First Opening

We wouldn’t be inclined to send a sick family member to a hospital if there 40% chance of them quickly returning for the same illness, yet governments are more than happy to send citizens to prisons where a similar statistic rings true. Prison rehabilitation services have been more widespread than ever in the past few years, but recidivism rates seem to never drop as a response. Many would want to blame the millions of individual different people from all over the world with wildly different cases for this outcome, when the common factor in all failed prison rehabilitation programs is in the prison itself. A prison environment could never foster successful rehabilitation and actively regresses the prisoner’s recovery process. 

Second Opening

The government spends billions to put people in jail, but almost nothing to help get people out. Many are released from prison with no house, job, or community to rely on, yet people are surprised when these down-and-out citizens feel forced to turn back to a life of crime. Some might not want to give a helping hand, but many more would rather not suffer the consequences of a higher crime rate. The U.S government should offer welfare to all recently released prisoners in an effort to reduce recidivism rates.