I will write my essay on the post-sentence rehabilitation services that are offered to ex convicts, and how these services can contribute to keeping people in the prison system. No matter the length of the sentence being served, society expects for incarcerated persons to immediately go back to being contributing members to their communities. However, due to extenuating circumstances, many of these convicts never learned the correct way to serve this role even before being convicted. Failure to help set up such scarred and traumatized people allows for them to slip back into what got them imprisoned in the first place (Especially if the activity provides income). Using Bryan Stevenson’s book, and a handful of selected articles, I will explore the issue at hand. I will research the current services that are provided by the government, or private companies to help assimilate ex convicts back into society both inside, and outside of jail (education, jobs, therapy, housing etc.). I will research first-hand accounts on the negative effects prisons have on convicts, and how that affects them as newly freed persons. I will also research statistics regarding the amount of people who remain in the prison system following the serving of their first sentence. Bringing in such evidence to formulate an argument will help answer the question: what is America doing to help ex convicts successfully re-enter society, and how does this affect the amount of people who remain in the prison system even after their first sentence?
I like your focus on the services and supports (or lack thereof ) to help people reintegrate following a prison sentence. When you refer to people who remain in the prison system after their first sentence, do you mean they are never released, or they get out and then get rearrested and convicted? The term for the latter cycle is recidivism. I’m not sure whether parole is considered part of the prison system, or an extension of the criminal justice system, but Alexander has a term for remaining within a system of surveillance, so check out her vocabulary. I recommend you narrow your focus, perhaps to a specific case study, that you combine with broader trends or statistics. You could also focus on one issue, such as employment or housing or education loans.