Societies over time have defined human rights through a variety of documents that have sought to protect the rights of people. The Geneva Convention is an example of these documents. These documents not only firmly establish rights, but also ensure that countries that adopt these laws are responsible for ensuring rights are respected and followed. Unfortunately, not all governments obey these documents. In the case where war occurs, the Geneva Convention has been especially disregarded and ignored. As a result, agencies such as Amnesty International have stepped in to fight for those prisoners whose rights have been broken. Amnesty International has become one of the most successful agencies, freeing and helping thousands of people who have been imprisoned unfairly. The rights for different kinds of prisoners in different countries are still being debated to this day. These prisoners include prisoners in detention centers and prisoners of conscience.
Some people think that someone who has infringed on other’s human rights should not have valid rights themselves. Despite this, prisoners are allowed rights, such as conditions of confinement, limited privacy, safety from other prisoners, food and water and medical attention if necessary. Many prisons still deny one or more of these rights, and continue to this day to torture, kill and/or discriminate against prisoners. One of the most globally recognized laws regarding prisoners is the Geneva Convention. The Geneva Convention is a set of rules written in 1929 and revised in 1949, which focuses on the rights of prisoners of war. Prisoners of war are specifically soldiers captured and held captive by the enemy army.
The Geneva Convention states that prisoners of war cannot be prosecuted for taking direct part in hostilities. Their detention is supposed to prevent further participation in the conflict and should not be a form of punishment. The term ‘Prisoners of war’ only...
...roughly 650,000 released (Prisoner Reentry). These individuals are faced with many challenges when reintegrating themselves back into society. This is a very difficult time for them and often times things do not go as everyone planed. This time period is filled with disappointments, whether it be to the parole officers, their families or themselves. Leaving prison to reenter the world can cause a lot of confusion and emotions for the ex-offender. Being free leaves the responsibility up to them to make sure that they succeed in life and do not make the same mistakes twice.
The first thing they need to do is develop a plan. Ex-prisoners come home and have lots of goals and hopes that they believe they can fulfill. They may want to start the business that they always dreamed of. They may remember the times when they wanted to graduate from school. Maybe they want to reconnect with their family and friends. Often times the prison setting generates a sense of urgency in those people. Short term goals are often better to begin with as long term goals may be more difficult to accomplish and may end in frustration. If they feel the need to get help achieving these goals there are many programs out there to assist them. There is mentoring programs, colleges, business development programs and other non-profit organizations (Community Based Corrections).
Going down the wrong path and ending back up where they started is controlled by the...
The topic of my thesis, I chose the issue of non-cooperative economic games, specifically the so-called "Prisoner's Dilemma". Game theory falls in microeconomics and therefore mainly in the economic analysis. It gives us an analysis of the way in which two or more entities interact, choose strategies that simultaneously influence each actor.
The greatest credit for the development of economic games have mathematician John von Neumann. Game theory can be used both to analyze the market, for example, to study the tariff policies of individual countries. In general, the "Prisoner's Dilemma" and other economic game also described as V of experimental economics.
Prisoner's Dilemma is one of the most famous economic game that is presented in a variety of designs. It describes the behavior of the two entities, in our case, two people convicted of a felony they committed. The judge or prosecutor has enough evidence but only to the conviction of lighter crime, which is punishable by one year in prison. Offers therefore separately to each of the prisoners deal that if he confesses, gets only three months in prison for extenuating circumstances, while the other one you will serve a full 10 years. If both confess, both get 5 years. Neither of the prisoners but not communicating with the other, we do not know how it will proceed accomplice.
| Prisoner Y |...
...Reintegration of Prisoners – Is it possible?
The reintegration of prisoners back into “normal” everyday living is a difficult and seemingly impossible task. The challenges offenders on probation or parole face are great in number and size. Each criminal faces different hurdles based on their demographic, gender, length of stay, individual background, racial background, offense history, and the strength of their support system upon release. I believe that reentry is a realistic expectation; however, we must consider each case and focus on the support provided the offender as they enter back into a society that has shunned them.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics over 4.9 million adult men and women were under Federal, State, or local probation or parole in 2005. Approximately 4,162,500 of those were on probation and 784,400 on parole, an annual 0.6 percent increase for 2005 [Bureau of Statistics, 2005]. These numbers are staggering. The goal of reintegration is for prisoners to safely return to the community as law-abiding citizens.[Rosenthal and Wolf, 1] With so many prisoners attempting to reenter society it is certain that not all of them will, but can any of them at all? I believe that reintegration is possible and that the rate of successful reentry will improve with more attention paid to the support system provided those attempting life on the outside. Also, probation and parole officers must...
...Lord Byron's poetic work "The Prisoner of Chillon" tells the struggle between a person's ending their suffering and accepting it rather than holding on to the hope of freedom. The author uses symbols to represent the immediate end of suffering, acceptance of defeat, and succumbing to torture in competition with hope, strength, and faith in eventual freedom.
The symbolism of the chains represents the prisoners' bondage. When the eldest of the prisoner's younger brothers died, the chains were removed and his body was given partial freedom. However, he was buried in the cell in a section where the sun would not shine. In this way "even in deaht his freeborn breast / In such a dungeon could not rest." The chains were put over his grave as an ironic monument to his death. In this way, his brother may not be bound by physical chains, but his final resting place would always be in a prison. After the youngest brother's death, the narrator was finally unchained and could roam about the cell as he pleased. Ironically, he was allowed this little bit of freedom after the his only reasons for living had passed. This "compassionate" act of his captors was not really a favor. He had lost everything that was important to him, and the outside world did not concern him since there was no one out there who cared. However, he was still curious, and looked out of the window.
This window was his only portal to the outside world and represented his...
...The state of Michigan spends more money on jails and prisons than it does on education, but is this money well spent? The Michigan Prisoner ReEntry Initiative would suggest that it is. The MPRI is a collaborative effort that draws from the commitment of community groups, the Michigan Department of Corrections, and other state agencies. Launched in 2003 and expanded statewide in 2008, the initiative’s mission is to equip every released offender with tools to succeed in the community. The MPRI is a nationally recognized commitment to public safety that gives prisoners the tools they need to succeed in a process that begins when they enter prison and continues through parole and reintegration into the community. The MPRI has effectively reduced Michigan’s prison population, recidivism rate, and crime rate. (Figure 1) It has broken the cycle of soaring Corrections costs by investing in safe alternatives to costly and unnecessarily long stays in prisons. By breaking the cycle of crime and incarceration, the MPRI has managed to cut spending on prisons down by 293 million dollars annually, and although that may be the biggest benefit it is one of many. (1)
The number one goal of the MPRI is to reduce crime. It does that by better preparing parolees before they return to the community, making smarter decisions about who is released and when, and providing enhanced supervision and services in the community. It ensures what Lansing Prison Warden...
...Prisoners with Special Needs
In today’s society, jails are starting to incarcerate more and more special needs prisoners. For
example, the mentally ill, and substance abusing prisoners. This number is growing faster and faster
and will leave behind the prison system if something is not done to make sure that these prisoners are
treated the right way. Several people argue the fact that they are there because they committed a crime.
They also argue the point of why should they get special treatment and the other prisoners not receive
the same treatment when they all committed the same crime. A lot of people fail to realize that
these people function in a different way depending on their special needs. If they were all treated the
same way, the prisons and jails would be much worse off than they are now.
When a prisoner has a special needs problem, for example, a mental illness, or substance abuse,
they require special attention. This affects the state and federal systems in many ways. For example,
the State and Federal levels are having a difficult time funding and determining the needs of the
prisoners who require this extra attention. When incarcerating a special needs prisoner in a regular
facility, they will require extensively more attention than the typical inmate. This will end up...
...”The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses” by Bessie Head is a short narrative with a powerful message. At first I was uninterested in and untouched by the story, but after understanding the moral context, I became engaged with the piece and it’s characters.
The main purpose of the piece is to present a conflict where mental strength is tested against physical, showing that mental strength is superior and also to show that the world is a better place when we work together. Brille, the protagonist, not only shows courage and leadership, but also wisdom that makes him inevitably unique from the static characters in the story. The other prisoners in Camp One look to Brille for guidance and follow in his footsteps, even though his physical appearance is frail; he is even referred to as a “thin little fellow” with a “hollowed out chest” and “comic knobbly knees”. What Brille lacks in stature, he makes up for with his strong will; when Hannetjie, the new warder in Span One asks the prisoners who dropped a cabbage while working, I did not expect Brille to be the prisoner to claim the misdeed. After Hannetjie punishes the whole Span, Brille states “But I told you I did it”, making it evident that he wanted to have independent punishment, instead of letting his mates suffer with him. After Warder Hannetjie confronts Brille, telling him that he doesn’t take orders from a “kaffir” and tells Brille to call him “Baas”; Brille tells...
...Summary of "A Study of Prisoners and Guards in a Simulated Prison"
by Dr. Philip Zimbardo
Have you ever wondered why some institutions succeed while others fail? Dr. Philip Zimbardo, a Professor of Psychology, insists that America's prison system is a failure because of the assumed responsibilities that come with certain positions and not because of the previously assumed dispositional hypothesis which claims the very nature of the prisoners and/or guards constitutes failure in our correctional facilities. And in order to prove his claim, Zimbardo designed a unique experiment.
Methods and Materials
To test whether or not the dispositional hypothesis truly held any significance, Zimbardo set out to conduct an experiment where he would take in twenty-one, randomly-selected subjects to live a standard prison life for two weeks (315-316). And if his prediction was right, the results of this experiment would convey role-play as a leading contributor to our failing prison system (313).
The first step of the experiment called for volunteers. Zimbardo started out by publishing an ad in a newspaper requesting the participation of locals in a study regarding life in prison with a $15 per day incentive (315). There were seventy-five respondents in all but only twenty-two were selected to take part because of a far-reaching questionnaire and interview process each respondent completed (315). The reason behind the...