According to the Websters dictionary, prisons are institutions which form the Criminal Justice system of a country in which imprisonment is a legal penalty that may be practiced by the state for a crime. The two major purposes of the American Prison System are Rehabilitation and Punishment. Rehabilitation means to reestablish the good reputation of a persons character or name. Punishment means severe handling or treatment. In reference to the book prison writings in 20th century by Bruce Franklin, the authors Malcolm X and Jack Henry Abbott told their story about their experience in jail. Malcolm X and Jack Henry Abbott were put into punitive prisons from a very young age. They both experienced harsh treatment, inequality and unnecessary cruelty. They lived in unsanitary conditions and received inhumane treatment. Malcolm X was imprisoned at age 20 and Jack Henry Abbott was imprisoned at age 12.
After serving 2 years in solitary prison Malcolm was eventually transferred from a punitive jail to a rehabilitative jail. Jack Henry Abbott never had anyone to help him so he basically lived in punitive prisons almost all his life. In 1946, Malcolm X was sent to Charlestown State Prison. In this prison the cells had no running water, the prison was built in 1805, when he lay down he could actually touch both walls. The toilet was a covered pail. Eventually in 1948 Malcolm was transferred to Norfolk Prison Colony which was an experimental rehabilitation jail. This prison was like heaven. In all the cells had flushing toilets, the cells had only walls no bars and Malcolm could move about freely. Each inmate had their own room. They also had educational programs in which instructors from Harvard and Boston University came. The inmates were allowed visitors everyday for 2 hours per day. They best feature about this prison was its Library. Prisoners were allowed to go to the library and read whatever books they wanted to. This motivated Malcolm to read and so he learnt the entire dictionary.
(Prison writings in 20th century) Compared to Malcolm X, Jack Henry Abbott D,a,es jail life was totally different. He was young and had no family. The only person he had was himself. At age twelve Jack was sent to a Juvenile Penal Institution. In this institution Jacks cell had a barred window with a heavy mesh steel screen. His bed was made of thick plywood bolted with iron. The toilet bowl was in a corner adjacent to a sink with only cold water. In the cell the walls were cold and clammy. Since Jack was only allowed under shorts in order to keep warm he moved about constantly. They only fed him one third of a meal three times per day. Jack showered once a week while the guard timed him for three minutes. In his cell Jack wasnt allowed to speak or else he would be beaten. He was only allowed three shirts, two pair of trousers and one pair of shoes. He wasnt even allowed to read, no visitors or neither communication. (Prison writings in 20th century) Due to the treatment in the punitive jails some effects of the prisoners would be the prisoners would just get built up with anger and fear. This is what causes inmates to rebel against one another.
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You become worse in prison than when you arrived. It also teaches them to hate and do wrong things like sexual assault which produces Aids and other diseases in prison. From being in prison so young at a young age and treated inhumane makes prisoners commit suicide and become insane mentally and physically. Most importantly it teaches them to kill repeatedly. In conclusion, prisons are institutions which criminals are put to receive rehabilitative help. According to Malcolm X and Jack Henry Abbotts story prison is not what it seems to be. I think the American Prison system does not achieve its purpose to rehabilitate or punish others because rehabilitation doesnt really take place. Many prisoners would have been able to rehabilitate themselves from mental and physical treatment if they were privileged enough to receive a better quality of treatment in reference to that of Malcolm X.
