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
RUNNING HEAD: THE ISSUES 1 The Issues of Overcrowding in Prisons By Barbarito Capote ENGL107-1203B English Composition 2 July 29, 2012 RUNNING HEAD: THE ISSUES 2 Outline: I. Intro a. Overcrowding in prisons a huge issue i. Not enough prisons to reduce overcrowding b. Solutions to prison overcrowding c. Prisons as an end result have suffered from overcrowding causing higher suicide rates as well as increased diseases, sharing of beds and toilets, etc. Because of this overcrowding of prisons is a big issue.
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
Prison Crowding Prison crowding is becoming more and more of an issue in the United States. Every day presents a growing problem when someone is arrested and taken into to custody and ultimately convicted. Many concerns have been raised when it comes to the topic of prison. Growth in prison capacity has lagged slightly behind that of the inmate population. There has been no consistent evidence that crowding is associated with mortality, morbidity which is defined as clinic utilization), recidivism, violence, or other pathological behaviors (Gaes 1994).
These eye-popping numbers came about for many reasons: mandatory minimum sentences, three-strikes legislation, illegal drugs, gangs, immorality in all its modern forms, the war on drugs, the decline of marriage and families, high rates of recidivism, incarceration of the mentally ill, the decline of capital punishment, problems with the criminal justice system and all the forces pushing tough crime policies. Difficult economic times focus attention on the increasing costs of keeping all these people - 93% of them men - behind bars. Each prisoner costs about $32,000 per year, and the average prisoner does little to offset the cost of confinement. The social costs may be even higher. Breadwinners are lost, families destroyed, more kids grow up without fathers or mothers, welfare costs increase, the entire sex ratio is thrown out of balance and prisoners face grim prospects when released.
With more than 2.3 million people locked away in our prisons, the system under which these are run is a major concern of society. A well-functioning incarceration system with motives of keeping citizens safe is key to maintaining peace and order in society. Correspondingly, a nation with a malfunctioning executive branch driven solely by economic greed is bound to fail the challenges of maintaining a safe and favorable environment. This is the state in which our nation’s prison system lies, in the hands of entrepreneurs whose only incentive is profit. 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.
Recent reports have concluded that the United States has the highest incarceration rate throughout the world at 2.2 million inmates. This increase is causing major concerns for corrections statewide, as prisons are seriously overcrowded ("University Of Phoenix," 2003). Prison populations are steadily growing year by year since the 1980s. However, the reason for this increase is a result of the Sentencing Reforming Act of 1984 (“Seller, R. P.” 2011). Once this act was put into use there was a significant increase in the incarceration rate, which resulted in correctional staff becoming burdened and overworked as a result of the extreme overcrowding.
With mandatory minimum, fixed and longer prison sentences for non-violent drug related convictions, it has put a strain on every state’s correctional department. Overcrowded prisons results in lack of programming and the available resources are being stretched even further, limited access to mental health resources, and there is an increased possibility of disarray. In this paper, we will discuss the history, causes and effects of overcrowding as well as alternatives to incarceration. TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………..…….2 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………..…………4 HISTORY OF PRISON OVERCROWDING………………………………………..….……..5 DEFINE OVERCROWDING……………………………………………………………..…….6 CAUSES OF OVERCROWDING….………………..…………………………………..…….7 HOW CROWDED ARE U.S. PRISONS…………………………………………….….…….8 PRISON CAPACITIES…………………………………………………….………………….11 EFFECTS OF OVERCROWDING…………………………………………….……………..13 ALTERNATIVES TO INCARCERATION……………………………………….………….16 REDUCING THE
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.
Unfortunately, overcrowding of classrooms lead to many problems in the long run for the most part. This is one of the reasons that the public school system in the United States has taken such a bad rapport. But, the short-term and long-term effects of overcrowded classrooms are very detrimental. What are the effects in the first place? Standards for overcrowding The standards for overcrowding as defined by the World Health Organization is as follows: 2.1 The room standard heroom standard is contravened when the number of persons sleeping in a dwelling and the number of rooms available as sleeping accommodation is such that two persons of opposite sexes who are not