Prison Overcrowding Essay

However, the construction of new prison facilities has not provided a sustainable solution for the reduction in crime rates in the society. Incarceration has also proven to be expensive. There are several costs associated with incarceration. These include costs of building new facilities, costs of paying prison staff, maintaining the prisons and costs of treating particular classes of prisoners such as elderly and mentally ill inmates. The United States spends billions of dollars on incarceration each year with the average yearly increase in state spending on prisons from 1999 to 2009 being approximately 3 percent (James, 2011, p.632).

Overcrowding in prisons is something that the U.S. struggles with. The increasing number of people being incarcerated is making the over-crowding problem more prevalent. Over-crowding in prisons has been a growing concern over the years. It creates many dismal effects on the conditions of the officers, the building its self, and the inmates. The U.S. currently incarcerates approximately 1 in 100 adults.

In order to outlive the prison experience, inmates are constrained to endure great psychological changes. Noetic harm inflicted whilst imprisonment as well the challenges posed have only grown over the last several decades. These challenges include a much-discussed de-emphasis on rehabilitation as an objective of imprisonment along with rigorous policies and conditions of solitary confinement. Thus, creating prisons more troublesome places to adapt and sustain oneself. Adjustment to advanced imprisonment demands particular mental costs of incarcerated persons; few individuals are more vulnerable to the pains of imprisonment than others.

Preview of Main Points Today, I will be describing to you what prison overcrowding is, the reasons behind it, what it results in, and how it can be reduced. Body Transition to First Main Point: To begin, let’s take a look at what prison overcrowding is. I) Prison overcrowding is the social phenomenon that occurs when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners in the place. A)

Your discussion was very interesting, frightening, and troubling to read. From the research we have conducted this week, overcrowding seems to be at the top of the list for correctional facilities throughout the country. This one factor is placing the officers that work in these facilities in danger. It’s frustrating to me that so many prisons and jails do not require any type of structure for the inmates. Without structure and overcrowded facilities, a recipe for violence is created.

With as many as 200,000 adolescent entering the adult justice system each year, controversies arise regarding whether young criminals should be tried as adults. Many troubled adolescents as young as 13 years old are thrown into the adult jails for decades; thus, the current justice system has a reputation for meeting juvenile crime with harsh sentencing. However, are these punishments truly rehabilitating young criminals to one day become a law-abiding adult? For the kids living behind the adult prison walls, there is a greater negative impact on them rather than the necessary guidance to help them grow as a person. It is evident a criminal record can ruin an adult’s life let alone one of a juvenile.

By definition, corrections are the variety of programs, services, facilities, and organizations responsible for the management of individuals who have been accused or convicted of criminal offenses (Clear 11). Yet, looking at what prisons are giving inmates today, it seems that this definition is not being upheld. There has been a lack of funding towards new programs that could prevent inmates from returning to prison, and the result is an increase in recidivism in prisons all over the United States. Since World War II through the 1970s, many changes have occurred in the United States correctional systems. During these years, the correctional system has transformed from the rehabilitation model to a more punitive model.

In the US, the number of private prisons is continuously increasing at such a rate that it started to raise some eyebrows. What benefits are gained from these institutions and what is being sacrificed? This topic is increasingly causing a controversy and sparking debate among opposite sides. To gain a good perspective about this, let us

To help with the prison solution it took, Judge Thelton E. Henderson. Henderson stood up for the prisoners who didn 't have a voice, he talked to many people and demanded money from the state so that he could improve the health care in prisons. This ended up with them realizing that the prisons are too overcrowded and they need to do something about it. They found this out after viewing statistics of people who ¨died from an illness in prison or committed suicide¨. This is not surprising that this health crisis is still going on, at the same time the case was happening Obama Care was working on being formed.

The number of mentally ill prisoners is consistently on the rise. In fact, a 1995 study found that there is a higher percentage of people with mental illnesses in prison than outside of prison (statcan.gc.ca). It's argued that the reason for there being so many mentally ill people in prison is that those who "cannot get mental health treatment in the community are swept into the criminal justice system after they commit a crime" (Abramsky and Fellner 1) and get caught up within a cycle of criminalization. It's obvious that the incarceration system doesn't do much to help criminals with mental illnesses. At most, they are detained in special prisons with mental health facilities, yet even these programs have been proven to be insufficient, unethical, and very corrupted; it isn't uncommon to hear of stories where patients are being mistreated, secluded for extended periods of time without proper care, and removed of their basic human rights.

This has only led to more and more prisons being created which cost a lot of money. “Since 1984 more than twenty new prisons have opened in California , while only one new campus was added to the California State University system and none to the University of California system”(Davis 686). Instead of focusing on creating safer environments for those who live in areas where crime is predominant we are only building more prisons to just lock everyone up. This is not really solving anything rather it is just avoiding the whole issue itself. Creating theses prisons cost a lot of money because there are man things required in maintaining a prison running.

It elaborates further on the concept of “jail diversion” explaining a program in Bexar County Texas that is having success in doing just that as well as helping mentally ill lead better more successful lives. The author states that there is a high percentage of homeless mentally ill in jails and too much is expected of law enforcement and the criminal justice system in regards to mental health care. This is corroborated in the readings of Slate et al. (2013) as police officers are described as “street corner psychiatrists” and “providers of “psychiatric first aid”. The author also describes the growing pressures on emergency rooms to treat mentally ill who are over twice as likely to be admitted to the hospital than those with other

“ We are not moving nearly fast enough to reduce incarceration… Over 2 million Americans live caged… a 550 percent increase in the last 40 years. ” Most of the people in the world are in jail. Therefore , incarceration is not lowering due to people being imprisoned on a daily basis. Half of the people in the world commit very bad crimes , which lead them to be imprisoned.

Misdemeanor Cases Affecting Police, Courts, and Corrections Danitza Robledo Arizona Western College Authors note Danitza G. Robledo, Department of Administration of Justice. Arizona Western College. Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Danitza G. Robledo, Department of Administration of Justice, Arizona Western College, Campus Box 929. Yuma, Az 85366-0929 (928)317-6000. E-mail: dgr11@toro.azwestern.edu Abstract

A shift is happening in America. The pendulum is swinging from the ideals of get tough and mass incarceration. The swing has both positive and negative affects on the prison system. On the plus side, prison populations are decreasing. By shifting away from incarcerating any who break the law, there are fewer drug dealers and fewer violent offenders in the system.