a report released Monday by the nonprofit Pew Center on the States at a time when one in 31 adults in the country is in prison, on parole or on probation.more than one in 31 Americans is either in prison, on parole, or on probation. That's over 3% of the population! Can it be that America has become so strict and exacting that one in thirty of us just can't cut it in our society. Can this question even be asked without implying a tolerance for crime and criminals?
Many of those people, especially the ones who are incarcerated, have committed horrible and repugnant crimes, and show little indication that, if free, they wouldn't repeat their acts. It's not unjust, in other words, that they should be in prison. A crime, however, is just an exclamation point in the whole paragraph that comprises a person's life. No one starts out a crook. The fact that one in thirty of us could slide, jump, or be pushed into a life of crime indicates to me there may be problems in our society as a whole. Perhaps there are not enough opportunities to pursue a meaningful and successful life outside of crime. We hear the term "making bad choices," without bothering to examine whether any "good choices" were available, and how we might make it clear the are good choices.
This is a limp discussion because I don't really want to try and justify so many frankly horrible crimes. I also don't want to blame society for the acts of a terribly damaged few. But I think it's worth the effort to try and think through the implications of what kind of society we have, where three percent of its citizens are in deep trouble with the law. I don't have an answer, but I don't believe this can possibly be a good indicator. Understanding this situation may be our only hope to thrive in the future.
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1 comments:
I certainly agree whole heartily with you: far too many people are in the penal system. Too many non-violent offenders are in jail because of too strict laws on drug use. Not only that, our society has become far too punitive and unforgiving. And maybe you are right, there are not enough opportunities for others to succeed in our society. US imprisons the greatest percentage of their population in the world. Some is definitely wrong here.
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