The Need For Prisons

In my opinion, the prison systems serve a purpose.  However, I think in a lot of ways it should be more regulated. There are prison systems that are way too lax and I feel this encourages repeat offenders. There is no fear of being incarcerated. They don’t have to work, worry about what to eat, or where to sleep. This concept keeps the doors of the prison revolving. The constant revolving door manages to stuff millions of dollars into the pockets of the government. The amount they receive is not the amount put back in to help rehabilitate the inmates. It keeps the hierarchy happy and they in turn build more prisons. If an inmate was forced to work, to learn a trade and earn his keep, I think this would spill over into the inmate’s non-incarcerated life. Education is the key to preservation, and I think that is the same point Foucault was making. I feel like he almost felt the prison system was a conspiracy, and in a lot of ways it probably is. Sadly, there will always be someone that breaks a law and that will need to be incarcerated. There will also always be someone that is afraid of those people. Those are the people that will push to keep the prisons open and running. It just creates a never-ending cycle of imprisonment and a reluctance to dispense with it.