The demographic group most affected by the war on drugs and the incarceration boom are the juveniles. Youth who turn to drugs and alcohol abuse are faced with harsh reality at YSI Facilities, another branch of the private prison industry. Rather than being charged with fines appropriate to their offenses and being sent to rehabilitation or other forms of drug treatment, non-violent offenders are locked away with long, harsh sentences. This profit-driven war on drugs and other substance abuse ruins the lives of the inmates, turning them into harder criminals by exposing them to such environments. According to a project run by The Huffington Post, 40% of juvenile offenders sent to private prisons on account of drug related crimes are arrested and convicted of harsher crimes in less than a year from their release (Kirkham).
One in every 100 adults in the United States is incarcerated according to the PCS. The Pew Center on the States (PCS) conducts credible research and analyzes states’ experiences to determine what works and what does not work. Overcrowding has been a problem in the United States for many years. The government has tried different ways to fix it, but it has steadily gotten worse. Overcrowding has become a major issue in the United States mainly because nonviolent drug addicted offenders are repeating behaviors and ending up in jail.
These people are often more likely to contract the disease from sharing dirty needles. High risk sexual behavior like rape and unprotected sex causes the transmission of HIV as well (Prisoners and HIV/AIDS). Even though prison is a high risk environment for the disease, combating the epidemic is neglected in prisons. There are no programs available for
A truth about intimate partner sexual assault is that “In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published data collected in 2005 that finds that women experience two million injuries from intimate partner violence each year.” (CDC 2008) A myth about intimate partner sexual assault is that if a intimate partner rapes their domestic partner it is because the individual is not giving sex up enough or depriving the aggressor. This is false, intimate partners need to give consent each time and both agree on having sex or such acts. A truth is that “On average more than three women a day are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in the United States. In 2005, 1,181 women were
Criminal Justice April 4, 2011 Term Paper For many years, abuse in prisons has been a serious issue and over the years, the abuse has only gotten worse. We see on the news of this happening in other countries but many Americans do not realize this is happening in our country as well, right under our noses. Some of the most unimaginable things take place in prisons not too far from where we live. Everyday, inmates undergo a variance of different forms of abuse. According to www.hrw.org, some forms of abuse are being beaten with fists and batons, stomped on, kicked, shot, stunned with electronic devices, doused with chemical sprays, choked, and slammed face first onto concrete floors by the officers whose job it is to guard them.
In some of these inmates crime and deviance is all they know. The strain they have put or have been put in for most is hard to come out of. Some inmates have been there more than 20 years and have no hope of ever getting out. The gang activity is so great at this facility that the inmates have managed to control the gangs still on the streets from prison. Can or will this stop is the question criminologist have to find the answers
With society’s focus on punishment and retribution towards criminals, it is often forgotten that one of the main purposes of prison is rehabilitation. Orange is the New Black provides a representation for woman inmates in a media dominated by crime shows depicting all criminals as the bad guys. Humanizing inmates, OITNB shows how almost anyone can become a criminal, especially with a focus towards minority women growing up with inadequate needs. Abuse of power among prison guards, long-term exposure to social isolation, and racial bias may fit towards the punishment ideology but do little towards rehabilitation. As depicted throughout the series, the extreme isolation of prison negatively effects all inmates.
REHABILITATION VERSES INCARCERATION Rehabilitation should be viewed as more key than incarceration itself. People who are convicted of crimes should be allowed to heal and better themselves. Many of those people have serious addictions and issues that need to be addressed. In jail however, those issues will only worsen or fester. When the prisoner is released, they may be very angry about the lack of attention they recieved, and become a repeat offender.
The laws because of advancing technology has caused more criminals to be brought to justice. State prisons are overcrowded because they hold the most dangerous criminals. Overcrowding of prisons posses a safety issue for inmates and correctional officers. The overcrowding of prisons does not allow proper rehabilitation of inmates so that they can become law abiding members of society. It is also a health concern for everyone in the prison because of the sewage and water system becoming
Placing them in adult prison subjects them to violence and exploitation, and deprives them of the chance to start their new lives. Author Howell C.James, reveals in his book Juvenile Justice and Youth Violence that ‘An OOJJDP study (Flaherty, 1980) found the suicide rate among jailed juveniles to be seven times as high as the rate among juveniles held in detention centers. Experience had shown that juveniles did not receive basic services (counseling, medical, recreational) in facilities constructed and operated for adults’ (Howell 36). Minors in an adult prison are having their most creative years destroyed and they are certainly not learning how to be good citizens by being abused by inmates three times their age. Putting juvenile offenders in with adults increases their chances offending again when they are