Engel, Len. (May 2008) “Promoting Public Safety Through Successful Community Tansition.” Crime and Justice Institute. 

OVERVIEW 

Prison is the standard way that society responds to criminals, and with good reason: it prevents the criminal from accessing society to commit more crimes, and the threat of prison is a reasonable deterrent to prevent other people from committing crimes. Prisons have also always carried the potential of being places where criminals could learn to be rehabilitated: where they could learn to repent and society could learn to forgive them. In practice, though, this potential is rarely realised, as any study in recidivism will show. For example, in Massachusetts 50% of released prisoners will be re-arrested within three years of their release. A rehabilitative prison system ought to lead to a steadily declining prison population, but the United States' prison population has been steadily increasing: since 1980 it has increased 700%. 

Engel argues that even outside of any altruistic aims, this is simply bad crime-fighting and bad governance. The prison system is not a very effective way of reducing crime, and it has become extremely expensive to maintain. The State prison budget is now close to $1 billion (out of a total State budget of about $33 billion), and "is 42% over capacity; all but two prison facilities are overcrowded. Every county jail is overcrowded, operating, on average, 65% above capacity with an average daily population of 13,932 with capacity for 8,444 inmates."

This is understandable, as most prisoners "have substance abuse problems, poor employment histories, below average educational attainment, and often are engaged in anti-social relationships," and more than 40% are released without any supervision at all. Research has found that support services such as substance abuse treatment, mental health counseling and job training will reduce recidivism rates, yet because there is little public support for such programs they are sparsely available. A 1997 study published by the Department of Health and Human Services demonstrated that for every $1.00 invested in substance abuse treatment, taxpayers save $7.00 as a result of reductions in crime, victimization and other costs. Engel also cites for comparison that while it costs $43,000 a year to house someone in a Massachusetts prison, it costs only $18,000 a year to buy tuition, fees, room and board at UMass. 

The needs of a released convict become more important the lower the age of the convict: community transition is a particularly vital issue for youth who are involved in criminal behavior. If a youth feels that it is necessary to own a gun or to use drugs, whether to fit in with their peers, for safety or in an act of unthinking rebellion, such crimes will make it very unlikely that they will ever succeed in legal society. The prison system is not designed to be forgiving of such crimes. 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION & DISCUSSION

1. Do you find that youth are aware of the consequences of criminal behavior?

2. Have you found any effective ways of impressing upon youth the consequences of criminal behavior?

3. What is your opinion on how the prison system operates? What should be the system's goals, and how do you think it should go about pursuing those goals?

4. Did this article change your opinion on the prison system?

5. Do you know your State Senator's position on prison reform, and do you agree with it?

6. Do you have any experience with youth in the criminal justice system? If so, what sort of strategies are effective in discouraging them from criminal  behavior? What are their opinions of the justice system?

IMPLICATIONS

1. Whether the goal of the prison system is to reduce crime or to rehabilitate the criminal, then convict support services are an effective way of achieving that goal.
2. Some sort of reform is necessary to the prison system, given its steadily rising population and costs.

Peter Bass, cCYS