Nonviolent Offenders Essay - 1495 Words

Nonviolent Offenders – Is Incarceration the Answer? nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; â€Å"It’s really clear that the most effective way to turn a nonviolent person into a violent one is to send them to prison,† says Harvard University criminologist James Gilligan. The American prison system takes nonviolent offenders and makes them live side-by-side with hardened killers. The very nature of prison, no matter people view it, produces an environment that is inevitably harmful to its residents. America locks up five times more of its population than any other nation in the world. Due to prison overcrowding, prisoners are currently sleeping on floors, in tents, in converted broom closets and gymnasiums, or even in double or triple†¦show more content†¦Approximately 240,000 brutal rapes occur in our prison systems each year (Lozoff). Most of the victims are young, nonviolent male inmates, many of them teenaged first offenders. They are traumatized beyond imagination. Most of these inmates are nonviolent criminals who cannot or will not defend themselves. Unfortunately, this results in many of those nonviolent offenders turning violent by the time they leave prison. A gruesome example of the ill-effects incarceration they have on a nonviolent person. A young man was once arrested for participating in a peaceful march that turned ugly when some young thugs started hurling objects at police. In the commotion he was arrested and was jailed in lieu of paying a fine in protest for his moral beliefs. He spent a forty-eight hour period incarcerated, in this time he was savagely raped by numerous violent prisoners. This savage and inhumane attack occurred over twenty years ago, and since then he has had years of therapy, and yet he has never recovered emotionally (Lozoff). His entire life still centers on the decision of one prison superintendent to place him in a violent cellblock in order to scare him and teach him a lesson. He cannot function properly in society; he is mentally scared and still to this day suffers ill effects crippling him of a normal life. If this is a normal outcome of incarcerating nonviolent offenders then this is not the answer. Show MoreRelatedCommunity Service For Nonviolent Offenders1159 Words   |  5 Pagestricky. Many can distinguish how to live as a law-abiding citizen, although many people have suggestions on what is less cost-effective on how to rehabilitate a criminal and to free up the prison system for the violent offenders. A few think that community service for nonviolent offenders can help them understand their wrong doings, others believe that shaming is beneficial, and some believe that putting them in prison is another form of rehabilitation. Therefore, I believe that if a person wants toRead MoreSentencing For Nonviolent Drug Offenders882 Words   |  4 PagesIn fairness to Mitch Daniels, he did eventually gain some compassion for the issue and at one point endorsed alternative sentencing for nonviolent drug offenders as Indiana’s Governor. On the other hand, Bill Clinton and high level members of his administration had smoked marijuana in their youth, yet the Clinton administra tion was one of the toughest in the war on drugs -- except when cases hit close to home. Clinton found time during â€Å"Pardongate† to pardon the drug charges of his brother. AlsoRead MoreDrug Treatment Of Nonviolent Drug Offenders Essay1975 Words   |  8 Pagesas an Alternative. America s Prisons. Ed. Roman Espejo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from â€Å"Treatment, Not Prison, Best Solution for Drug Offenders. Daily Bruin 19 Oct. 2000. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Oct. 2016. Many different states have begun sending nonviolent drug offenders to various kinds of drug treatment program the state offers. By doing this, it has significantly reduced the problems with overcrowding. If an individual is arrested andRead MoreNonviolent Drug Offenders During The United States885 Words   |  4 PagesAs the amount of nonviolent drug offenders increases, so does the amount of prisoners in jail. With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States has 25 percent of the world’s total prison population. Between 1980 and 2013, the amount of people in federal prison for drug offenses has increased from 4,749 to 100,026, and the total federal prison population as increased almost 790 percent. To manage the sharp increase in the inmate population in recent years, the bureau that manages theRead MoreThe Youth Criminal Justice Act893 Words   |  4 PagesIn Spring 2009, three offenders, all in grade eleven , set two houses is Sherwood park on fi re. The youth criminal justice Act (YCJA) provided opportunities for them to reintegrate and rehabilitate, instead of throwing them in jail. YCJA covers kids between the ages twelve to seventeen years old. It s purpose is to handle youth offenders more differently than adults because of their undeveloped minds. The YCJA was released back in 2003. By protecting the rights and providing Youth CanadiansRead MoreIs Video Game Violence the Cause of Juvenile Delinquency? Essay1683 Words   |  7 Pagesbehavior. Other research suggests that active parental involvement in childrens media usage-including discussing the inappropriateness of violent solutions to real life conflicts, reducing time spent on violent media, and generating alternative nonviolent solutions to problems-all can reduce the impact of media violence on children and youth. People are not willing to accept that violent video games are the product of todays society, and that societys ills are rooted in larger problems then aRead MoreCommon Belief Of Video Game Violence1418 Words   |  6 Pageslife. It focused more on potentially negative consequences of the long-term exposure to video game violence (Anderson Dill, 2000). The second study focused on short-term effects of video game violence. It used a pair of well-liked violent and nonviolent video games to close a path to aggression, thus allowing a cleaner test to answer a critical hypothesis that violent content can increase aggression (Anderson Dill, 2000). The study found that short-term exposure increases in aggression were expectedRead MoreVideo Games Promote Violence And Sexual Aggression2166 Words   |  9 Pagesfurther studies proved more significant relationships for short-term â€Å"increased aggressive thoughts† as well as long term effects (2001). Another recent study randomly se lected 151 adolescents and college students to participate in either a violent or nonviolent video game and then deliver certain levels of punishment to an anonymous person (no punishment was actually given). It was discovered that the players of the violent game chose harsher punishments than the others, and that prolonged exposure toRead More The Effects of Media Violence on Children Essay3371 Words   |  14 PagesViolence Exposure And Violent Behaviors In Youth.  Journal Of Community Psychology  36.8 (2008): 989-1007.  Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. Barlett, Christopher P., and Christopher Rodeheffer. Effects Of Realism On Extended Violent And Nonviolent Video Game Play On Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, And Physiological Arousal.  Aggressive Behavior  35.3 (2009): 213-224.  Academic Search Premier. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. Ferguson, Christopher. The Good, The Bad And The Ugly: A Meta-Analytic ReviewRead MoreShould The Prison Building A Reduced Maximum Nonviolent Criminals?1733 Words   |  7 Pageslock up a reduced amount nonviolent criminals. The argument of incarcerating less nonviolent offenders originated in the 1970s, with increasing public concern about the threat of crime and many becoming skeptical about how effective rehabilitation is, Americans started focusing on some other goals of the prison system, such as retribution and public safety. They argue crime measures, such as mandatory minimum sentences and truth in sentencing laws, are keeping minor offenders in prison for too long