According to slate.com, a study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics states that more than half of state prisoners end up returning to prison within five years of their release date. This shows that the U.S. has a flawed jail system because many convicts continue to commit crimes after being released.

The Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) website quotes under section 5A that, “the less like a prison, and the more like the free world, the better.” This shows that prisons shouldn’t put their prisoners in a hostile and stressful environment, but rather guide them to make the most out of life when they get out from behind bars. The ASPE also lists, “the increased use of supermax and other forms of extremely harsh and psychologically damaging confinement must be reversed.” Confinement can really play a role in the attitude of an inmate. It can be mental warfare when inmates are placed in a cell alone for hours on end. This doesn’t help a prisoner through the reformation process, but rather makes the situation much worse. Allowing inmates to have some sort of ability to be social can make him or her feel less alone and can help the process by giving them an outlet to talk and get advice.

The transition for new inmates can be quite difficult to bare because they have left a life of freedom to a life deprived of privacy, social freedom and one that puts them into a treacherous routine. These factors of the jail system can make prison life stressful and leaves inmates even angrier than before.

Prisons should give inmates an opportunity to further their education. According to americanprogress.org, approximately 41 percent of incarcerated individuals don’t have their high school diploma. Funding should go towards rehabilitation, reflection and putting those in prison on the right path so they don’t recommit a crime, instead of trying to receive money to be able to hold more prisons.

Another problem in prisons is the violence that occurs on a daily basis. 19 percent of all male inmates say that they have been assaulted by another inmate and 21 percent say that they have been assaulted by prison staff. Prisoners deserve to feel safe in the jail they are at; however, with these incidents repeatedly occurring, a positive change needs to be made, in order to keep inmates calm.

All in all, the prison system is flawed with its ways of confinement, violence and lack of opportunity for those that have been incarcerated. No inmate should be turned down. Providing them with education can truly benefit both officers and prisoners. The prison environment should also be safe for everyone so that there is no more anger or negativity thrown onto inmates.