Why is the average lawbreaker punished but not forgiven by society in America? Even after being incarcerated?

Question

When the average person (not a celebrity or a politician or a family friend of either one of the aforementioned) commits a crime, is found guilty, sent off to prison and is released, why is it he or she is truly not forgiven?

Society NEVER lets them forget they made a mistake, that they did the time for the crime, refuses to acknowledge their true repetence and will only offer them minimum wage jobs (but not without a hassle of course) where they cannot maintain a decent apartment, running car, day care or a bank account? An ex offender is thumped for a mistake, often made in their youth, and labeled 'felon' for life.

Why is it so difficult to believe that most released felons simply want to let the past be the past, have learned from their mistakes and simply want to live a quiet, productive life without the drama from their youth being revisted at every public opportunity to do better for themselves?

What's so democratic and just about all of this?

By average, I am referring to first time offenders. I refer to maintaining a savings account, not opening a bank account. It is obvious to me now that in the USA, the average felon/Felon is NOT forgiven even though they served the time for their crime. The formerly incarcerated person now has limited lifetime legitimate employment/wage opportunities, no matter what his/her intentions are, limiting his/her contribution to the family.

In prison, inmates may hear and start to believe that they can start over, get a 2nd chance from society, but that is not really true.

High unemployment community? Lobby for a prison.

It COSTS money to build a productive citizen. To build a school. Hire teachers. Implement programs. Money is not made by states to battle recidivism with education, rehabilitation, mental health assessement/treatment. Recidivism is a cash cow for states and those who invest in private prisons. And a high horse for those not touched by it to sit upon.

Answer 1

Because if there is one thing a lot of Americans like to do is punish people.
And then punish them some more.

Their lives are empty...they have nothing to do....they are hypocrites.

It is not hard to become a felon in the United States.
Our prisons are de facto mental institutions.
The prisons are a growth industry.
.
And if the former prisoner can't pull off recidivism on his own then society will do it for him/her.

Cause there is nothing a lot of Americans like than to punish people and punish them some more.

Its THEM not the felon.

And ...there is felon with a small f and felon with a large f.

I can walk two blocks to the old Rainier Brewery here in Seattle and spraypaint my name on the wall and VOILA I am a felon.

Crappy high unemployment areas in RED STATES beg for Penal Institutions so they can have a place to work.

Cause Conservatives love to punish.

Answer 2

Statisically speaking, the vast majority of lawbreakers will simply return to lawbreaking immediately upon leaving prison. I have no doubt that some felons simply want to get on with their lives. A few actually manage to. Society is calloused to ex-cons because so many of them do their time and then commit the same crimes they were incarcerated for all over again. If you have a guy who was jailed for white collar crime, served his time and was released, chances are an investment firm isn't going to hire him. He has proven he can't be trusted in that environment. Once trust is broken, it must be proven again. Repairing a broken trust is a hundred times more difficult than building that trust in the first place.

Bottom line: the actions of the ex-cons that repeatedly break that trust make it hard on the ones that want to move on. People simply can't tell the difference between the repeat offenders and the sincerely repentant ones.

Answer 3

I believe that it depends on the type of crime that you have committed. If for instance you were a bank robber, you would be forgiven if you had never done it again, but if you were a baby raper, nobody in their right mind would ever forget or forgive because once a baby raper, always a baby raper. This is in the make up of the criminal. It's a sickness like alcoholism. Once an alcoholic always an alcoholic. You always have the ability to fall off the wagon. Nobody would take the chance of having this type of person even close to his family in the case that you may fall off the wagon. So what ever the crime determines how long before forgiveness is given. Sometimes it won't be provided till you stand before your maker on judgment day. Thats just the way it is. We reap what we sow.

Answer 4

You live in a fairy tale world. There is absolutely NO evidence to support your assertion "...that most released felons simply want to let the past be the past, have learned from their mistakes and simply want to live a quiet, productive life... ." In fact, the recidivism rate for released felons hovers around 73%.

The sad fact is there are a number of people in every society that prey on the weak. It is a choice. Regardless of whether you believe criminal predilections are a result of nature, nurture, phrenology or differential association, one cannot deny that criminals exist.

You offer no distinction among types of offenders. Are you suggesting the embezzler is no different than the armed robber or child molester? Are you willing to give the released pedophile a job baby sitting your children? By your argument they served their time and said "I'm sorry" so, why would you not trust them?

It's nice to live in a world of theory and make believe. But don't tell me what my reality should be until you live it.

Answer 5

The best predictor of future performance is past performance. That is true of the Stock Market, a Basketball Team, a Race Car Driver or a person.

In the military we sometimes said, "One Ah SHlT wipes out a thousand ATTA-BOYS"

Any person has to earn my trust. I will admit a convicted felon has farther to go than someone 50 years old with 25 years on the job, money in the bank, a home paid for, etc. etc. I think you get the idea.

Besides all that, have you checked the recitative rate for criminals who have "paid their debt". That rate may be helped along in part by the mistrust of society but society didn't pull a gun and shoot a teller at a convenience store, a criminal did...

Answer 6

Too many criminals return to crime or prison and these are the ones we hear about. Not those who turn lives around.I am not convinced that prison time is truly punishment. I am not sure anyone knows how to end crime. Or wants to as it is profitable to so many people. We do not do enough to steer our youth in the right direction. Find what they are interested in and promote it toward a future job they will love doing. I believe is important.We do not promote morality and respect for others any more. It's basically a me society, isn't it? It is hard to forgive someone who so dramitically changed your life. All the criminal thinks about is how he was affected or how he feels. This is probably why he or she doesn't get why people still hold them accountable for their actions.

Answer 7

Unfortunately, our penal system is based on the concept of punishment, not rehabilitation. The average citizen thinks ( or more properly, wants to think) rehabilitation is a waste of time and resources. They see headlines or tv reports about how another crime was committed by yet another ex con and they conclude that all ex cons are like that.
Jail has become nothing but a training ground for the majority of inmates ( young, mostly) to learn how to pursue a criminal career because now that they have that prison number all other avenues are unrealistic.
You are right to ask where is the justice and why is it considered democratic. The real nitty-gritty is not what society wants to get down to. They want to get down to the lowest common denominator---and that's " What do I care what happens to them since it's not me or mine."

Answer 8

Probably because the crime rate has sky rocketed compared to years ago, when it was forgiven them. Plus, depending on the crime, and how the media makes the "story" sound when reporting it. Repeat offenders are one thing, unless they have learned their lesson, and gone the better direciton. Trustworthiness is important. Honesty, etc. is important. Plus, the way the media is into reporting, and re-reporting a story day after day, gets to have an effect on how people think about crime too.

Answer 9

We all like to pretend we have higher standards than criminals. We are taught as children to judge others: Stay away from those bad kids who curse and smoke. We blame our actions on external influences: I tried drugs because of the marketing.

Many of our false standards are due to the high degree of religious beliefs in the US. We are encouraged to judge people to see who is suitable to be associated with based on our religious ideologies. If a man is convicted of armed robbery we can all dislike him and even discriminate in many instances. It takes the person being a friend or family member for us to actually think that perhaps there was a reason for this crime that we can accept and understand on a sympathetic level.

If we can take religion out of our judgments, perhaps we can be more honest with the human dynamic and all that entails. Maybe then, we won't be afraid of our "evil" next door neighbor rubbing off on us and dragging us into hell with them.

Answer 10

What are you even talking about? What criminal record stops you from opening a bank account? There are a lot of employment laws that do not permit prior criminal records be used in the hiring process unless the applicant lied to conceal them.

What do you expect? A felony is a serious crime and speaks to a persons character. The label will be worn for a long time. I bet you wouldn't hang out with a convicted rapist would you? Do your children go to the local child molestors house to hang out? Do you lock your car doors at night?