Introduction
The research question that I wish to investigate is as follows: What are the difficulties of reintegration of criminals into society and how are these difficulties correlated with various approaches to reintegration assistance?
The main claim of my paper is as follows: the penal system in the U.S. is rather imperfect, and one of its major imperfections is the problem of reintegrating ex-prisoners into society.
Analysis
There are a number of reasons for asking this question and making this claim. First, in our opinion, the very aim of the penal system must be not simply punishing criminals but minimizing the damage that crime does to society. Plainly imprisoning felons for what they have done appears to have little sense beyond exacting vengeance from them, which can be understood emotionally, but reasonably does little to compensate for the damage that was done.
Isolating the criminals from the society so that they do not commit crimes again appears to be more reasonable; on the other hand, it seems obvious that it is better to address the causes that led one to commit a crime (such as poverty, or sexism in the society) than simply isolating some of the fallout of these causes. Therefore, if the felons are isolated to prevent the spread of crime, it is logical that measures should be taken to give them away not to continue their previous activities one they are released from prison; this way should be obvious for them, and it needs to be easier to take this way rather than again descend into crime. Thus, it is clear that barriers to the effective reintegration of criminals into society must be examined and addressed.
The first sub claim that I would like to offer is that there exist too many barriers for the successful reintegration of ex-felons, and one of the most important of them is related to future employment. Having a criminal background is a serious obstacle for an ex-convict to find a job; there are a ridiculous number of regulations that appear unreasonable, redundant, and seem to work in a way that may only serve to worsen the lives of the ex-felons. For instance, the American Bar Association has gathered approximately 45,000 regulations that prevent ex-prisoners from taking part in certain activities. Of course, some of them are reasonable (for example, preventing a child abuser from working as a teacher); but, as an example of a regulation that makes little or no sense, sometimes ex-convicts may not be allowed to work as hairdressers (Dewan par. 10). It is apparent that these barriers should be addressed if the ex-prisoners are to be reintegrated into society.
In addition, because incarceration rates are most significant among the poor (Western and Muller 167; Abu-Jamal and Fernández 1-2), it appears clear that, by making it difficult for ex-criminals to find a proper job, they are stimulated to commit more crime in order to obtain some money to survive. This is the reason for the second sub claim, namely, that the penal system should strive to provide employment opportunities for the ex-prisoners.
The third sub claim is that, apart from the problems with employment, other issues that ex-felons face should also be addressed. For instance, it is known that ex-convicts often have difficulties related to stigmatization, substance use, mental problems, etc. (Burchfield and Mingus 109; Shdaimah and Bailey-Kloch 290). While it might be hard for the penal system to battle stigmatization, such issues as substance use and mental illnesses may be addressed, for instance, by collaborating with professionals in the field of medicine.
Works Cited
Abu-Jamal, Mumia and Johanna Fernández. “Locking Up Black Dissidents and Punishing the Poor: The Roots of Mass Incarceration in the US.” Socialism and Democracy 28.3 (2014): 1-14. Web.
Burchfield, Keri B., and William Mingus. “Sex Offender Reintegration: Consequences of the Local Neighborhood Context.” American Journal of Criminal Justice 39.1 (2012): 109-124. ProQuest. Web.
Dewan, Shaila. “The Collateral Victims of Criminal Justice.” The New York Times, 2015. Web.
Shdaimah, Corey, and Marie Bailey-Kloch. “Can You Help With That Instead of Putting Me in Jail? Participant Insights on Baltimore City’s Specialized Prostitution Diversion Program.” Justice System Journal 35.3 (2014): 287-300. ProQuest. Web.
Western, Bruce and Christopher Muller. “Mass Incarceration, Macrosociology, and the Poor.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 647.1 (2013): 166-189. SAGE Journals. Web.