Prison Population

And how will this justify the issues of male sex offenders from repeating their sex crimes. While there are many pros to chemical castration, the side effects outnumber the real issue. Chemical castration goes against a person’s human rights, it also is an option the government hands out so that the offender can avoid jail, yet they are still suffering due to their health’s side effects. Chemical castration is offered to sex offenders, sex abusers, and child molesters who are serving time in prison for committing specific crimes in exchange for shorter prison time and to those who are in the process for release as time served. The process of administering a Depo-Provera injection or pill to sex offenders is to lower their testosterone levels and decrease the sexual desires to preventing them from repeating the criminal acts.

Prison Overcrowding in America In our country today, we account for roughly five percent of the world’s population, yet we hold over twenty-five percent of the globe’s inmate population. According to John Irwin, we currently imprison more people for lesser crimes than any other country in the world. In 1987 alone, our prison population rested steadily at just 500,000 incarcerated inmates in the U.S. Although in the past twenty-seven years, the American prison population has actually quadruped to almost 2.4 million (Pratt, 2009). With that being said, we as a nation hold the highest recidivism rates compared to any other country.

Elderly offenders are a number of men and women ages 55 years and older that face life sentence or waiting for parole. There are more male than female prisoners there's about 42% white prisoners, 33% are black and around 15% hispanic. Elderly prison have grown from 32,600 in 1995 to 124,400 in 2010. They say that about the year 2030 will approach one third of the total prison population. Elderly prisons are two to three times more expensive than younger offenders, they could be up $72,000 per year for medical care and housing.

It has led to a rise in the recidivism rates of prisoners. Recidivism refers to the repetition of criminal behavior (James, 2011). According to the United States Bureau of Justice 2010 statistics report, three-quarters of released prisoners are constantly rearrested for new crimes and more than half of these go back to prison in a period of two to three years after their release. Ex- inmates account for an approximated 19 percent of all arrests (Phelps, 2013, p.55). Criminals who return to the community are also most of the times worse off after a period of confinement than when they entered.

Solitary confinement is considered sever psychiatric harm after fifteen days. More than fifty percent of the US prisoners held in solitary confinement are held past this fifteen-day marker. (The Ethics of Solitary Confinement). "More widely, according to federal records, some 80,000 prisoners were held in solitary confinement across the US in 2005 - the last time such information was released by the government" (The Ethics of Solitary Confinement). If our government is withholding the information, there is clearly something amiss.

Many inmates experience mental disorders when they get sentence to long period of time in an overcrowded prison. Prison population keeps increasing not equaling to the space provided to the inmates. According to the article, Prison Health Aare and The Extent of Prison Overcrowding, about 70% of prisons around the globe are surpassing the prison’s capacity. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, recommends for each inmate in prison to have at least 4 meters of space, but 14 prisons in Europe give inmates only 2 to 3.5 meters of space. They get very limited space making it easier to pass infections or diseases along each individual in the cell.

“Congressional findings in the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 posited that juveniles were five times as likely to be sexually assaulted in adult rather than in juvenile facilities - often within their first 48 hours of incarceration. Youth advocacy groups report that juveniles housed in adult facilities are 36 times more likely to commit suicide” (Parsell). This hostile environment leaves a lasting impression on a young prisoner's personality, making assimilation into

In today’s society, doctors give teen a antidepressants and send them on their way. Giving antidepressants to teens and adolescents is not the route to go when treating depression. According to the American Psychiatric Association depression is “a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act” (Parekh). The possible cause of depression are “faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, stressful life events, medications, and medical problems” (Harvard). “Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in this United States, and the second leading cause of death between the ages of 15-34” (Suicide).

Reflecting on this, an aspect that stands out is the date of 1993. Over twenty-four years ago, a prominent issue regarding rehabilitation for inmates remains the same. Over half of the people incarcerated experience withdrawal from an addiction though prisons turn away when there are clearly people in need. When proper treatment and rehabilitation is denied, inmates with serious addictions or mental disabilities continue to worsen. “About 85 percent [of California prisoners] are substance abusers.

There are more than 600,000 registered sexual offenders in the United States. The high majority of these sex criminals will be released back into the community and the recidivism rate for these individuals remain high. One in four will eventually recidivate within 15 years. Zott (2007) found “It costs about $22,000 per year, excluding treatment, to incarcerate an offender. Community supervision and treatment can cost between $5,000 and $15,000 per year” (pg.

Quick Write Essay Mass incarceration is a horrible failure. America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Even though America is home to about one-twentieth of the population , America has half of the world as prisoners. Incarceration is still high and not lowering no time soon. “ 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.

Opioid and heroin usage is a major issue all over The United States, and it’s an even bigger one in our home of York, Pennsylvania. The United States only accounts for 5% of the world’s population, yet we make up 75% of the world’s prescription drug consumers. In addition to this, Pennsylvania is the state with the third highest amount of heroin users in the country. As far as our county goes, York has the 4th highest amount of heroin related deaths. The heroin epidemic in the United States, and specifically York County was caused a multitude of reasons, such as the fact that heroin is cheaper than prescription drugs and most people who try heroin aren’t aware of the risks.

In the last thirty years, incarceration rates have skyrocketed to four times of that in 1980, with 1 in every 31 adults being under some form of correctional control. (“Criminal Justice Fact Sheet”) The US now houses 25% of the world’s prisoners, despite containing only 5% of the world’s population. (Khalek) Many factors have contributed to this sharp increase in incarcerations, including zero-tolerance policies, and the school-to-prison pipeline and the War on Drugs (“Criminal Justice Fact Sheet”). However, the largest contributors are the prison industrial complex, which targets and criminalizes minority groups, and the dependence of for-profit prisons on inmate count and prison labor. Privatized prisons made a comeback during the 1980s,

The overcrowding of prisons in California and the rest of America is the result of “manufactured crime”. These are crimes which have no victim yet are considered felonies and follow the three strike law. Many people do not know that there are more incarcerated people in America than any other country on earth. According to the American Civil Liberties Union “America contains 5% of the world 's human population while also containing 25% of the world’s prison population. Since 1970, our prison population has risen by some 700% - an increase far outpacing rates of population growth and crime1”.

Fresno County is located in the central regions of California (CA). Current estimates put the population at around 965,000 which represents a huge 20% increase over the last 14 years. Most of the population growth came from the Hispanic and Asian communities, which now represent over 33% of the total population. Given the County 's proximity to both Sacramento and Los Angeles, they too suffer from a large number of crimes and death related to drug abuse and addiction. Startling Statistical Information About Drug Abuse in Fresno County, California While Trust for America 's Health reported the state of California has the 15th lowest fatality rate (10.6 out of every 100,000 people) from drug overdose, the number is quite misleading considering the vast population of the state.