University for Criminal Behavior

This weekend when my parents came to visit I told them about the bill in the state legislature to reduce the required time for aggravated crimes before the inmate sees parole. Currently, the required time is 50% of the sentence; I believe the bill reduces it to 38%. I encouraged my parents to contact their representative if they felt strongly about either side. My dad asked my opinion based on my experience over the past two years in prison.

I explained that rehabilitation services exist in prison but are woefully inadequate. Often there is no motivation for either the inmate or instructor to take the classes serioulsy, so at the end of the class, all the inmate has received is an empty certificate. Just like our meals in the dining hall, it looks good on paper but is not very edifying.

From my own experience in counseling, I think it is a great alternative to straight prison time. Unfortunately, counseling services are almost nonexistent in prison. I've heard that they exist but have never seen them. So, the guys who need real behavioral changes are left in a place without good resources and left with less time for mandatory counseling upon parole. Overall, I think there are far better options for rehabilitation outside these walls.

On a related note, I think there are far too many people sent to prison when it would be far less expensive to keep them on probation. Housing an inmate costs the state around $250,000 per year, while probation costs around $3000 per year. While on probation, a person is also still contributing to the economy because they are required to maintain a job and they would be purchasing products.

Prison is too much of a university for criminal behavior to send and keep so many people housed here. I have learned all kinds of things that I've never wanted to know: how to steal from vending machines, rob stores successfully, grow mushrooms, cook meth, and more. It's strange to watch new people come in and slowly adapt to the prison environment, guys that think they have to prove their manhood or coolness to survive. They pick up all kinds of habits and attitudes from this culture that only serves to prevent them from reintegrating into real society. How this is good for anyone is beyond me.

I believe prisons are valid punishment for many crimes, however the overpopulation of prisons shows that the justice system has been heavy-handed toward some guys for whom there are better solutions. Those who make single mistakes, for the most part, should be given second chances under supervision, while prison should be reserved for the worst crimes and unrepentant repeat delinquencies.