Incarceration: The Human Desire for Categorization

A stabilization for my own mind—that’s what I hope this blog will become. A space to explore the thoughts that often go unspoken, untested, and therefore unrefuted. Ideas that linger, marinating in my mind, longing for conversation, challenge, and clarity.

If you’ve somehow stumbled across this corner of the internet, welcome. My name is Maya. I’m a student at Elon University, majoring in Psychology and Human Service Studies with a minor in Criminal Justice. These fields allow me to consistently engage with the subjects I find most meaningful, but beyond listening and learning, I’ve realized I have an even deeper passion for speaking—reflecting, questioning, and connecting dots between theory and the lived world. This blog is my attempt to do just that.

My interest in psychology stems from a desire to explore philosophical questions through a scientific lens—to think critically and compassionately about the human experience. Human Service Studies emerged as a natural complement. I discovered how much joy I find in helping others, though admittedly, even that joy can feel selfish at times. Criminal Justice was always an inevitable piece of the puzzle for me. I’ve long been fascinated by the quiet consensus society holds that certain people are “incurable.”

Across every part of life, humans seem to possess an innate need to categorize. We label one another by intelligence, attractiveness, race, class, gender, and countless other dimensions. And while many of these judgments are unconscious, they operate within an invisible scale of worth. Worthiness of what? I’m still not sure. But from what I’ve observed, that perceived worth becomes the metric we use to assign value—and that value (or lack thereof) often determines who gets uplifted, and who is punished.

The criminal legal system is one of the starkest examples of this categorization at work. We label individuals as "offenders" or "criminals," and from that moment forward, their worth is diminished. Society decides they are no longer redeemable. The result? Roughly 76% of individuals released from prison are rearrested within five years (USDOJ). Not because they didn’t “learn their lesson,” but because society has already written their story for them. The real lesson they absorb is not about rehabilitation—it’s that change is not permitted. I have come to the conclusion that everyone is inherently good. We have experiences that change the way we look and act towards the world but if we can change the way we view our past experiences we can influence our future actions. 

We expect students to fail sometimes. We offer feedback, resources, and second chances. But imagine a student receives an F on their first exam. From that point forward, every grade for their freshman year will be an F. Their following years at university, every grade they earn is docked by 10%, every effort dismissed. How could we expect them to graduate with honors?

Of course, I understand that committing a serious offense is not equivalent to failing a test. These are not always mistakes—many are premeditated and recurring. But I ask you to pause at that first offense. I believe lived experience plays a major role in why someone breaks the law. This doesn’t absolve responsibility, but it demands we consider the roots before we prescribe a life sentence of labels.

Punishment, as it stands, is about separation. But what if it was about education? What if the justice system worked to prepare individuals to re-enter the world with new tools, perspectives, and support? I don’t believe a label should be permanent—nor do I believe it has to be.

The carceral system is the clearest example of how we categorize others in a way that denies them growth. But if we can challenge that extreme form of judgment, maybe we can begin to dismantle the smaller, subtler ways we do this in everyday life.

And if numbers help move the conversation: According to FY 2022 data, the average annual cost of incarcerating one federal inmate was $42,672. With a recidivism rate of 76% (Federal Register, 2023), we are funneling enormous taxpayer dollars into a system that doesn’t work. Imagine instead if we invested those funds into counseling, rehabilitation, and education. If we helped individuals reframe their past, we just might change their future.

Sources: 

Federal Register. (2023, September 22). Annual determination of average cost of incarceration fee (COIF). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/09/22/2023-20585/annual-determination-of-average-cost-of-incarceration-fee-coif

U.S. Department of Justice. (n.d.). Reentry programs: Effective reintegration of ex-offenders. https://www.justice.gov/archive/fbci/progmenu_reentry.html​