Alternatives to Incarceration: Problem Analysis Alternatives to Incarceration: Problem Analysis The United States has had a significant problem with overcrowding in the prisons and problems with certain programs in the criminal justice system. Because of the lack of funding in many areas, the programs available to help an offender are few. Specialized treatment and services are available, but not at the rate necessary. The cost to build new jails and prisons has increased and in many instances has a strong affect on the state or local government. One of the solutions to the ever-growing problem in the criminal justice system can be in the area of sentencing.
Sykes argues that institutional aggression is a result of the environment, and that it is occurs within prison institutions because they experience deprivation on a daily basis. These include deprivation of liberty, where the prisoners are deprived of their freedom, deprivation of autonomy, where the prisoners are deprived of their independence by constantly being controlled by officers and loss of security, where many of the prisoners feel insecure of themselves. This is then supported by Sykes who found that the potential threat to personal security increased the anxiety levels in inmates, even if the majority of prisoners were not a threat to them. However, inmates may cope with these struggles in a number of ways, including some prisoners isolating themselves in their cells, whereas others choose to rebel by being violent towards staff. A study supporting the deprivation model was carried out by McCorkle et al who found that overcrowding, lack of privacy and lack of meaningful activities leads to peer violence which shows that the environment and place, could be a significant factor influencing aggression within prisoners.
Overcrowding of our prisons is a bad situation that will continue to get worse unless our government figures out a solution. Inmates are at risk, correctional officers are at risk, and the American public is at risk. Without a solution soon, we will be seeing a large scale problem get much larger. Overpopulation is defined as “the condition of having a population so dense as to cause environmental deterioration, an impaired quality of life, or a population crash” (Webster, 2014). Today our prison system has fallen into a desperate time with overcrowding and overpopulation of our prisons county, state, and federal.
The American Prison System The cost of building and maintaining more prisons is high. However, it is undeniable that the cost of not doing so is higher. Prisoners who get off early on parole, or who get distinct comfortable treatment are more likely to commit another crime when released than the inmates who serve full time. Nationally, the overall rate of serious crime is at a 25-year low because crime is more costly to adult perpetrators than it was in the 70’s and 80’s. Although the rate is low, more cases of minor crimes are filed every year.
In regards to the variety of illnesses extend from depression to schizophrenia, citizens and ill inmates are outraged by the concept of not receiving extensive care. In the same vein as mentally ill inmates, elderly inmates are fearful of the repercussions of overcrowding as well. According to a peer-reviewed source written by Laura Whitaker, prisoners in jail between the ages of 60- 90 years are suffering from hearing loss or are handicapped in wheelchairs, walkers, canes, or have other complicationsand other complications. (footnote aging). Within the article, internees interviewed expressed concerns of being placed with younger, more intimidating, inmates.
(1999, September). Sentencing & Corrections Issues for the 21st Century,(2), . Retrieved from
Jennifer Walls Prison Overcrowdings One of the biggest issues facing the American correctional system is prison overcrowdings. Prisons all over the America have become so overcrowded that it’s affecting many. A lot of people think that overcrowded prisons affect the inmates, the guards and the system. Those are many that are affected by the overcrowdings, but this is not all. Little known, overcrowding of prisons affect the American people, our economy and our lives.
I can probably say there are a lot of problems with in a prison as in drugs, violence, gangs and overcrowding. Out of all of those things I believe the biggest issue facing the American correctional system is overcrowding. It wasn’t always an issue back in the day or if it was it’s probably not as bad as it is today. Overcrowding may not seem like a big issue but let’s take a look, what causes prison overcrowding? What does prison overcrowding cause?
The differences are that they are put into isolation and do not share the same freedoms as we do in our communities. The prison lifestyle comes from many different attributes of stress; the dictionary defines stress as “a mentally or emotionally disruptive or disquieting influence.” In the study done by Sykes (1958) of a maximum-security prison lifestyle he identified five categories of stresses experienced by inmates. He stated that theses stresses were due to the deprivations that inmates regularly experience which include goods and services, liberty, heterosexual relationships, autonomy, and security. According to Sykes these were the core deprivations that defined the prison experience. The inmate’s safety is stressed due to the reality of violence in the institution.
Retrieved from http://www.policefuturist.com Grant, H., & Terry, K. (2008). Law enforcement in the 21st Century, Second edition. Pearson