In the article, Why Prisons Don’t Work by Robert Rideau, the author elaborates on why the prison system really doesn’t work and how a safer society is primarily dependent on the prevention of crime as well as the rehabilitation of criminals. The article firmly expresses Rideau’s opinion that prisons do not work, but are only quick solutions to the problem. The suggested improvement to the failing system, and which I myself agree with is, taking the time and effort used to lock people away for a long period of time, slowly diminishing their existence, into seriously rehabilitating those prisoners, while they are incarcerated. Ultimately, prisons do not stop the wave of crime, but rather enhance it, allowing former convicts to continue to commit crimes, resulting in re-incarceration. Rideau emphasizes that neither he nor his fellow jail mates were any different from those who had come to jail before them. All of them were “unskilled, impulsive and undereducated misfits, mostly black who had committed acts of criminal activity.” Rideau goes on to further explain that, “the vast majority of [ his fellow jail mates] were brought to jail to die so politicians could pitch the mistaken idea that permanently locking away people in prison will produce a much safer society.”
Lawmakers have created the idea that the quick fix to the crime and violence is to get tougher. I personally think that getting tougher on sentences would only strip a man or woman of their mental capacity to function in society, especially if not afforded the opportunities to be rehabilitated while incarcerated as Rideau suggests. The longer a man or woman is sentenced to imprisonment, without rehabilitation occurring, the harder it is for that man or woman to be a positive acting member of society because they are put in to the system as Rideau earlier mentioned as “unskilled, impulsive and under educated misfits.” Without any type of rehabilitation while incarcerated they will re-enter society upon release the same as they were when incarcerated, “unskilled, impulsive and under educated misfits.” Proving the idea that solely increasing a man or woman’s sentence as a form of punishment does not solve the various issues or mental instabilities majority of prisoners enter the system with.
Furthermore, Rideau directs the reader’s attention to the fact that “ the idea of punishing a few to deter the many is phony due to the fact that potential criminals think they are not going to get caught or they are so emotionally distressed that do not care about the consequence of their action. Threatening those with punishment, regardless of how severe, would never be a factor in the equation.” In other words, using long sentences on prisoners in hopes that it will deter potential criminals from committing crimes is pointless because criminals aren’t thinking about the future consequences while committing their crimes; they are acting off impulse or arrogance believing that they will not get caught. Statistically, crime is a young man’s game. Most of our nation’s waves of crimes are committed by the inner city youth who consider it cool to be a thug, and sometimes even do things to boost their own egos or live up to a machismo façade amongst their peers. Not having one