The Bard Prison Initiative (BIA for short) is a private learning institution in the state of New York who services up to 300 students in 6 different prisons. Prisons, as we know, are an example of a total institution where all aspects of an inhabitants’ life is under extreme authority. Total institutions cause people to lose their individuality and any type of connection to the outside world (such as technology, basic human interactions). Because inmates are incarcerated for long periods of time, it is usually very difficult for them to positively contribute to society upon their release. Providing College Classes at Maximum Security Prisons is a social issue because it shapes the lives of the inmates who will be going through resocialization back into society. Providing education will adequately prepare inmates for their return to society through the knowledge acquired in those courses.
From a functionalist theorist perspective, college courses being taught in prison can help maintain social balance. Durkheim believed that crime and incarceration are fuctional for society as they teach consequences for violations of moral codes and/ or breaking of laws. From the functionalist perspective, inmates can acquire new knowledge and achieve higher educational goals which in turn, will greatly benefit society. For these specific inmates, the chances of re-committing crimes and going back to prison are minimized. Because of their acquired knowledge and/ or degrees, they can become productive members of society.
I really enjoyed reading this blog post, and I definitely learned something new. I was not aware a program such as BIA existed where inmates were able to acquire college class knowledge while incarcerated. I personally believe this program can change the lives of these inmates while in prison and after their release. Statistics show that 68% of prisoners who are released are re-incarcerated within 3 years of their release. Programs like BIA can positively change those statistics, I believe prisons should be focusing more on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
1.In Jessica response to the article “Collage Classes In Maximum Security: It Gives You Meaning”, I do agree with what she wrote. The bard Prison Initiative is a well invested program in New York that helps incarcerated prisoners to reintegrate back into our social society by having access to college education. It allows major courses, and the ability to get a bachelor’s degree coming out of prison. Allowing opportunity to inmates to get a job and be productive in society today. Company’s and employers steer away from people who have a criminal record, but if there is a program such as (BIA), it could help reduce the crime rate enormously for prisoners going back to prison because lack of opportunity of jobs. Statistics show 68% of inmates go back to prison in the first three years of being released. This stood out to me because it could help reduce that number and give a higher chance for that inmate being productive and having that equal opportunity of a second chance. It’s a progressive idea that more states should adopt and benefits society and less crime for the world. I choose to comment on this blog post because it’s an issue that I believe to be important and should be address to help better our society. I think this blog post is intuitive, it allows great key points on some serious social issues in today. This topic is relevant because every day more and more people are being incarcerated and released. It’s a cycle that will continue to exist, it’s a part of society. Sociologist have and continue to study this topic, what can we do and how can make an impact. Using my sociological imagination, I can connect role exit into this topic, the (BIA) helps with the role exit of being a prisoner to being educated and intellectually prepared when going back into society. The switch into civilian life isn’t always the easiest, but having this program can impact individual lives for a better future. The transition through the role exit will be smoother than not have going through the (BIA) Program.
2.The interactionist theorist would say this is a social issue, they would acknowledge the importance of such a program like the (BIA), each individual can make in impact and learn so much. They would also say there is a chance of failure to this program, interactionist believe people obey laws based on their own past experiences. They might believe even though they are trying to better their lives and get an education to function back into society, they might revert to the crime that got them incarcerated in the first place, adding to the 68% statistic as I mention earlier. Some Interactionist believe that the face to face interaction within these programs can impact on their behavior. They would manipulate symbols of how to be a better person and realize their social world can change. Behavior can change over time, learned, and maintain, with prober precautions and extensive course. They would discuss this back and forth but ultimately would say that the (BIA) is the best solution to start with.
Maria E. 1.In response to Jessica R., I agree that the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) is an extremely beneficial learning institution that allows former prisoners to get a degree and education and helps balance the opportunities they may or may not have once released. It is important to realize that over 600,000 prisoners are released yearly and many of them are obligated to drop out of the workforce because they lack the skills that will help them with resocialization. I believe that Jessica is right to state that a functionalist would see that such a program helps maintain or restore some sort of balance in society. I chose to comment on this blog post because, as the article mentions, we don’t track the unemployment rate for released prisoners. It is necessary to find the means to help them reintegrate to society, to facilitate the process for those who truly want to make a change in their own lives. Evidently, this is an issue relevant to sociology because 600,000 people is a huge number. People who can’t find jobs and can’t stabilize their lives. However, they are not the only ones affected by the issue. Apart from the fact that former convicts are given the opportunity to start better lives, it saves people the costs that low employment rates for prisoners cost. According to a 2010 study, it costs between $57 billion and $65 billion when they are unable to find jobs. Finding a way to get these prisoners back in the work force is a way to adjust some balance while saving the government and people billions of dollars.
2.In the eyes of a conflict theorist, programs like the BPI are useful to help get rid of some inequality. Released prisoners are let out to society without being properly prepared to start over. They do not have the experience or the education that jobs require. They $65 billion expense to the rest of society. BPI allows the released prisoners to reintegrate to society ready work toward helping to build the economy. More people prepared to succeed in life helps diminish the gap between the rich and the poor.
1) The problem addressed by this article is this: that people who have served time in prison and are not educated sufficiently have great difficulty finding employment upon release. In-prison college education programs are discussed as a potential partial solution to this problem. The specific case presented demonstrates that this kind of program can improve employment prospects, reduce rates of recidivism drastically, and make one’s time in prison more meaningful and rehabilitative.
This is a social issue because we expect people to leave prison and reintegrate with society, but don’t offer many options, pathways or support to facilitate this. If people are unable to reintegrate, support themselves and their families, and feel that they have an opportunity to contribute something to society, they may be funneled back in to the prison system just by default, due to lack of other options. If we also take into account the stigma, housing difficulties, and the requirement to readjust to social norms (after complete resocialization in prison), we have a recipe for a poor outcome.
To think about this issue, I will take a functionalist approach- not because it leads gracefully to conclusions that please me, but because it is the only approach I have not yet used as a tool for analysis.
2) I think there are two ways to apply a functionalist perspective:
A. We could take a traditional hands-off approach, and say that the system is doing its job by punishing people convicted of crimes, and if those people end up back in prison after being released then they must deserve it. Convicts would be thought to “serve” the society by providing examples of what happens if you violate formal norms, thus scaring everyone else into behaving properly. If this were an effective tactic for controlling behavior, we would expect to see rates of incarceration decreasing over time, rather than remaining stable or increasing. That is, unless functionalist logic assumes that there are a certain number of intrinsically “bad” people in society, whose role is to help define the “good” ones and keep them in line, thus stabilizing the society. This kind of thinking would lead us to conclude that no money or effort should be wasted educating prisoners, either because they are believed to be irredeemable, or because they are more “useful” to us when they are being punished. This conclusion directly contradicts what is revealed by the case presented in this article.
B. Another way to apply a functionalist perspective will lead to the opposite conclusion. We could start with the premise that society is analogous to a living organism that is constantly self-adjusting and balancing itself out. If this is true, then all the components (the “organs”) of society need to be kept healthy for the good of the whole. The prison system is one such organ. We can’t have these isolated, hidden, diseased compartments that just suddenly release their maltreated contents into the external environment without any preparation or support.
I don’t think we even pretend that our prison system is intended to rehabilitate- we intend for it to punish. We often speak in terms of getting justice or revenge, rarely in terms of healing and eventual reintegration. So, if our actual intent is to punish, then the system as-is executes this function perfectly. There are few more effective ways to destroy people’s lives than to isolate, mistreat, deprive and blame them, and then shove them back into society with an indelible stigma and no support. That anyone can ever recover from this kind of treatment is remarkable to me.
Perhaps when people violate laws, it is sufficient punishment to temporarily isolate them from society. It is not necessary to also deprive them of all mental, emotional, and social nourishment. In the human body, even a malfunctioning organ is still fed, and the body actively tries to heal it- it is not cut off from nourishment just because it is not working well with the others. With this viewpoint, you could say that in-prison college education is completely sensible and worthwhile, so that the whole “organism” of society has its best chance to be healthy.
3) I liked this article, but find it puzzling that its conclusions are not already obvious to us. Apparently we require experiments and case studies to determine that if we treat people with some human decency, it is better for them and for all of us. I chose this topic because I find so many aspects of our criminal justice system intolerable and infuriating. This feeling is augmented once we factor in the death penalty and life imprisonment, as well as the number of wrongly convicted innocent people who are swept up and destroyed by this system. This issue has sociological relevance all around, affecting individuals, families, and entire communities. We all want to live in safe communities, and we claim to want people to “be their best” and contribute to society in a positive way. I don’t see much evidence that we truly want to maximize everyone’s potential, but if we are going to claim this as our goal, then helping people reintegrate post-incarceration is the only logical course of action. Beyond just education there should be support in all aspects of reintegration: individual and family counseling, employment services, housing assistance, and definitely an elimination of the ex-con stigma. I’m afraid many of us derive a perverse satisfaction from having our deepest prejudices validated, but perhaps this is something that can change.
1.Brining college education, personal training and even entrepreneurship programs behind bars may reduce finical costs to society. Having a education program in our prison system can start out by helping the inmates still have a desire to start fresh. A program called Bard Prison Initiative is privately founded baccalaureate program that provides the college education that these inmates need. Giving this program to the inmates a professor says students are very engaged in the seminars. Considering this education system has a high demand, they only accept 10 to 25 percent of applicants. I believe they should create more space to have more students. Why limit the capacity? However finding a job still might not be the easiest thing. Some are now creating laws that prevent employers from doing a background check about prior convictions. Doing this will create more jobs with more determined workers. Always having to be reminded of your past will never change a thing!
2.Society being a system of interconnected parts would connect this to a functionalist theory. Contributing education to inmates in prisons is giving a positive impact on society. Helping one another in various ways can maintain balance and peace in our world. Most of these inmates haven't had the best of education therefor the BPI is giving a second chance to make them selves better again. Durkheim a functionalist argued that crime is a normal part of life. He also argued that crime is only dysfunctional when it is at a unusual high or low. This can prove that everyone needs a second chance to change the ways they were living.
3.This topic was very interesting to me considering it offered a second chance to inmates who have been away from the normal world and might have forgotten what school and education are. Prison systems may have a education system but the BPI is offering a wider variety of education. I chose this specific blog post because for me it was something new to talk about unlike funding for schools, race issues, and so on. Exploring a new concept of second chances can help expand our minds to give more to the world and to help each other
Imani S. 1. The problem in this article is when people are incarcerated they do nothing but now there are many programs being offered in prisons for higher education and even internships for former convicts. Another problem is many employers are very hesitant to hire a former convict but now they can get higher education while in prison which will give them an advantage so they don't end up in jail again because they couldn't find a job when they got out and they had to do illegal work.
2. I chose to apply the interactionist theory because our society is has been shaped to believe all convicts are bad terrible people, which in some cases is true but there are many people incarcerated that learn and understand what they have done and want to change their lives, who are we to not allow a person education? Also employers do not want a former convict as an employee because of the fear of if they might do what they did in the past, in our society when you have a label its hard to get rid of it but hopefully in future years to come this can change and they will have a second chance at life.
3. I chose this article because America imprisons people lets them out with nothing and expects them to make a life for themselves. Having higher education in prisons will give former convicts a better chance of life when they get out, they can continue their education and become something, also if you are imprisoned for 40+ years what could give you motivation to even stay alive? Taking those classes and learning will help the prisoners which will make them into responsible civilians.
I agree with what you said, but only to a certain extent. There aren't many programs being offered at all right now. The Bard Prison initiative is one of the biggest programs of it's kind and they only serve 300 inmates exclusively in New York. The article is hoping to bring awareness to these small, but emerging, new programs for inmates and if we as a society should visit the idea of publicly funding these kinds of rehabilitation programs. I personally feel like these programs are long overdue; we attain our strongest vocational skills within our twenties, but if you're deprived of that opportunity and then tossed out a couple decades later then you're more likely to sink than swim. This topic is extremely relevent to sociology due to all of us forgetting that Prison is meant to be a rehabilitation site. You're supposed to "learn your lesson" and not do whatever you did again so why aren't we already funding programs that give these inmates the proper tools to not do whatever they did all over again and end up in jail. Another part of this is that, as Imani stated with labels, ex-convicts will have to work harder for the rest of their lives to prove that they're no longer "Bad" and have changed for the better. As a society we have not established a required amount of time served or accolades attained by inmates for us to unanimously consider them "Good". Employers face two fronts themselves; worrying about the liability they may pose and the contractarianism upheld with their customers. Employers may fear how they are perceived by customers if it is known that they hire ex-convicts, but it's all very dismissive at the very least.
I would choose the functionalist perspective for this article. Crime may be observed as necessary to establish a sense of morality and exemplification when those convicted of said crimes are brought to justice. yet, not all emphasis should be placed on crime, but how we go about "Rectifying it". Jail was meant to rehabilitate convicts, otherwise they would have been euthanized long ago. Why are we approaching education within prisons as a potential latent function? the way things are currently established the main dysfunction of prisons is the deprivation of means to rehabilitate those who truly seek it alongside the environmental settings. Removing a person from society, removing any opportunity to better yourself and then tossing them out several years later and telling them "You're all good now" doesn't work. we need to work together to change the function of prisons from "Shit box" to its intentional "Rehabilitation facility".
The American prison system of today fails to conduct it’s intended purpose. What was meant to rehabilitate people and send them back into society as productive members is instead degrading the men and women who have served time and making it nearly impossible for them to transition back to the outside world. This not only fails to rehabilitate them but it uses funding that can be applied to more important fields and in turn hurts the country’s economy even more by making it difficult from prisoners to join the work force and contribute. Programs like the Bard Prison Initiative push for educating prisoners in hopes that when they are released they will be able to successfully re-join society and the American workforce. It provides them with education, job skills, and training; thus truly rehabilitating people. Offering College level courses to prisoners can be more cost efficient than constantly housing repeat offenders who always end up in prison, it also allows them to rejoin the working force and contribute to the American economy. It can also solve social issues among prisoners and give them the skills needed to effectively communicate once they are released.
Looking onto this matter from a functionalist perspective, providing education to prisoners has more of a positive impact on society. The educated prisoners are able to return to society and contribute in providing balance in the workforce and society as a whole. Less tax dollars will be spent on housing repeat offending prisoners, the prisoners in society will create a larger workforce to allow more production, and they will spend their income and have it circulate again; all of this will contribute to a healthier economy.
I agree greatly with the issue of prison education. I used to be in a Police academy course and we would often take trips to prisons and I would see first hand what their days were like inside. I believe that provide education to prisoners will have much more of a benefit to society than just housing them in prison.
Arlen M 1) In response to Alex N, I have to say that the American prison system has not completely failed its intended purpose. It may be true that the prison system was created to rehabilitate the inmates, but that process takes time and money and sometimes you can’t rehab some people, like serial killers and sexual offenders, or mentally unstable people. As we read in the article, only 10 to 25 percent of inmates make it into the program and the rest wash out. Those who make it, have the potential to be rehabilitated and find redemption, but sadly the rest are lost cause. They can’t be fixed, no matter how much time and money we spend on them. The reason I’m writing this comment is because, we have to look at this problem from another point of view. 2) By looking at this form conflict point of view, I can say that the prison system is almost functioning ok and its main purpose is still intact. I believe that the main purpose of the prison system is to keep the dangerous criminals locked away from the society and to give the other few (10 to 25 percent of those inmates who make it into the educational program) a chance to become better people and to start over.
Jessica R.
ReplyDeleteThe Bard Prison Initiative (BIA for short) is a private learning institution in the state of New York who services up to 300 students in 6 different prisons. Prisons, as we know, are an example of a total institution where all aspects of an inhabitants’ life is under extreme authority. Total institutions cause people to lose their individuality and any type of connection to the outside world (such as technology, basic human interactions). Because inmates are incarcerated for long periods of time, it is usually very difficult for them to positively contribute to society upon their release. Providing College Classes at Maximum Security Prisons is a social issue because it shapes the lives of the inmates who will be going through resocialization back into society. Providing education will adequately prepare inmates for their return to society through the knowledge acquired in those courses.
From a functionalist theorist perspective, college courses being taught in prison can help maintain social balance. Durkheim believed that crime and incarceration are fuctional for society as they teach consequences for violations of moral codes and/ or breaking of laws. From the functionalist perspective, inmates can acquire new knowledge and achieve higher educational goals which in turn, will greatly benefit society. For these specific inmates, the chances of re-committing crimes and going back to prison are minimized. Because of their acquired knowledge and/ or degrees, they can become productive members of society.
I really enjoyed reading this blog post, and I definitely learned something new. I was not aware a program such as BIA existed where inmates were able to acquire college class knowledge while incarcerated. I personally believe this program can change the lives of these inmates while in prison and after their release. Statistics show that 68% of prisoners who are released are re-incarcerated within 3 years of their release. Programs like BIA can positively change those statistics, I believe prisons should be focusing more on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
Mark.P Blog 4 Reply
DeleteMark.p Blog Post #4
Delete1.In Jessica response to the article “Collage Classes In Maximum Security: It Gives You Meaning”, I do agree with what she wrote. The bard Prison Initiative is a well invested program in New York that helps incarcerated prisoners to reintegrate back into our social society by having access to college education. It allows major courses, and the ability to get a bachelor’s degree coming out of prison. Allowing opportunity to inmates to get a job and be productive in society today. Company’s and employers steer away from people who have a criminal record, but if there is a program such as (BIA), it could help reduce the crime rate enormously for prisoners going back to prison because lack of opportunity of jobs. Statistics show 68% of inmates go back to prison in the first three years of being released. This stood out to me because it could help reduce that number and give a higher chance for that inmate being productive and having that equal opportunity of a second chance. It’s a progressive idea that more states should adopt and benefits society and less crime for the world. I choose to comment on this blog post because it’s an issue that I believe to be important and should be address to help better our society. I think this blog post is intuitive, it allows great key points on some serious social issues in today. This topic is relevant because every day more and more people are being incarcerated and released. It’s a cycle that will continue to exist, it’s a part of society. Sociologist have and continue to study this topic, what can we do and how can make an impact. Using my sociological imagination, I can connect role exit into this topic, the (BIA) helps with the role exit of being a prisoner to being educated and intellectually prepared when going back into society. The switch into civilian life isn’t always the easiest, but having this program can impact individual lives for a better future. The transition through the role exit will be smoother than not have going through the (BIA) Program.
2.The interactionist theorist would say this is a social issue, they would acknowledge the importance of such a program like the (BIA), each individual can make in impact and learn so much. They would also say there is a chance of failure to this program, interactionist believe people obey laws based on their own past experiences. They might believe even though they are trying to better their lives and get an education to function back into society, they might revert to the crime that got them incarcerated in the first place, adding to the 68% statistic as I mention earlier. Some Interactionist believe that the face to face interaction within these programs can impact on their behavior. They would manipulate symbols of how to be a better person and realize their social world can change. Behavior can change over time, learned, and maintain, with prober precautions and extensive course. They would discuss this back and forth but ultimately would say that the (BIA) is the best solution to start with.
Maria E.
Delete1.In response to Jessica R., I agree that the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI) is an extremely beneficial learning institution that allows former prisoners to get a degree and education and helps balance the opportunities they may or may not have once released. It is important to realize that over 600,000 prisoners are released yearly and many of them are obligated to drop out of the workforce because they lack the skills that will help them with resocialization. I believe that Jessica is right to state that a functionalist would see that such a program helps maintain or restore some sort of balance in society. I chose to comment on this blog post because, as the article mentions, we don’t track the unemployment rate for released prisoners. It is necessary to find the means to help them reintegrate to society, to facilitate the process for those who truly want to make a change in their own lives. Evidently, this is an issue relevant to sociology because 600,000 people is a huge number. People who can’t find jobs and can’t stabilize their lives. However, they are not the only ones affected by the issue. Apart from the fact that former convicts are given the opportunity to start better lives, it saves people the costs that low employment rates for prisoners cost. According to a 2010 study, it costs between $57 billion and $65 billion when they are unable to find jobs. Finding a way to get these prisoners back in the work force is a way to adjust some balance while saving the government and people billions of dollars.
2.In the eyes of a conflict theorist, programs like the BPI are useful to help get rid of some inequality. Released prisoners are let out to society without being properly prepared to start over. They do not have the experience or the education that jobs require. They $65 billion expense to the rest of society. BPI allows the released prisoners to reintegrate to society ready work toward helping to build the economy. More people prepared to succeed in life helps diminish the gap between the rich and the poor.
Rebecca J.
ReplyDelete1) The problem addressed by this article is this: that people who have served time in prison and are not educated sufficiently have great difficulty finding employment upon release. In-prison college education programs are discussed as a potential partial solution to this problem. The specific case presented demonstrates that this kind of program can improve employment prospects, reduce rates of recidivism drastically, and make one’s time in prison more meaningful and rehabilitative.
This is a social issue because we expect people to leave prison and reintegrate with society, but don’t offer many options, pathways or support to facilitate this. If people are unable to reintegrate, support themselves and their families, and feel that they have an opportunity to contribute something to society, they may be funneled back in to the prison system just by default, due to lack of other options. If we also take into account the stigma, housing difficulties, and the requirement to readjust to social norms (after complete resocialization in prison), we have a recipe for a poor outcome.
To think about this issue, I will take a functionalist approach- not because it leads gracefully to conclusions that please me, but because it is the only approach I have not yet used as a tool for analysis.
2) I think there are two ways to apply a functionalist perspective:
A. We could take a traditional hands-off approach, and say that the system is doing its job by punishing people convicted of crimes, and if those people end up back in prison after being released then they must deserve it. Convicts would be thought to “serve” the society by providing examples of what happens if you violate formal norms, thus scaring everyone else into behaving properly. If this were an effective tactic for controlling behavior, we would expect to see rates of incarceration decreasing over time, rather than remaining stable or increasing. That is, unless functionalist logic assumes that there are a certain number of intrinsically “bad” people in society, whose role is to help define the “good” ones and keep them in line, thus stabilizing the society. This kind of thinking would lead us to conclude that no money or effort should be wasted educating prisoners, either because they are believed to be irredeemable, or because they are more “useful” to us when they are being punished. This conclusion directly contradicts what is revealed by the case presented in this article.
B. Another way to apply a functionalist perspective will lead to the opposite conclusion. We could start with the premise that society is analogous to a living organism that is constantly self-adjusting and balancing itself out. If this is true, then all the components (the “organs”) of society need to be kept healthy for the good of the whole. The prison system is one such organ. We can’t have these isolated, hidden, diseased compartments that just suddenly release their maltreated contents into the external environment without any preparation or support.
(Rebecca J., continued from 2B.)
ReplyDeleteI don’t think we even pretend that our prison system is intended to rehabilitate- we intend for it to punish. We often speak in terms of getting justice or revenge, rarely in terms of healing and eventual reintegration. So, if our actual intent is to punish, then the system as-is executes this function perfectly. There are few more effective ways to destroy people’s lives than to isolate, mistreat, deprive and blame them, and then shove them back into society with an indelible stigma and no support. That anyone can ever recover from this kind of treatment is remarkable to me.
Perhaps when people violate laws, it is sufficient punishment to temporarily isolate them from society. It is not necessary to also deprive them of all mental, emotional, and social nourishment. In the human body, even a malfunctioning organ is still fed, and the body actively tries to heal it- it is not cut off from nourishment just because it is not working well with the others. With this viewpoint, you could say that in-prison college education is completely sensible and worthwhile, so that the whole “organism” of society has its best chance to be healthy.
3) I liked this article, but find it puzzling that its conclusions are not already obvious to us. Apparently we require experiments and case studies to determine that if we treat people with some human decency, it is better for them and for all of us. I chose this topic because I find so many aspects of our criminal justice system intolerable and infuriating. This feeling is augmented once we factor in the death penalty and life imprisonment, as well as the number of wrongly convicted innocent people who are swept up and destroyed by this system. This issue has sociological relevance all around, affecting individuals, families, and entire communities. We all want to live in safe communities, and we claim to want people to “be their best” and contribute to society in a positive way. I don’t see much evidence that we truly want to maximize everyone’s potential, but if we are going to claim this as our goal, then helping people reintegrate post-incarceration is the only logical course of action. Beyond just education there should be support in all aspects of reintegration: individual and family counseling, employment services, housing assistance, and definitely an elimination of the ex-con stigma. I’m afraid many of us derive a perverse satisfaction from having our deepest prejudices validated, but perhaps this is something that can change.
Alisa Papazyan
ReplyDelete1.Brining college education, personal training and even entrepreneurship programs behind bars may reduce finical costs to society. Having a education program in our prison system can start out by helping the inmates still have a desire to start fresh. A program called Bard Prison Initiative is privately founded baccalaureate program that provides the college education that these inmates need. Giving this program to the inmates a professor says students are very engaged in the seminars. Considering this education system has a high demand, they only accept 10 to 25 percent of applicants. I believe they should create more space to have more students. Why limit the capacity? However finding a job still might not be the easiest thing. Some are now creating laws that prevent employers from doing a background check about prior convictions. Doing this will create more jobs with more determined workers. Always having to be reminded of your past will never change a thing!
2.Society being a system of interconnected parts would connect this to a functionalist theory. Contributing education to inmates in prisons is giving a positive impact on society. Helping one another in various ways can maintain balance and peace in our world. Most of these inmates haven't had the best of education therefor the BPI is giving a second chance to make them selves better again. Durkheim a functionalist argued that crime is a normal part of life. He also argued that crime is only dysfunctional when it is at a unusual high or low. This can prove that everyone needs a second chance to change the ways they were living.
3.This topic was very interesting to me considering it offered a second chance to inmates who have been away from the normal world and might have forgotten what school and education are. Prison systems may have a education system but the BPI is offering a wider variety of education. I chose this specific blog post because for me it was something new to talk about unlike funding for schools, race issues, and so on. Exploring a new concept of second chances can help expand our minds to give more to the world and to help each other
Imani S.
ReplyDelete1. The problem in this article is when people are incarcerated they do nothing but now there are many programs being offered in prisons for higher education and even internships for former convicts. Another problem is many employers are very hesitant to hire a former convict but now they can get higher education while in prison which will give them an advantage so they don't end up in jail again because they couldn't find a job when they got out and they had to do illegal work.
2. I chose to apply the interactionist theory because our society is has been shaped to believe all convicts are bad terrible people, which in some cases is true but there are many people incarcerated that learn and understand what they have done and want to change their lives, who are we to not allow a person education? Also employers do not want a former convict as an employee because of the fear of if they might do what they did in the past, in our society when you have a label its hard to get rid of it but hopefully in future years to come this can change and they will have a second chance at life.
3. I chose this article because America imprisons people lets them out with nothing and expects them to make a life for themselves. Having higher education in prisons will give former convicts a better chance of life when they get out, they can continue their education and become something, also if you are imprisoned for 40+ years what could give you motivation to even stay alive? Taking those classes and learning will help the prisoners which will make them into responsible civilians.
Raul P.
DeleteIn Response to Imani S.
I agree with what you said, but only to a certain extent. There aren't many programs being offered at all right now. The Bard Prison initiative is one of the biggest programs of it's kind and they only serve 300 inmates exclusively in New York. The article is hoping to bring awareness to these small, but emerging, new programs for inmates and if we as a society should visit the idea of publicly funding these kinds of rehabilitation programs. I personally feel like these programs are long overdue; we attain our strongest vocational skills within our twenties, but if you're deprived of that opportunity and then tossed out a couple decades later then you're more likely to sink than swim. This topic is extremely relevent to sociology due to all of us forgetting that Prison is meant to be a rehabilitation site. You're supposed to "learn your lesson" and not do whatever you did again so why aren't we already funding programs that give these inmates the proper tools to not do whatever they did all over again and end up in jail.
Another part of this is that, as Imani stated with labels, ex-convicts will have to work harder for the rest of their lives to prove that they're no longer "Bad" and have changed for the better. As a society we have not established a required amount of time served or accolades attained by inmates for us to unanimously consider them "Good". Employers face two fronts themselves; worrying about the liability they may pose and the contractarianism upheld with their customers. Employers may fear how they are perceived by customers if it is known that they hire ex-convicts, but it's all very dismissive at the very least.
I would choose the functionalist perspective for this article. Crime may be observed as necessary to establish a sense of morality and exemplification when those convicted of said crimes are brought to justice. yet, not all emphasis should be placed on crime, but how we go about "Rectifying it". Jail was meant to rehabilitate convicts, otherwise they would have been euthanized long ago. Why are we approaching education within prisons as a potential latent function? the way things are currently established the main dysfunction of prisons is the deprivation of means to rehabilitate those who truly seek it alongside the environmental settings. Removing a person from society, removing any opportunity to better yourself and then tossing them out several years later and telling them "You're all good now" doesn't work. we need to work together to change the function of prisons from "Shit box" to its intentional "Rehabilitation facility".
Alex N
ReplyDeleteThe American prison system of today fails to conduct it’s intended purpose. What was meant to rehabilitate people and send them back into society as productive members is instead degrading the men and women who have served time and making it nearly impossible for them to transition back to the outside world. This not only fails to rehabilitate them but it uses funding that can be applied to more important fields and in turn hurts the country’s economy even more by making it difficult from prisoners to join the work force and contribute. Programs like the Bard Prison Initiative push for educating prisoners in hopes that when they are released they will be able to successfully re-join society and the American workforce. It provides them with education, job skills, and training; thus truly rehabilitating people. Offering College level courses to prisoners can be more cost efficient than constantly housing repeat offenders who always end up in prison, it also allows them to rejoin the working force and contribute to the American economy. It can also solve social issues among prisoners and give them the skills needed to effectively communicate once they are released.
Looking onto this matter from a functionalist perspective, providing education to prisoners has more of a positive impact on society. The educated prisoners are able to return to society and contribute in providing balance in the workforce and society as a whole. Less tax dollars will be spent on housing repeat offending prisoners, the prisoners in society will create a larger workforce to allow more production, and they will spend their income and have it circulate again; all of this will contribute to a healthier economy.
I agree greatly with the issue of prison education. I used to be in a Police academy course and we would often take trips to prisons and I would see first hand what their days were like inside. I believe that provide education to prisoners will have much more of a benefit to society than just housing them in prison.
Arlen M
ReplyDelete1) In response to Alex N, I have to say that the American prison system has not completely failed its intended purpose. It may be true that the prison system was created to rehabilitate the inmates, but that process takes time and money and sometimes you can’t rehab some people, like serial killers and sexual offenders, or mentally unstable people. As we read in the article, only 10 to 25 percent of inmates make it into the program and the rest wash out. Those who make it, have the potential to be rehabilitated and find redemption, but sadly the rest are lost cause. They can’t be fixed, no matter how much time and money we spend on them. The reason I’m writing this comment is because, we have to look at this problem from another point of view.
2) By looking at this form conflict point of view, I can say that the prison system is almost functioning ok and its main purpose is still intact. I believe that the main purpose of the prison system is to keep the dangerous criminals locked away from the society and to give the other few (10 to 25 percent of those inmates who make it into the educational program) a chance to become better people and to start over.