Prisons
Prison refers to facilities where people serve their sentences for crimes committed. Jails are facilities that hold individuals who have not yet had a trial or received a sentence; individuals who receive very short sentences usually serve them in jails. The prison system has several goals: to punish people for criminal activity; to prevent future crimes by taking criminals off the street; to serve as a deterrent to other would-be criminals; and to rehabilitate, or reform, criminals.
In February 2001 Jean Sanders was one of the nearly six hundred thousand Americans who are released from prison each year. After release, Sanders struggled in his native Brooklyn, New York, to find a job, an apartment, and reconnect with his family, commenting, "I want a life. I want to…>> (read more)
Prisons Points of View
5 Threat of Incarceration Deters Criminal Behavior
6 Imprisonment Is a Socially Just Response to Crime
7 Costs of Prison Expansion Are Warranted
8 Incarceration Should Be Punitive
9 Increased Incarceration Has Not Reduced Crime
10 Threat of Incarceration Does Not Deter Criminal Behavior
11 Expanding Prison System Is Socially Unjust
12 Supermaximum Security Prisons Are Necessary for Violent Offenders
13 Supermaximum Security Prisons Are Inhumane
14 Privatization of Prisons Should Continue
15 Private Prisons Are Poorly Run
16 Nonviolent Drug Offenders Do Not Belong in Prison
17 Drug Offenders Belong in Prison
18 Prisons Should Focus More on Rehabilitation
19 Prisoner Education Programs Will Reduce Recidivism
20 Released Prisoners Should Be Helped to Transition into Society
21 Inmates Will Benefit from Anti-Rape Legislation
22 Inmates Are Not Likely to Benefit from Anti-Rape Legislation
23 Inmate Health Care Must Be Improved
24 Prison Labor Teaches Valuable Job Skills
25 Prison Labor Reduces Incarceration Costs
26 Prison Labor Facilitates Inmate Rehabilitation
27 Prison Labor Takes Jobs from American Workers
28 Prison Labor Exploits Prisoners
Prisons
Expert Pass Now
All the Prisons Debate Topics
More Essential Statistics
Expert News Articles from Current Events, National Law Journal, and more
No ads
WiseTo Social Issues
All Access Pass
All of the Social Issues Debate Topics, including Access to the Prisons Topic
The Complete Set of Statistics,For All Topics
Over 20,000 News and Magazine articles
No ads
All for the price of 2 Expert Passes!
Prisons in the News
"I ordered the prison at Guantanamo Bay closed," President Obama proclaimed to his admirers at the United Nations. But he knew even when giving this "order" that it would…>> (read more)
Byline: Henry K. Lee; Chronicle Staff Writer
A Mountain View man has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for cranking out $30,000 in counterfeit bills…>> (read more)
Byline: Wyatt Buchanan and Matthew Yi; Chronicle Sacramento Bureau
Sacramento {mdash} -- With only hours to go before the end of this year's session, the California Legislature…>> (read more)
Prisons Statistics
