This issue is of concern not only to those whose lives have been touched by crime, but also to everyone else. After all, whether released prisoners have been rehabilitated or simply hardened by their experience behind bars, has a direct bearing on your peace of mind, if not on your very safety.
School for criminals.
The prison system does not always quell criminal behavior. "When money is poured into building another prison cell at the expense of rebuilding a prison's self-image, it is often just a prelude to more-and worse-crime,"" writes Jill Smolowe in Time magazine. Peter, who has spent 14 years behind bars, would agree with that statement. "Most of my fellow inmates started off with petty crime, then they moved up to property crime, and finally they graduated to serious .
offenses against other humans,"" he says. "For them, prisons are like trade school. They're going to come out worse."".
While prisons may take criminals off the streets for a while, it seem that they do little-if anything-to deter crime in the long term. Inner-city boys and young men often view imprisonment as an initiation rite . Very often they end up becoming hardened offenders. "Prison doesn't rehabilitate you at all,"" says Larry, who has spent much of his life in and out of jail. "These guys come out and do the same thing all over again."".
This revolving door' may explain why, according to one study in the United States, 50 percent of all serious crimes are committed by about 5 percent of criminals, " when prisoners have no constructive way to spend their time,"" remarks time magazine, " they often fill the hours building reservoir of resentment, not to mention a grab bag of criminal tricks, that they will take back to the streets."".
The situation is not unique to the United States. John Vatis, a physician at a military prison in Greece, states: "our prisons have become very good at producing people who are menacing, violent, and mean.
