In 1971, 1 out of 12 Americans were incarcerated. Since that time, the prisoner ratio has exponentially increased; today, that ratio is 1 out of 51. With that number continuing to rise, many problems result out of it. Prison overcrowding is a growing problem in the United States. The number of people being taken in has regressive effects on the purpose behind imprisonment. Though the prisoners are not there for a comfortable and enjoyable stay, ethical rights are being ignored. How can a someone carry out their sentence rightfully if the focus is taken away from them and put on the judgment of the courts and justice system? Prison overcrowding is without a doubt problematic and inhumane. The mandatory sentencing laws, lack of attention on
Admittedly, some have argued in the article “Do prisoners have too much luxury/ too many privileges?”, “...prison can be a harsh and difficult time with some people spending many years there, so because of this they should at least have somewhere ‘comfortable’ to serve their time and receive as much
If one thinks jails in modern-day U.S. society are bad, then he /she should consider
Professionalism as Bartollas and Siegel define it “refers to a set of character strengths and personal values directed at providing the highest quality service to others in the workplace, both colleagues and clients” (2013). In the field of corrections, professionalism affects not only those working in the facility or those imprisoned within its walls, but the families of inmates and officers /correctional staff, the local community, and the relationships within the law enforcement community as well.
The main part of this research paper is the reforms for the conditions of prison and make prison a better place for prisoner and make an alternative for incarceration.
According to Penal Reform International, “In most prison systems, prisoners do not have the minimum space requirements recommended by international standards, spending up to 23 hours of the day, if not all day, in overcrowded cells. Overcrowding can be so severe that prisoners sleep in shifts, on top of each other, share beds or tie themselves to window bars so that they can sleep while standing”.
Isolated and cramped, for the next months or years, in a small area where the prisoner would sleep and eat is implemented into the prison systems. Solitary confinement varies through the states based on their procedures, but it’s essentially the isolation of a
First is the history of the correctional institutions. The history begins with the tenth century in England. In England, anyone caught of treason or murder were meant to be hung. The first prisons showed up in Europe, specifically in italy in the 1300s. In Europe, because every little petty crime or anyone that begged were to be arrested and put in prisons, prisons were getting full. As prisons were getting overcrowded, the prisons became very unsanitary
The U.S. prison systems has evolved greatly in the pasts centuries in many ways, but the most critical part where it greatly improved was the security of the facilities, the inmate treatment, and the construction of the building of how stable it is.The first and most important is the security. A prison system has to have a strict security system because without it prisoners can do whatever they want. So, they developed a security system where there are five levels: the higher the level is the stronger it is. Not all prisons do the same security because different buildings mean different levels. Prison cells have changed in the past couple years to withstand rust or mold from disturbing or breaking the iron bars. The second most important improvement was the treatment of inmates/prisoners. The prisoners have changed a lot in the past century or so because they have developed a new way for entertainment or pleasure. That was sexual humiliation of what the prisoners did to each other. Other than pleasure they have gotten more dangerous because in prison, criminals have records that have skulls or stars that show how dangerous they are. The more skulls, the more dangerous a prisoner is. Since criminals have gotten more dangerous the guards’ weapons have gotten more advanced with stun guns, dogs, or batons. The third and final important point in the prison system is how strong the building is. The building is larger so they can put more prisoners; the bigger the building, the harder it is to escape. The bigger the better but it wouldn’t matter because it depends on how strong the buildings is. So they made the buildings mold, rust and physical resistance from the inside or outside. Other improvements they have made is non-combustible concrete walls, roofs and floors that do not produce smoke or toxic fumes which prevents anything from happening in or outside of the building. The U.S. prisons have developed a lot in the century in security system, inmate treatment, and
The past 25 years the numbers of prisoners who are held in solitary confinement has sky rocketed. State and federal prisons all have solitary confinement. Therefore, when an inmate acts out and tries to attack other inmates, and officers then they are put into an individual cell and are isolated from other individuals. One senator had said that the expansion of the use of solitary confinement is an issue.
The prior incentives, now eliminated, provided opportunities for transfers to minimum security prisons, and as a result of their dissolution, the prison population began to skyrocket. The perceived conditions of the prisons began to worsen as a result of the overcrowding. In the early 1970’s, one cellblock housed the prison's disciplinary cases and its protection cases, containing about fifty inmates. Those fifty represented around five percent of the total prison population. In 1976, over twenty percent of the inmates were either in protective custody or in segregated units, forcing the utilization of two cell blocks. Each block had a capacity of 90 inmates, but held as many as 200 inmates. (Useem, 1982) It was no wonder the new administration began reporting a new “breed” of high profile inmates entering the
Unless prisons are planning on keeping inmates in isolation for their entire sentence, prisons are causing more problems for themselves because of the problems. The aggression and resentment built up by the prisoner towards the prison and other inmates/officers can be detrimental with the flow of prison due to rule breaking and violence (Weir, 2012; Dingfelder, 2012; Constanzo, Martinez, Klebe, Torrence & Livengood, 2012). There are no rehabilitation results from isolation, so whenever a prisoner is sent, they are delaying the obvious problems that will occur once
olitary confinement, in 40 states have super-maximum security (“supermax”) facilities specifically used to hold people in long-term confinement. States such as Colorado consistently uses excessive confinement that dehumanize one’s well-being. The inmates are basically put in cages and they don’t really have the freedom to have any free time. They have a 15 minute shower three times a week. “ Mental Health clinicians visited at least once a month, and a librarian delivered books and magazines once a week. Prisoners were allowed at least one 20-minute phone call and one non-contact visit each month.” (By Bulman, Phillp, Correction Today).
Schenwar told the story of Marissa Alexander who was a victim of domestic violence and went to jail because of firing a warning shot of self-defense. The media made it sound like she would be free after her jail time but she was coming home to house arrest. People in these situations have to stick to a strict schedule and it takes the comfort and privacy out of your home. The devices that come along with the arrest can quickly become expensive and make it harder to find a job. Because of the price, not everyone may be able to afford it so this may not even be an option for some. Even wearing them at all times may not result in accurate readings; devices may signal false positives and say offenders were out of range all because of improper charging (Development Services Group, Inc). Something similar happened in another situation: there were monitoring devices on two people on parole and they allegedly raped and killed two women and these devices never sent signals (Siegel and
When an individual is placed in jail they have be aware of their surroundings and understand that their may be tension and violence. This may occur for many reasons such as, overcrowding, special problem and mistreatment. It is so important to remember environments set up the outcome of a lot of things.