Effects of Longterm Imprisonment

CRJ 220 Effects of Long full frontier Imprisonment While the average while served in US prisons is 34 months, many inmates argon serving sentences desireer than this. According to a 2009 comprehend by the Sentencing Project, 140,610 out of 2. 3 million inmates are serving a life sentence. How eer, with the possibility of parole, non all life sentences mean inmates spending their lives behind bars. Some inmates ordain return to conjunction and character many challenges. One issue with long term enslavement is the effect on family.While the inmates connection to his/her family whitethorn remain the same, the family moves on. Some spouses leave alone divorce over the crime itself. The inmate now faces their long term sentence without the support of a signifi ceaset other. Even those whose marriages survive the initial ordeal will picture many more challenges along the way. Spouses are facing the prospect of spending a great catch of their lives alone. The inmate knows this a nd will now lease the added anxiety of wondering will they queue someone new, will they cheat?Children further complicate the matter. The child will grow up without a father or mother. At any age, the child will go through milestones that the inmate will miss premier(prenominal) words, first steps, first day of school, first date, graduation, marriage, grandchildren, etc. The long term inmate will belike miss one or more of these howeverts. Young children whitethorn not call up their parent. They will apparent have no relationship with the inmate. Even those who manage to form some kind of bond find it is very(prenominal) difficult to maintain from behind bars.The released inmate then has to be a give out of a life that they were absent from for years. Another issue with long term imprisonment is employment. In five or more years, much can change. As society changes, technology advances. An inmates prior skills, training and education whitethorn now be irrelevant. While fre e workers may face the same dilemma, they also are abandoned time to gradually adjust to these changes and learn new skills. The inmate is thrown into these changes upon release. Even if their skills are stock-still relevant, the inmate may lose their work skills after not using them in so ong. The long term inmate who was incarcerated at a younger age may not have had a chance to get an education or any job or skill training at all. Upon their release they may be 48 with the education of a 17 year old. Long term imprisonment may also have an effect on work ethic. Inmates have not been part of the work force for a long period of time. While some inmates are assigned jobs, not all are. Will those who dont have a diminished work ethic upon release? Will they remember how to function in a work environment?Another issue with long term imprisonment is the effect on mental health. Those sentenced to long terms may encounter psychological issues during their sentence and upon their relea se. Inmates may give up hope those sentenced to life in prison give up the idea of ever gaining freedom. Though they may have a chance at parole, they know the chance of being released energy be slim. There are inmates who commit suicide shortly after being sentenced because they cant deal with the utmost(a) life change. Being in a prison environment for so long also can change a person.Inmates grow very accustomed to the prison lifestyle waking up at a certain time, following a strict schedule, being watched at all times, following very strict rules. It can be difficult to adapt into being a free individual once again making your own decisions, knowing what to do without someone telling you what to do, giving yourself rules, etc. There are also the rules in prison versus the rules in society. Prison rules include not only the ones set by the institution itself, but also prison norms set by the inmates. These rules are very different from the ones we have in society.These rules c an also change an inmates personality. They may become more violent to protect themselves or prove their power to others, or become overly cautious and suspicious of people. These effects can deliver over upon release. While some of the effects of long term imprisonment are beneficial to society and the inmate, many of the effects are harmful as well. The longer a prisoner is incarcerated, the more they will adapt to their environment and lose contact with the outside community. This adaptation can be difficult to reverse, even after release into society.