The Flaws of Prison Labor The debate over prison labor has been around as long as the concept itself. Opponents argue that it exploits prisoners, takes jobs away from the general population and puts people in danger by allowing prisoners access to their personal information. While supporters of prison labor argue that it helps the economy and benefits prisoners. On this issue I side with the supporters. By putting prisoners to work we are accomplishing several beneficial things. First, the work keeps them busy and out of trouble, instead of comparing themselves to other inmates, they are actually doing something productive. Second, by working they alleviate some of the high costs associated with their detention, thus reducing the amount the government has to spend for this purpose. And third, the opponent's argument that prison work endangers the general population is invalid since most perpetrators of identity fraud are not prisoners, but ordinary people without criminal records. Even with these positive factors, there is still room for improvement in the institution of prison labor. Inmates have a lot of free time on their hands, some of which is spent engaging in fights with other inmates or making weapons, both of which can aggravate their sentences. So by keeping them working, we keep them out of trouble by giving them something positive to do and allowing them to learn skills that will help them find a job after they are released. One of the major problems we face is that a large percentage of ex-offenders return to prison. “Many prisoners want to work…prisoners who work are less likely to commit crimes when they are released.” ...... middle of the paper ...... this information for your own purposes. This argument presents several pitfalls. Assuming an inmate uses someone's credit card, the truth will eventually come out, it will be traced back to the inmate, and since identity fraud is a crime, this individual will add time to their current prison sentence, which is a No. win situation for the inmate. The other factor is that very often identity fraud is committed by ordinary people or trustworthy employees without criminal records. A perfect example would be some of my former colleagues who were caught using customers' credit cards and stealing money. There is no way to know what a person can do. Furthermore, assuming that an inmate cannot be reformed is what forces some of them to return to prison since the ex-con label prevents them from getting jobs that allow them to support themselves..