Punishment vs. Rehabilitation

The Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted in 1971 by Philip Zimbardo, was a study of how humans will turn to violence when given the power to do so. The infamous experiment had its flaws, but the point it makes stands. This is prevalent in many real-world situations, most of all including prison itself. The current system revolving around courts and prisons was created to keep the general public safe, but it is now used as a power play. Countless people are wrongly convicted of crimes because of discrimination and so many more are abused in prison by guards or fellow prisoners. The prison system should be focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment because punishing criminals only gives them more reasons to commit crime and reduces public safety, the current system is rigged against minority and lower class groups, and authorities such as judges and prison guards have too much power and a sentence or experience in prison is entirely based on luck of the draw.