Offender Incarceration Essay

Many people, before reading this article, might not have been aware of the rapid increase of incarceration rates and the overcrowding issue. This appeals to the reader’s sense of logic by stating that the vast majority of them are nonviolent because it shows them that that is where the overcrowding issue resides. This gets the readers thinking that alternative ways of dealing with nonviolent offenders might be necessary to solving the issue in the criminal justice system. Zuckerman makes the reader understand that reforming the prison system is a reasonable solution to the many problems generated by non-violent offenders being imprisoned. Not only does the author make the reader aware of the issue, but he provides a logical solution for it.

We long for solutions, we long for peace, we long for change. But how? For decades, we notice the rate of incarceration increase heavily, as time passes. However, solutions to decrease those rates have been minimum. Adam Gopnik provides very detailed arguments on why the incarceration rates are so high in the United States, the comparison between jail time and crime committed, and also focuses on the importance of working together for smaller solutions to later “fix” problems like incarceration and our criminal justice system.

Examining Problems and Their Solutions in The Parole System The United States of America contains the third largest population in the world, which contradicts the fact that the United States has the largest prison population in the world (Aliprandini, and Finley). The fact that their prison population is so large alludes to the reason they would have a strong parole system. Due to contrary belief, this is not the case.

Although some may believe that incarceration may be the most concrete way to stop recidivism, there are other alternatives that have had success as well. One in particular is the diversion program. The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice states that “processing certain youth through the juvenile justice system may do more harm than good”. There can be many reasons why it can do more harm, one being that they may have committed a petty crime and now they are being placed among more dangerous influential offenders. Offenders may also have a bad record due to a petty act which is something that can be avoided by completing the diversion program.

Should nonviolent crimes be rehabilitative versus punitive in nature? Over the past several decades state and federal incarceration rates have increased dramatically in the United States. As a consequence of more punitive laws and harsher sentencing policies, there are more people incarcerated in the nation’s prisons and jails than ever before. The U.S. leads the world in its rate of incarceration.

Here are some facts: in 2012 the annual cost of placing an offender is prison is eight times the cost to put the same offender on probation (Supervision); 35% of state prison admissions in 2006 were probationer violators by technical violations (Lawrence); over two-third of prison admissions in [California, Orgeon, Texas] are probation or parole violators (Baynes, Chapter 7). What does this illustrate? We, the tax payers, are spending more money to send less violent offenders to prison while taking up space for more violent offenders. The effect of putting probationer violators in prison is increasing prison cost, disrupting the community where the probationer resides and society. Changes need to make in the ways the judicial system impose

Addressing this issue causes a huge debate due to stigmas. Many believe that any convicted criminal should be set away from society. This is due to the stigma that anyone convicted is a “delinquent” or is “crooked, evil, or a possible murderer.” But, it is quite naive to believe that prisons should be set separate from society. It is crucial that services are provided inside those walls to aid the inmates whom-with a few exceptions- will be released and it is our job and in our interest to ensure that they will not return to crime and be locked up yet again.

Non-Violent Drug Offenders Releasing nonviolent drug offender’s would not only free them from their harsh sentences in the US correctional system, but also reduce overcrowding in prisons. Nonviolent drug offenders committed crimes generally involving burglary, drug trafficking, drug possession, and larceny however, they do not implicate as a threat of harm or attack upon a victim. Prisons overcrowding is a burgeoning conflict in the U.S nevertheless, coming up with a plan to release “low-level” could not threat offenders could a be a solution.

This problem is getting worse and worse by the years and even former president Barrack Obama commented- “Over the last few decades, we’ve locked up more and more nonviolent offenders than ever before. Longer than ever before and that is the real reason our prison population is so high.” The United States has imprisoned more than 25 percent of all the prisoners in the world, even though we only have about 5 percent of the world’s population.

This study looks at the relationship between incarceration rates and crime, and its effect on public policy making. The most favorable view among criminologists is that increased incarceration reduces crime rates since it takes criminals off the streets and it serves as a deterrent to incentivize people from breaking the law. With the prison population growing in the U.S. over the last 30 years, crime has also fallen, but some of the researchers in this study like Spelman believe these numbers are misleading and the reason for majority of the reduction in crime rates may be due to other outside factors. However, this study ignores the possibility that crime elasticity as independent of observed prison population and crime growth rates, this

Thesis: It is very important for the sake of Americans tax dollars that we change the way that prisons are run and increase the productivity of inmates so when they are released from jail they are ready to be a productive member in society and have the confidence to achieve new goals. Introduction: Day after day, millions of inmates sit in jail doing nothing productive with their lives. We are paying to house inmates that may not even have a good reason to be there. For example, drug offenders are being kept with murderers and other violent offenders.

Offenders participating in MRT are able to identify responsibility for their behavior. They become more pro-social and gain life skills such as anger management, job placement, sobriety maintenance and parenting skills. Implementing MRT into community corrections significantly lowers prison populations. (Car & Thies, 2005, p 37).

We have just seen that the massive increase in incarceration since the 1970s has probably produced little in the way of crime reduction. Not only has the incarceration boom failed to produce the positive consequence for which it was initiated, it has also had several negative collateral consequences that have attracted increasing attention from scholars and policy analysts (Clear, 2007; Garland, 2001; Mauer & Chesney – Lind, 2003; Petersilia, 2003; Travis, 2005;). This section examines several of these consequences.

Alternatives to Incarceration Currently, prisons and jails are overcrowded and expensive for society. In 2016, there were 1,505,400 prisoners in the United States of America (Carson, 2016). There are many alternatives to incarceration, for example, drug courts saved an average of 700,000 per year, according to, “Alternatives to Incarceration: An Evidence Based Research Review” (2004, p. 6). Other programs are community service, day reporting centers, electronic monitoring, forfeiture programs, home detention, intensive supervision probation, substance abuse treatment, and work release. These programs offer cost savings to society, and the programs offer rehabilitation to offenders.

America’s prisons are increasingly becoming over-occupied, with about 1 in 100 americans being held behind bars (NCADD 1). As to what causes people to commit crime varies substantially, whether it be violent or petty, misdemeanor or felony, crimes happen on a daily basis, and at an alarming rate. Crime