"The Prison Alternative" America has to wake up and realize that the current structure of our penal system is failing terribly. Take a group of people, strip them of possessions and privacy, expose them to constant threats of violence, overcrowd their cell-block, deprive them of meaningful work, and the result is an embittered underclass more intent on getting even with society than contributing to it. There is a better way to deal with crime and …showed first 75 words of 1007 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1007 total…broken the law; they have hurt others. If we do not insist that those who commit crimes responsible for their actions, we begin a slide into anarchy. Nevertheless, the offender can be held responsible in many ways. It is in our best interest to find those ways that heal wounds, not cause new ones. Let us not kid ourselves any longer, prisons were never designed to cure the individual; they exist to lock him up.