The influx of prisoners poses issues such as gang rivalries, and violent confrontations, not only among the prisoners themselves but also between them and the prison guards. At Corcoran State Prison, on “gladiator days” officers forced rival gang members to fight, and shot them both for entertainment(Schlosser). In private Juvenile detention centers such as YSI facilities, staff often choose to not report most assaults and major fights to avoid scrutiny for violating their contracts and the rules of the Department of Juvenile Justice. Overcrowding also leads to inconveniences such as double-bunking, which urges aggression, violence, and stress-induced mental disorders. The incarceration system in the United States has inflicted much damage on societal well-being, caused by privatization of prisons, war on drugs, and overcrowding of prison cells.
When children commit the same heinous crimes, however, the distinction between the two is difficult for society to make. As a consequence, juveniles in most cases are tried as adults and if found guilty are being put in adult prisons to serve out their term. The society’s
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.
From tear gassing, to the utmost physical abuse, juveniles were tortured and it led to the children wanting to commit suicide in these harsh conditions. Such brutality was a shocking insight to me. I was in disbelief that in our own country this kind of treatment once went on and nothing was done about it for quite some time. Without such investigations that have taken place by Kenneth Wooden, one can only wonder about if such treatment would still go on and if it is even possible that it happens today. With fear being invested into the minds of juveniles, it can be very easy to control them and have underground extreme policies going on regarding abuse.
Even DOSA (Drug Offender Sentencing Act) which says they get half time upon completion of drug counseling, most inmates are unable to complete. However, due to budget cut this leaves inmates or the state to pay for the costs which cost even more than doing it inside the institution. Recidivism, which means to recommit crime, is over 90 percent for drugs offenders even with treatment. Without treatment or education offenders are committing more crime and most of the inmates are going back to prisons. If there are more good programs that would work for these inmate and guide them throughout, each individual should have the responsibility to complete the program and earn something from it.
In this situation, social structure is the most logical explanation for the behavior of the inmates and the remaining criminal behavior. It is believed many of the individuals had hard struggles before entering the prison, hence the need to rely on gang interactions. The Pelican Bay State Prison was an environment to prove yourself to other gang members and represent the gang. You had to acquire strength, determination, and overall a violent nature. Many fights broke out in that prison, and most prisoners left with more strength and potential to continue in gang violence upon release from the prison.
Prisons are consistently overflowing with repeat offenders and minor criminals. In addition to repeat offenders and perpetrators of minor crimes clogging up the system, the cost of keeping a prisoner is astronomical compared to the author’s suggested form of punishment. However, I do see the need for prisons, or someplace comparable, to keep the most violent criminals out of society. I believe Moskos should have stated hard facts regarding the ineffectiveness of prisons and given pertinent details about the productive use of corporal punishment. I’m not sure there are any “appropriate” forms of punishment.
The prisons in America seem to cause more problems than assistance in today's society. The country's penal system is overcrowded, expensive, and some argue that is ineffective as well as inefficient. The costs to staff and support these facilities increase dramatically every year. Prisons, which are supposed to be correctional facilities, are currently filled with violence and hostility. These institutions are created to control crime by deterrence, incapacitating criminals, which protects society from potentially dangerous criminals, but it is hard to tell if this is being
This is a feeling of control and authority and power in jail. This is a sick presentation and awful test for a person to experience but it often happens all the time in jail and we can’t do anything about it. The psychosomatic reason of why kidnapping, rape, and murder occurs in jail is because when they were youngsters, they never belonged in group activities with their family or even worse, their parents left them as orphans in a young age. Many of them were sexually abused or physically abused as children and they want some pay back as adults. Now they feel superior and powerful by doing these horrible things to other jailbirds to feel fitted and recognize, and
Recidivism is a big problem I this country, too many inmates return back to prison after being released. Many citizens are affected by this as well as the x-convicts and their families. Many children of convicts grow up without their father and could end up in prison themselves. It seems that these x-inmates have no chance to be reformed. This problem exists because there are not enough programs to help inmates be reformed and the little programs that are available they are implemented only after the inmate is released and not in the prison itself.