Failures of the US Prison System

More and more prisons are built every year. The United States just cannot get enough of them. 
http://www.helium.com/items/2258979-failures-of-the-us-prison-system

Rehabilitate or punish: How should society treat criminals?

When the young go to prison, they are impressionable and still learning. If there is no organized method, learning will be sought by whatever means. The brain is programmed to constantly take new information and organize it, make it fit into the changing landscape.
http://www.helium.com/items/2260669-rehabilitation-or-punishment

What improvements are needed in today's prisons?

It would seem the worst of the worst go to prison, but such is not the case. Statistically, the United States locks up not only poor people, but a great many drug offenders. In 2005 there were two million inmates in the United States; of these two million, 25 percent were convicted on drug related charges. Drugwarfacts.org states that from 1990 to 2010 in federal prisons, drug convictions accounted for very close to half of all convictions. They state also that the amount of federal prisoners grew from 57,000 to 190,000 during this same time period.
http://www.helium.com/items/2276592-improvement-in-todays-prisons

Book summary: The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton

This classic tale detailing the class system in action is a story of survival, trust and learning the hard lessons.  It is three brothers against the world.  The gang they belong to is not only a bolster protecting them from harm, but a bulls-eye as well that attracts the wrath of a rival gang, the police and society in general. 


http://www.helium.com/items/2277636-the-outsiders-book-summary