The paradox of imprisonment lies in society's expectations: the community wants retribution, as well as rehabilitation. Interestingly, for many, sending people to prison is not enough; they insist that offenders mu

Prison is designed for disempowerment. Everyone in jail is vulnerable to a greater or lesser extent. Prisoners live at the mercy of those who are in charge, and of each other, and dignity is a scarce commodity. There are various problems in prisons: sexual assault of inmates and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among the prison population are well documented. On average, one prisoner commits suicide every four or five days. Many prisoners have time on their hands. There is insufficient work and education and not enough is done to stop them from returning to crime. This is why three-quarters of young offenders discharged from prison are reconvicted after two years (Mathiesen 1990). Finally there seems to be a concern about the disproportionate numbers of members of minority groups who are found in prisons. They question whether this is a coincidence or the result of racial discrimination. If the regime is accompanied by an attitude that undermines a prisoner's confidence and self-esteem, then all the stated good intensions will be worth nothing, as prisoners who have suffered unjust treatment while serving their sentences are hardly candidates for rehabilitation (Murray 1997).

A partial explanation on prisons' lack of ability to correct inmates correlates to prisons functioning above capacity. The massive riot in1990 at Strangeways prison in Manchester was a confirmation of the dangers of denying prisoners their dignity. A prison designed for 970 inmates was accommodating 1647 prisoners. The lack of in-cell sanitation meant that the majority of prisoners were forced to go through the early morning ritual of slopping-out. Overcrowding also meant denial of many other basic necessities to the inmates. Prisoners were literally treated like animals and they eventually reacted like animals with devastating consequences (Wilson & Ashton 2001).

So, if we want to rehabilitate criminals we must do more than just send them to prison. For instance, we could give them a chance to acquire job skills; which will improve the chances that inmates will become productive citizens upon release. The programs must aim to change those who want to change. Those who are taught to produce useful goods and to be productive are "likely to develop the self-esteem essential to a normal, integrated personality". Moreover, another technique used to rehabilitate criminals is counselling. Rehabilitative program may also include medical treatment for those offenders who are victims of genetic or biochemical abnormalities.

Statistics factually represent that prisons need effective rehabilitation program for the reformation of criminals. If parolees went to prison and were then released because a parole board decided that they posed no threat, then it's impossible to fathom why they would commit another crime. They were supposedly "reformed" and said to be " a changed person". It is therefore inferred and normally perceived that while imprisoned the rehabilitation they experienced, if any, was ineffective.

Although the best prisons and programs in the world

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