Incarceration arises when people get into trouble with the law, and the courts decide to lock them up in correctional facilities. On the other hand, the incarceration abolitionist movement is a forum that calls for the dissolution of prisons because of the ethical quandaries that correctional officers experience in detention centers. Therefore, this paper briefly explains why the group advocates for the abolition of prisons in light of all the ethical issues that correctional officers face.
Correctional officers face various moral problems in their work, including sexual exploitation, helping inmates with contraband, and mistreating and abusing inmates. For instance, Schaap et al. (2022) state that influential convicts frequently have the chance to bribe their way into better treatment. This also creates room for the other convicts to abuse the guards intentionally. However, in both scenarios, correctional officers must be strict and constant in enforcing the jail rules (Schaap et al., 2022). In some situations, the law requires these officers to risk their lives, separating fights, to implement jail regulations. In this attempt to safeguard the prisoners’ lives, the officers risk severe physical harm from the fighting parties.
These moral issues that correctional officers experience have made it clear that many social problems are tucked away in the rapidly expanding network of jails and prisons. According to Schaap (2022), high incarceration rates harm the officers and frequently worsen criminals rather than rehabilitate them. Therefore, by offering alternatives to jail for those who break the law, the campaign to abolish incarceration should seek to protect public safety and reform the criminal justice system. The effort should concentrate on informing the public about the devastating impacts of confinement on the guards and the neighborhood. Furthermore, the movement should advocate for; effective drug rehabilitation programs, better resources to find work or pursue an education, and volunteer work to improve social interactions between those detained and the neighborhoods they return to after being released.
Reference
Schaap, A. I., Ligtenberg, W. M. R., de Vet, H. C. W., Molewijk, A. C., & Stolper, M. M. (2022). Moral dilemmas of dutch prison staff: A thematic overview from all professional disciplines. Corrections, 1-18.