First U.S. woman presidential candidate Victoria Woodhull (1838-1927) wrote: "Good care is taken that each state shall have its own prisons ... and other asylums; but not one building is erected nor one law enforced that would teach the people how not to contribute to these over-crowded receptacles of human misery."
The U.S. prison system confines and punishes convicts. Today's prisons house people convicted of unlawful behavior. Before the 1700s, governments seldom imprisoned criminals awaiting trial or punishment. Punishment was outrightly given convicts, to include branding, fines, whippings, execution. Various punishments have mostly failed in their deterrence.
Reported in the July/August 2008 issue of Mother Jones: "Nearly one in four of all prisoners worldwide are incarcerated in America. One in nine African-American men between ages 20 and 34 is locked up. In 1970, U.S. prisons held fewer than 200,000 people. That number now exceeds 1.5 million. When jail populations are factored into the mix, it is 2.3 million people - 1 in 100 American adults."
Financial statistics show that the more money states spend on building and running prisons, the less revenue there will be for health care, public education, roads, bridges and the like. The U.S. prison system is a financial drain that might be headed for a system implosion.
Voiced U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919): "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." Doing nothing is not an option relative to the U.S. prison system. The financial "bailouts" afforded the lending industry might have to be offered to the prison system.
Here are seven suggestions that might crystallize the seriousness of this societal issue:
1. The U.S. prison system is ripe for an implosion; funds are not available to do what a prison system was "initially" designed to do. The prison system must be overhauled.
2. Prisons television sets are going off the air in February 2009 if they are not converted from analog to digital. Prison personnel and convicts need television sets for control purposes.
3. The prison system is growing exponentially, with a heady surge of women convicts.
4. Prisons are inhabited by convicts who have figured how to get into prison, how to stay there, and what to do to get back in once they are released. Some convicts favor prison life.
5. The increasing inmate population is an economic boon to the operators of 'private' prisons. Private prisons are doing quite well with thousands of inmates outsourced to them.
6. Prison operations represent an "inadequate" return in the billions spent running them. The overall financial return to states on prison operations is dismal.
7. Requests for the financial bailout of the U.S. prison system is a certainty. The request will have the force of a hurricane, but it will be met with great opposition.
What is the purpose of the U.S. prison system? How does it measure up to its core societal values? What are some psychological and societal issues that promote unlawful thoughts and behaviors on the part of adults and juveniles? We must listen, think and adapt to complex prison system issues ... ahead of the expected prison system implosion.
Reach T&D Columnist Howard D. Hill, Ph.D., via www.educationconsultant@sc.rr.com