Discussion: Make Your Case

“We can make prisons better but we cannot make them work,” said Peter Moskos, author of Cop in the Hood. “Prisons will always fail at their goal of reducing crime because rehabilitation, if it stands any chance of success, must be separated from incarceration” (Page, 2011).

Take a position. Do you agree or disagree that correctional institutions are obligated to rehabilitate prisoners who have the opportunity to be released?

First, title your initial post either “Correctional institutions are obligated to rehabilitate prisoners who have the opportunity to be released,” or “Correctional institutions are not obligated to rehabilitate prisoners who have the opportunity to be released.”

Then, using the information gained in this course and the resources noted above, make your case. Be sure to build your case with factual resources. Consider the following questions as you make your case:

• Has the purpose of correctional institutions changed over time? If so, in what ways?
• What is the primary purpose of correctional institutions today?
• What determines whether or not a correctional institution is “successful”? Consider some of the more recent alternatives to traditional prisons.
• Which alternatives do you believe will be most successful in rehabilitating prisoners and reducing recidivism? Why?

In response to your peers, consider how well they justified their positions, making use of available resources. Consider the following questions in your response posts:

• Did they support their positions convincingly with appropriate resources?
• Which of their points make the most sense to you, even if you made a case for the opposing viewpoint?

Reference

Page, D. (December 20, 2011). The prison of the future. Retrieved from https://www.officer.com/command-hq/corrections/article/10565743/the-prison-of-the-future

To complete this assignment, review the Discussion Rubric.