In the current state of federal and state prisons, prisoners are in more harm than good. Personally, I view the state of prisons to be of no good to neither inmates nor workers. Truthfully, the ideology of confining a person inside a cell for a discrete amount of years has riddled the justice system of countries across the globe.
After "serving" this immense waste of time, criminals are plunged into a world unfamiliar to them. They are likely to commit even more time or end up negatively impacting their communities rather than creating positive change.
The only way a person can truly change is by changing their perspective, incorporating a more psychological approach in aiding prisoners. I believe that these following suggestions should serve as the cornerstone for every prison systems across the globe. First and foremost in creating this reform is giving prisoners information.
They should be taught the nature of their crime and how it may have affected others, in addition to being taught basic life skills. The most effective teachers for this task would be former prisoners, who have both the experience and knowledge of the particular crime.
In addition to providing the correct information to these prisoners, formerly incarcerated inmates are able to find a sustainable source of income. Secondly, prisons must also change their appearance and structures. It shouldn't be known as a place on thieves, harmful citizens, etc. but a place for troubled people to gain knowledge and guidance to help further their progress in life.
Prisons should be equipped with tools of learning such as libraries, technology, and more instead of only being provided barbells.
Lastly, the experience of prisoners must dramatically be replaced. They should be able to do basic household things such as cleaning their own laundry, cooking their own food, etc. In order to avoid any possible incidents, stoves and microwaves should have limits on them so that they do not exceed a specific temperature in addition to supervision for other activities.
There is no doubt in my mind that the current state of prisons must change in order for it to serve more to its true purpose instead of following the ideologies sowed by people from the past. This is what inmates truly need.