Difficulties Prisoners Face in Reentering Society

Source:

"The Prison Problem." Harvard Magazine. Elizabeth Gudrais.  Apr. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

Summary:

Elizabeth Gudrais discusses the difficulties that prisoners find when reentering society after having been in prison.  She also talks about using education to prevent crimes, a movement towards reforming prisons, and “breaking the cycle” of prisoners who are released being recommitted, by making them more prepared for the outside world and helping them to find employment.   It also shows the story of a prisoner who seems to have “broken the cycle” for himself.

Quality:

This is a rather high quality source.  It comes from Harvard magazine, which gets its information from Harvard University ("Harvard Magazine").  Elizabeth Gudrais graduated from Harvard she wrote for the Providence Journal, Harvard Magazine, and has written many more articles as a freelance writer ("Elizabeth Gudrais").

Issues:

She provides information about what she believes the problem is, but never proposes ideas for the solution.

Key Words and Phrases:

Recidivism, Reentering society, Prison, reentry, rehabilitation, rearrested

Quotes:

“Western has come to believe that just as offenders’ crimes carry a cost to society, so too does the shortage of social supports and rehabilitative services for offenders." -Elizabeth Gudrais

“hundreds of thousands of people (mostly men) are released from U.S. prisons each year to try to make a go of it in a world where they have failed before—with the added disadvantage of a prison record. More than two-thirds will be rearrested within three years; half will go back in prison.”
-Elizabeth Gudrais

Works Cited:

"Harvard Magazine." Harvard Magazine. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.

"Elizabeth Gudrais." About Elizabeth Gudrais. Web. 17 Mar. 2015.