Current Issue Assignment-criminal justice - Essay Example

In an article in The New York Times dated 29 September 2013, the incarceration of these offenders has been brought into the limelight (EB, 2013), which also highlights some of the challenges that most of them go through at the hands of the system that is meant to care and help them change. This paper will examine the prisons correctional system, and some of the possible solutions to the challenges that arise ever so often. The incarceration of inmates in penitentiaries facing life imprisonment is a practice that is facing criticism at the moment.

This is according to study conducted by the Sentencing Project, which implies that most of the inmates who are facing life imprisonment are offenders who might have committed crimes early in their adult years, say 18. Serving life in prison without the probability of parole is the reason why most of the prisons in the United States are housing more than 160, 000 people (EB, 20130). The drug war years may be the reason behind such sentencing because previously, handing out such sentences was a rare occurrence.

The criminal system aims at improving the security situations in different regions through administering lengthy sentences, but sadly, this does not assist in improving the safety of the public (EB, 2013). This issue is one that is haunting the world and most criminal justice systems in the world. It is easy to find countless individuals in most prisons serving life sentences for non-violent crimes, and crimes they might have committed before the age of 18. In this case, they are tried as juveniles and held in juvenile detention centers, then transferred to adult centers after 18 years.

Unfortunately, this does not help in the rehabilitation process that most centers seek to instill in their inmates. The rate of recidivism is high, and the cost of caring for this large number of inmates is ridiculously off the charts. Locking up people, especially the young, ignores the prospect of rehabilitation (EB, 2013). This brings out the fact that whatever is done in the classroom portrays what is happening in the real world. One way this issue/problem can be resolved and ensure that inmates are rehabilitated and are ready to go back to the outside world is through granting parole and probation hearings.

This can guarantee that inmates prepare for life in prison with the anticipation of life after prison. It is possible for inmates to handle their incarceration better if there is a slight chance they can redeem themselves in their eyes, and the eyes of society. Probation officers may have the chance of monitoring inmates who have been released and protect their rights as individuals. This is because in the modern world, ex-convicts find it difficult to get anywhere, hence; the reason behind the high recidivism rates in the United States.

The media also has a role to play in the criminal justice system. By highlighting the plight of most convicts, the predictability of having the public and the justice system turn a blind eye to what is happening may be slim. In my opinion, inmates also need protection. This is from the system that is meant to change them, and the public that points a condemning finger at every incarcerated person. The circumstances behind the incarceration of an individual may not be fully