Supermax Prisons

Supermax Prisons

When it comes to controlling crimes in the community, it is essential to take stringent measures to discourage these behaviors, especially among the youth. America is one of the leading nations worldwide, with some of the most effective crime deterrence mechanisms and policies in place. The justice systems in the United States of America not only deter crime, but they offer intervention measures in punishing crime and reforming criminals. The reform system incorporates such measures as rehabilitation, while the central justice system holds incarceration in high regard. The use of supermax prisons is one of the ways of upholding the incarceration approach in controlling dangerous and violent offenders. However, the use of the supermax prisons is not an effective method of rehabilitating criminals and providing them the avenue to better reconnect with the world, in addition to the process being a violation of the international human rights given the heightened security measures.

One of the drawbacks of supermax prisons is that they do not effectively adopt the crime rehabilitation mechanism. While punishing legal offense may be a proper means of discouraging a person from crime, it is equally essential to deal with the environmental factors that lead to crime. By placing inmates in segregation or solitary confinements for up to 23 hours a day, the approach overlooks the need to offer rehab services. Crime rehabilitation is essential in helping the offender grow and develop in a manner that allows them to separate themselves from the environmental factors that led them into crime. The supermax prisons do not effectively adopt this strategy, which implies that the ecological and psychological factors that lead to crime are not dealt with effectively, consequently encouraging recidivism. Recidivism is the tendency to re-offend once the convict is released back into society.

Secondly, supermax prisons directly violate international human rights. One of the fundamental principles of human law is equality. The law states that no individual should be discriminated against, regardless of their offense. However, when certain inmates are placed in absolute solitude and confinement for up to 23 hours a day, they are denied the right to movement and to interact with the rest of the world. Prisoners in this system are held in near-total isolation for most of their sentences, sometimes for years on end. Regardless of an inmate’s offense, they retain the human rights of free movement and equality before the law. Although the supermax prisons are an added safety and control over dangerous offenders, it overlooks the need to guide them through therapy, counseling, and other conventional measures to help them become better people in the society. To some extent, the total isolation has the opposite effect of what is intended, for the inmates become more violent, angry, and vengeful for the treatment.

In conclusion, while it is crucial to uphold law and order in society through punishing crime, it should not be done in such a manner that is in direct violation of the convict’s rights. Supermax prisons not only violate the inherent human rights of its victims, but it equally denies them access to other conventional measures to help them become better people. Criminals need the avenue to be trained on how to interact with the rest of society once they get out of the system, and how to be better people. Rehabilitation is a more effective method of dealing with the environmental factors that lead to crime and works better to lower recidivism rates.