As a criminal justice major I have seen all sides of our criminal justice system and it is time to make a change in our system. The United States has the highest incarceration rate even though we do not even have the largest population, we actually have one of the small populations. Instead of just putting people in cells and throwing away the key, how about we actually try and help those individuals so they don't have to end up back in prison.

It is said that most offenders that are released are going to recidivate within 3 years upon their release because they can not live in the outside world. It is so hard for someone with a record to find housing, employment, and most do not have a support system or family. Therefore they just re-offend and go back to prison because they can not make it on the outside anyways.

Society does not even provide enough treatment and rehabilitation programs for those that need it in order to help them not re-offend. A large portion of incarcerated individuals have a mental illness or some sort of drug or substance abuse issue. Those people need help in order to make themselves better and to be a successful member in society. These programs need to be incorporated into prisons and given to individuals upon their release at little to no cost.

Speaking of programs, our inmates also need access to education. How are they supposed to be successful when they are integrated back into society if they do not have the proper knowledge? Everyone needs a proper education in order to get anywhere in life. These inmates need education in order to get jobs and therefore be able to afford housing, which will hopefully be productive in keeping them out of prison.

In my opinion, there are big ways that our system can change, elements and laws that need to be adjusted in order to improve the system. A good start would be with the three-strike law. In my opinion, if an offender is on their second strike and is about to commit their third, they are not going to care what crime they commit because either way they are going to go to prison for life no matter what. They are probably just going to go all out and commit a murder or arson or something to that extreme because no matter what they do the outcome is the same. This law is pretty much just giving criminals a reason to just go all out because the outcome will be the same either way.

There are so many holes in our criminal justice system that need to be mended for the greater good of society and for the inmates themselves. Our prison population needs to decrease and our recidivism rates need to decline. In order for that to happen, we need to start making some serious changes, which will ultimately help those inmates as well as society.