In this assignment my classmates and I were instructed to write a reaction paper. We were instructed to react to an article entitled 'Why Prisons Don't Work', written by a Wilbert Rideau, a convicted murderer who is currently living in Louisiana State Penitentiary. In our reaction paper we are to agree or disagree with Wilbert Rideau's opinion about prisons, we were told that we clearly had to agree or disagree, we cannot both agree and disagree. This is an impossible task for most people. In this article many issues are addressed. It would only be by chance that one could feel the same about two different issues. In the following I will react to the article I was given to react to. I will first give the warning that I will not be just agreeing or just disagreeing with the article. On one given subject I will clearly agree or disagree.
             I will first discuss the four main purposes of the corrections system. They are as follows: Retribution; The punishing of a criminal serves as an act of revenge for the victim and society. Deterrence; Corrections are intended to discourage offenders from committing future crimes and make the rest of society think twice about breaking laws. Rehabilitation; During the nineteenth century, prisons emerged as places in which to reform criminals so that they could return to society as law-abiding citizens. Social protection; By limiting the freedom of offenders, society prevents them from committing additional crimes. In the case of the death penalty, the threat of future criminal activity is eliminated completely. In the article Rideau states that the correctional system does not do enough to rehabilitate criminals. He feels that this is the basis of 'why prisons don't work'. I personally feel that we would waste even more money if we tried harder to rehabilitate prisoners. Rideau !
             IS a prisoner, of course he is not going to say that we are not harsh enough on crim...