Are Prisons Best For Society?

Vocab Review

Out of sight, out of mind (idiom) – something is easily forgotten once it's no longer visible or present.

Example: Once he moved to a different city, his old friends were out of sight, out of mind.

To cast aside (phrasal verb) – to reject or discard something/someone, often unfairly.

Example: The old factory equipment was cast aside once the company upgraded to newer machines.

Adage (n) – a well-known saying that expresses a general truth.

Example: "Slow and steady wins the race" is an adage many parents teach their children.

All chickens come home to roost (idiom) – past actions eventually catch up with you, usually with negative consequences.

Example: After years of ignoring his health, his chickens came home to roost when he was diagnosed with heart disease.

Discard (v) – to throw away or get rid of something no longer wanted.

Example: She discarded the broken umbrella after the storm destroyed it.

Flaw (n) – a weakness or imperfection in something.

Example: The main flaw in his business plan was that it relied too heavily on a single customer.

Overlook (v) – to fail to notice or consider something, often by mistake.

Example: The manager overlooked a small error in the budget report before it was sent out.

To deter / a deterrent (v/n) – to discourage someone from doing something; something that discourages an action.

Example: A loud alarm system acts as a deterrent to burglars.

Contrary to common belief (phrase) – used to introduce a fact that goes against what most people think is true.

Example: Contrary to common belief, eating late at night doesn't automatically cause weight gain.

Rehabilitate (v) – to help someone return to a healthy or productive condition, especially after illness, injury, or wrongdoing.

Example: The physical therapist worked for months to rehabilitate the athlete's injured knee.

Incarcerate / Reincarcerate (v) – to put someone in prison / to put someone back in prison after release.

Example: He was incarcerated for two years, and after violating parole, he was reincarcerated just six months later.

Notorious (adj) – well-known for something bad or negative.

Example: The neighborhood was notorious for its heavy traffic during rush hour.

To shine light on something (idiom) – to bring attention to a topic, often one previously ignored or hidden

Example: The documentary aimed to shine light on the struggles of small farmers.

Stem from (phrasal verb) – to originate or result from something.

Example: Her fear of dogs stems from a bad experience she had as a child.

Utopian (adj) – describing an idea that is ideal or perfect but unrealistic.

Example: His utopian vision of a world without traffic jams ignored basic infrastructure limitations.

Proactive (adj) – taking action in advance to prevent problems rather than reacting after they happen.

Example: Being proactive about car maintenance can save you from expensive repairs later.

Out of sight, out of mind. That's the idiom that most effectively describes society's view of criminals. For a long time, prisons have been a metaphorical junk drawer used to cast aside the people we don't want to actually deal with. But just as the old adage goes, all chickens come home to roost, all of these people that we discard into prisons are eventually released back into society.

While we cannot deny the important role that prisons play in society, we cannot overlook its flaws.

On the one hand, prison is a crucial part of our society. Not only does prison keep the most dangerous criminals off the streets, but it also acts as a great deterrent against crime. It is likely that without prisons, our society would be overrun with crime and far more dangerous than it is today.

However, prison is not a flawless concept. Contrary to common belief, several studies show that prison does not make society safer. The basis of this argument is mostly that prisons aim to punish prisoners rather than to rehabilitate them, which leads to high reincarceration rates. Rather than addressing the needs of the criminal and figuring out why they committed the crime and how to fix it, we simply make matters worse and lock them up in a scary prison.

Moreover, prison is extremely dangerous and inhumane. Some of the more notorious US prisons are described as hell on earth, and based on the statistics, it sounds right. In some prisons, you are 500% more likely to be murdered than if you were not in prison, you are 1629% more likely to die of a drug overdose, and people are sent to local hospitals daily due to stabbings. Not to mention reports of moldy, expired food.

As research shines more light on these facts, more people are advocating for prison reform, arguing that it would be more effective and ethical to address the root causes of crime, both in prisons and outside of prisons.

For instance, a large portion of crimes stem from the same issues, such as a lack of educational opportunity, poverty, and unaddressed mental health issues. Thankfully, these root causes often have clear fixes, such as providing vocational job training, psychological treatment, and helping inmates secure jobs before being released.

Furthermore, by making societal investments such as increasing public school funding, providing need-based university scholarships, and improving access to affordable healthcare, we would be eliminating the common causes of crime in society. This would be a much more effective alternative to deterring crime with scary prisons.

While these ideas may seem utopian, they are working quite well in the Scandinavian countries, most notably in Norway. In Norwegian prisons, providing education, job training, and mental health care has become a central theme. This has led to extremely low reincarceration rates, dropping from around 70% in the 1990s to about 25% today. This is significantly better than the US, where after 5 years, over 75% of inmates return to prison.

But Norway (and the other Scandinavian countries) doesn't only focus on reforming prisons, they have focused on improving society as a whole. Likely due to the free healthcare and subsidized higher education, Norway has one of the lowest crime rates in the world, about 7 times lower than the US. In this way, Norway has been able to proactively address the root causes of crime.

So, considering how ineffective and unethical prisons are, and how clear the roadmap is to something better, is it time to reform prisons and invest in society?

Questions:

1. Did you learn any new words or phrases in this article?

2. Do you think it is better to rehabilitate criminals or to punish them?

3. Do you think all criminals can be rehabilitated?

4. In some places the death penalty is still used, is this ever a good choice?

5. Do you think a "life sentence" is too much?

6. Should we allow prisons to force prisoners to do free labor?

7. What is the most common crime in your area?

8. In your country, what happens to people who have been in prison?

   1. Can they live normally?

9. Should prisoners be able to have pets?

10. Is mental health openly discussed in your country, or is it considered taboo?

11. Do you think you would like to visit Norway?

12. Have you ever committed a small crime?

13. Is watching free movies online considered a crime?

14. Do you prefer to watch movies in the cinema or at home?

15. What genre of movies do you like?

16. What about getting books and music for free online? Is that a crime?