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Last year 13,348 people were incarcerated in state and federal prisons. This year, that percentage is supposed to increase. Between 1925 and 1972, incarceration rate increased by 104%, but only four decades later the incarceration rates increased by 705%, making the U.S lead the world in incarceration rates. Today, about 2.3 million prisoners are held in federal or state penitentiaries costing the government more than $50,000 to maintain each prisoner. But whats worse about the current prison system is not the financial black hole it creates, but the harm it does to its occupants. Instead of rehabilitating and reintegrating law-breakers into society, they are judged as criminals for the rest of their lives. When the government should be trying to recreate a functional citizen for society, it is putting inmates in a situation where they are told they are criminals and will be criminals for the rest of their lives. Inmates should be given the opportunity to recreate themselves in prison so that when they leave they may avoid the past situations that led them to prison and lead a new and successful life. The prison system should be built to guide law-breakers back to the path of righteousness, not treat them like outsiders to our society as it as for so many years.

The penitentiary system in America seems to revolve around producing inmates. Even though the U.S has only 5% of the world's population, it imprisons over a quarter of the world's inmates. The U.S ranks first in inmate population among all other countries with 2.3 million inmates, only followed by China's 1.6 million, a distant second. This outstanding incarceration rate comes from the court system's tendency to judge low level threat offenders harshly. According to the U.S Department of Justice, 55% of inmates are classified at either a minimum or low security level meaning that these inmates have committed non-violent crimes and are not considered a strong threat to society. And yet 58% of all inmates will spend more than five years in a jail cell. Instead of rehabilitating offenders, America seems more concerned with punishing them and keeping them in a jail cell.

The penitentiary system not only collects a large number of inmates, but also keeps released inmates in the court system. Upon release from prison, an ex-con has a 60% chance of walking right back into prison in the next decade. The harsh punishment the prison system invokes on its occupants forces them to believe that they will always be criminals. Instead of helping and supporting inmates, the prison system constantly reminds them of their past behavior and misdeeds. Instead of recovering and becoming a functional member of society, inmates are led to believe that their past incarceration makes them a criminal and an outsider from society for the rest of their lives. The purpose of the prison system is to punish criminals of society and to prevent them from committing any further crimes, but sadly the system has only lived up to the first part of that purpose.

Even in terms of finance, the prison system is inefficient. The government spends about $50,000 on each of the 2.3 million inmates. Of that $50,000, $19,000 is spent of security while only $1,500 is spent on rehabilitation programs. While the government has been able to maintain a $115 billion budget on prisons, in 10 years it won't be so easy. Currently, the average inmate age is 39 years old with somewhere between a 5 to 15 year sentence. This means that the government will be paying much more than $115 billion in the upcoming years to pay for the medical expenses of most inmates whose age has deteriorated their health. If the current prison system is not reformed quickly enough to reintegrate inmates into society and release inmates from prisons, it won't just be the government paying for their medical needs. The money will be coming from this generation and even the next.

Some people say that the current prison system is the most effective and no other dependable or financially sound solution exists. They would be wrong. In Norway, Sweden, and parts of Finland, a new movement is underway where people are actually advocating for the abolition of traditional prisons to be replaced with rehabilitation centers. These centers would be equipped with several opportunities for the inmates including a built in high school and classes that teach them skills necessary for a future career such as wielding and practicing law. Inmates would be free to move in and out of their cells, cook in kitchens, and enjoy luxuries such as horseback riding, skiing, and swimming. The purpose of the new system would be to rehabilitate inmates rather than punish them and show the inmates respect so that they will show other respect. Inmates would be given these opportunities so that when they are released from prison they can pursue a new and better life rather than return to their old habits. Prisons like these already exist in Norway with more on the way. Instead of the 60% recidivism rate the U.S encounters and the 50% the U.K experiences, Norway now experiences a low 20% recidivism rate. Instead of punishing inmates like the U.S and U.K, Norway has learned to reintegrate inmates into society so that they may be progressive citizens that create profit for society rather than cost it money.

Prison reform has already begun here in America. The Department of Justice has decided to tackle the obstacle that accounts for 50% of incarcerations: drug offense. By setting up a series of courts called drug courts, the Department of Justice hopes to set up nonviolent drug offenders in a system that turns them into sober individuals who can readapt to society. Instead of feeding them to the prison system, the government has decided to rehabilitate these offenders. So far, these courts have been successful. 75% of graduates from Drug Courts remain out of jail for 2 years. The courts have also shown tremendous financial benefits, saving $4,000 to $12,000 on every client. But this system only applies to specific genre of offenders. This type of reform is needed in entire prison system, not just a small sector of it. If a reform like this proliferated to all aspects of the prison system then changes would be seen in the recidivism rate, inmate population, and spending costs. But more importantly, law-breakers would have the opportunity to redefine and detach themselves from their past actions so that they might pursue a better life and avoid old habits. It would change the system so that not only would society see justice at work, but also see the American Dream at its finest.

Work Cited

"Drug Courts Work." Nadcp.org. National Association of Drug Control Professionals. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. .

"How Much Does It Cost to Incarcerate an Inmate?" Lao.ca.gov. Legislative Analyst's Office. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. .

James, Erwin. "What Are Prisons in Norway Really Like?" Guardian.co.news. Guardian News, 13 Nov. 2008. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. .

Liptak, Adam. "U.S Prison Population Dwarfs That of Other Nations." Nytimes.com. New York Times Company, 23 Apr. 2008. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. .

"Office of National Drug Control Policy." Whitehouse.gov. United States Federal Government. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. .

Peirce, Neil. "America Behind Bars: The Time Is Ripe for Prison Reform." Seattletimes.nwsource.com. Seattle Times Company, 15 Aug. 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2011..

"Prison Count 2010." Pewcenteronthestates.org. The Pew Center on the States, Apr. 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. Prison_Count_2010.pdf>.

"Quick Facts About the Bureau of Prisons." Bop.gov. U.S Department of Justice. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. .