Pantaleo 1

John Pantaleo
Mr. Newman
English 101: Rhetoric
8 October 2014
Whats Wrong with Our Prisons?
American prisons are a gigantic failure. From the number of people incarcerated, to the
extremely high recidivism rates, it is obvious that there are numerous flaws in our prison system.
Many factors lead to crime like poverty, addiction and ones environment. Once these criminals
are in prison however, they are not effectively being rehabilitated. In the March-April 2014
article The Prison Problem, in Harvard Magazine, Elizabeth Gudrais utilizes ethos and logos
to successfully address the many problems of the prison system in America.
From the start of the article, Elizabeth Gudrais establishes credibility by discussing a
study done by Bruce Western, a sociology professor and faculty chair of the Harvard Kennedy
School Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management. Westerns study is designed to help
understand how crime is shaped and how to implement a more effective prison policy. Because
she cites a study by Bruce Western, who is one of the foremost experts on incarceration in
America, she gains credibility because this man is well respected and reputable. When
discussing Westerns study, she specifically incorporates an interview he did with an ex-convict
named Jerry. Hearing Jerrys stories and opinions helps establish credibility because he
experienced the prison system first hand. Another way Gudrais establishes credibility is by
blending research by other credible sources in her paper. For example, Gudrais leans on
Anthony Braga, a senior researcher in the HKS program and chief policy adviser to Bostons
police commissioner, who informs us that prisoners who do reintegrate back into society

Pantaleo 2

successfully most likely have three big things in place: housing, a job or ability to get one
quickly, and access to health care. By including many other respectable sources Gudrais is able
to strengthen her credibility,while making the article more comprehensive.
In addition to the effective use of ethos, Gudrais uses logos to successfully portray the
problems of our prison system. Her use of logical appeal encompasses statistics, studies, and
facts. By doing this, she is able to not only inform but persuade the readers of the gravity of these
problems.Toward the beginning of the article, Gudrais explains that over 2.2 million Americans
are incarcerated. Furthermore, she goes on to say that over half of the prisoners that get released
will go back to prison. By using logical appeal and stating this statistic she is accurately
portraying a big problem in our prisons, the amount of people in them and the extremely high
recidivism rate. Gudrais also tells us that the differences between the environment in prison and
on the outside are polar opposites. Jerry, an ex-convict, tells us that it is hard to adapt on the
outside once released. Gudrais then explains that these ex-convicts now have to make dozens of
decisions each day where before they were told exactly what to do. All the things prisoners are
taught in prison like self preservation at all costs, and using violence to solve conflicts are
hurting their chances of staying out of prison. Perhaps, the largest flaw in our prison system is
the way these prisoners are being treated on the inside because whatever they learn and do in
prison will be the same when they leave prison. Lastly, Gudrais sites Marieke Liem, a practicing
forensic psychologist in the Netherlands who was astonished by how criminals are treated in our
prisons, forced to wear jumpsuits and referred to by numbers. He says that if the goal is to reduce
the amount of people incarcerated, it seems that the prisons should do, Something that makes it
less likely that people are going to keep committing crimes. This is only logical to think that
prisons should do things to rehabilitate and help the prisoners, and not just house and feed them.

Pantaleo 3

Our prisons are at full capacity. The United States house the most prisoners in the world
and its not because we have the worst people. Our whole prison system contains multiple flaws
that need to be addressed. The unbelievably high incarceration rate combined with the lack of
rehabilitation provided leads to the extremely high recidivism rates. If these prisoners arent
being helped then how do we expect them to not wind up back in jail? Elizabeth Gudrais
employs ethos and logos to successfully address these problems and provide ways to improve
them.

Work Cited
Gudrais, Elizabeth. "The Prison Problem." Harvard Magazine March-April 2013: n. pag.
Harvard Magazine. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.