How should we treat criminals in our society (in terms of employment, legally forgiving their criminal records...)?

I just wrote a paper on this for one of my classes.

I'm a former inmate of a state prison I did two years when I was 18.

I believe that there should be a very strong focus on education and rehabilitation. The programs in state prison are a joke and the education falls short of anything functional. To get any type of training you need to be in there for a decade or more. I sat on my ass in shitty programs and in my cell, smoking cigarettes and watching tv for two years. I believe higher education/trade should be mandatory. This not only gives inmates meaning and means to escape their current lifestyle, it genuinely absolves society of the burden of recidivism. Obviously inmates, when given all the opportunities to succeed, should no longer have an excuse for failure.

A lot of people say that inmates shouldn't receive a free education when people who haven't committed any crimes can't afford schooling. I find that to be a reasonable response but also very short sighted. If we gave the inmates more of a chance in terms of education and a smoother transition back into society, they would be able to contribute back into society by becoming productive members of the workforce.

Obviously no idea is perfect but I think real, consistent education is the best solution for reducing recidivism. I also think it's a very great way of weeding out the "bad eggs" if you will.

By giving them every chance to succeed, they have no reason to fail and that's that do go back to a life of crime should go back to prison.

When I was placed in a halfway house I saw about 85-90 percent of the people that had just been released come out with the best intentions. I was in a crime ridden, economically depressed area with essentially no opportunity and saw the majority slip away and fail after a month or two. They obviously went back to prison. It's really sad to me, there were lots of people that slipped through the cracks and went back to prison for a very long time. I would like to see that change.

/r/AskReddit Thread