program should require they work for wages, as well as cooperative work within the center such as kitchen duty. Their wages should pay for their cost of living, and some should be set aside by the center to help with their cost of re-entering the free world. Once they complete the program they should be required to return for counseling and assistance as they need it to re-enter society. Lastly, I would like to see these programs not reliant on donations and volunteers, but rather funded with money already allocated for prisons.

The billions and billions of dollars spent annually as well as the social costs on our society are part of a huge problem. My suggestion is that our government use the money that they would spend on prisons and staffing these facilities and use the money to fund community correction centers. As well as use the money to staff the centers and provide the maintenance work. The reason why I feel this idea would work is because these types of work programs for low-risk, non-violent offenders would serve the offender and the community better than having the offender in prison. The offender would be able to pay back whom ever that the individual has wronged, as well as being given another chance at life. I am not suggesting that a "work program" is the one and only solution. We did not get to where we are today from yesterday; therefore, we should not expect a solution tomorrow. Nor should we expect a single solution. This solution is viable for about 30 % of our non-violent prison population. The cost would be no more to a taxpayer than what we pay today. Ultimately the cost to society and the taxpayer would be lower than what we pay today.

To lower our prison population I would propose an alternative to incarceration. I propose a working community project. For example in the text there is a community project known as Daily Reporting Centers or (DRC's). This and other non-profit organizations similar to it across the country propose and implement work programs for non-violent and low risk criminals (Clear, Todd, and Harry Dammer 2000). In order to be eligible for these types of community programs we would have to classify the offender and classify the offe

Some common words found in the essay are:
Harry Dammer, Incarceration Prisons, Charles Manson, Centers DRC's, free world, prison population, non-violent offenders, civilized lives, legal system, current prison, non-violent prison population, non-violent low risk, decent civilized lives, low risk, current prison system, dollars spent, non-violent low, justice program, pay cost living,

Approximate Word count = 1693
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics