In an Ideal World, There Would Be No Prisons

We can all agree that the main purpose that prisons serve is to keep criminals off the streets, not to rehabilitate them. I say this because 83% of prisoners end up becoming repeat offenders within 9 years.

In my opinion, instead of having traditional prisons, where inmates spend their time mostly working or socializing, there should be a mandatory x number of hours dedicated to mental health and therapeutic programming. Studies show that therapy can significantly reduce the number of repeat offenses across a lifetime.

I'm not a mental health expert, but a quick Google search points out that in psychiatric wards, 3 - 6 hours are spent in therapy. Obviously, not all inmates will suffer from the same illnesses or to the same extent, but psychologists can probably determine a good schedule for each inmate when they first arrive.

In addition, 96% of inmates never go to college, and 34% of them never even earn their high school diploma. After the inmates get out of prison, how would they incorporate themselves back into society without an education? This is why I think that we should make sure that prisoners are educated before they get out, whether that be passing the GED or getting an associate's degree.

The time spent on these two activities can replace the time spent working or sitting idly. Speaking of working—did you know that most of the time, prisoners are paid less than half a dollar an hour for their hard labor? No wonder the state wants prisoners to spend the most time possible incarcerated; it's akin to modern-day slavery.

The path to achieving this is long and convoluted. It would cost the taxpayer an enormous sum to implement this, and it would take a great deal of convincing for the people to have empathy for the worst of us. I'll admit that there are currently more pressing matters to be dealt with, but maybe one day, we can get these people the help that they need and deserve.

I believe that it is not in human nature to do evil, at least to other humans; it's either plain stupidity or mental illness that causes all harm.