Effects Of Overcrowding In Prisons

Prisons today are pushed to their limits, both state, and federal prisons. Inmates are forced to live in unsanitary, unhealthy, unsafe, and poor conditions. Men and woman should not be made to sleep on floors, sleep in tents outside, or fight for a spot in a long line to shower. This issue needs to be addressed, and some states have proceeded to do so and have had great results.

Another current and future issue of concern for prisons and prison administrators stemming from overcrowding is prison violence. Prison researcher Stephen C. Light found that when conditions such as overcrowding worsen. Inmate misconduct often increases (Gaines & Miller, 2008, pp. 340).Prisoners often use violence as a way to show power or to control other inmates. Prison violence is a means of surviving for some inmates who think of violence as a deterrent against victimization or violence to acquire money or sexual favors. The correctional officers also have to resort to violence as a form of discipline or controlling prison gangs and riots.

As of 2015, 2.7% of adults in the United States were under correctional control, the lowest rate since 1994, however that is still roughly 6.7 million adults (Kaeble & Glaze, 2016). While the correctional population has declined, correctional facilities in the United States are still grossly overcrowded, with many facilities at or surpassing capacity. A report in 2010 by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation showed that on average, facilities were at 175% capacity (Brown, 2010). However, as of midnight on October 31st, 2017 the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported that their facilities, on average, were 132% occupied (Brown, 2017). Not only is prison overcrowding a burden on the facilities themselves, but also on the inmates. Prison overcrowding, that is, housing more inmates than the facility can humanely facilitate (Haney, 2006), places a strain on all resources throughout the correctional facility, including on the healthcare that’s offered, educational programs, and most dramatically on the physical space available to house inmates (Ekland-Olson, 1983).

Throughout history into today, there have been many problems with our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, rape rates are off the charts, and we as Americans have no idea how to fix it. We need to have shorter sentences and try to rehabilitate prisoners back to where they can function in society. Many prisoners barely have a high school education and do not receive further education in jail. Guards need to pay more attention to the well being of the inmates and start to notice signs of abuse and address them. These are just a few of the many problems in our prison systems that need to be addressed.

The overcrowding prison reflects that the inmate population has grown much faster than the funding for prisons, which is controlled at the state level. In most cases, state funding has not come close to keeping up with the rise in the prison population, leading to decrepit prison infrastructure that is wholly inadequate for housing such large numbers of inmates. Without capacity to house inmates properly, some prisons have resorted to having prisoners sleep in gymnasiums, and many have overcrowded cells to accommodate the extra bodies. This overcrowding has led to deteriorating cleanliness of prisons and declining safety. Today, non-violent prisoners are forced to live in close quarters with violent ones, and the results are predictable.

It is unnecessary for many of these criminals to be held in prison since there isn’t any room for them in the first place. One way that the federal prison system can ease the overcrowding problem would be to simply release the non-violent criminals back into society with a fine or on probation. The overcrowding that is contained within many prisons causes the facilities to become more and more inhumane with the number of prisoners added each year. Many prisons suffer from lack of resources for their inmates such as proper medical facilities, extra prison cells, and resources to reduce idleness, which causes the conditions of the prisons and the treatment of the prisoners to worsen. With overcrowding, prisoners become victims of unconstitutional treatment, and many will suffer and die if this chronic overcrowding continues (Mayeux 9). Though many people would argue that prisoners deserve the harsh conditions that come with overcrowded prisons, they need to remember that prisoners are people too and are subject to the same natural rights as every American citizen, including the eighth amendment which declares “no cruel or unusual punishment”(Brown v. Plata 1). The supreme court case Brown v. Plata actually states that the overcrowded population of prisons is a violation of one’s constitutional rights (Brown v. Plata 1). But overcrowding doesn’t just effect prisoners, it also

As we all know – there are tons of social issues within the entire world that Criminal Justice Practitioners deal with, most likely, on a daily basis. One of the many social issues I’ve chosen is Prison Overcrowding.

There are so many problem in the Unites State Prison system because of overcrowding. First I am going to talk about what cause the overcrowding in the Prison system. After that I will talk what are the affect we are facing now days for overcrowding in the prison system. Than what should we do to stop prison to get overcrowding and how is going to help out society.

Incarceration is not meant to be fun. Prison overcrowding is becoming major issue all over the United State. Our prison and jail inmates are growing dramatically. More and more people are committing more crime, which cause them sometimes locked up. Each state has a different way of sentence offenders. The dictionary define overcrowding as beyond what is usual or comfortable, simple means you cannot have more than the amount of inmate in a cell than the state allows you to. A jail cell design for four inmates can’t have six inmates in there. California is one of the state that has been infected by prison overcrowding and need to come to a conclusion on how to fix and prevents it from happening. The number of inmates are increasing based on their

The amount of people in prison has been on a rise since the 1970s and with the amount increasing every year it is becoming a problem in the United States (Gonnerman 34). Some may argue that overcrowding is not a problem in the United States. However, in the 1970s, there were at least 200,000 people in State and Federal prison combined, now there are 1.53 million people in State and Federal prison (Gonnerman 34). The prison system has risen so much in the United States that places, like, Texas, Montana, Mississippi, California, and Washington have programs to fix overcrowding (Stratton). In the state of Texas they have decided to create a program to help them save prisoners by investing in health of prisoners. The program is meant to help them get off drugs and help with mental illness, which the program saved Texas $2 billion of taxpayer money (Stratton). The state of Montana is planning to save $70 million in the year of 2023, if senate bills pass with reducing the amount of people in prison by 74% in the next years (Standsberry). The other three states that are mentioned above have the same plans as the other states mentioned above and most of them have worked out like the others. The overcrowding in prison is a problem in the United States, but it is not the only problem United States have with

Evidence shows that overcrowded prison conditions increase crime in these confines, such as inmates attacking guards. Instances like this happen in these unprincipled institutions daily across the United States, making overcrowded prisons dangerous to

Overcrowding is a big issue when it comes to prison reform. Overcrowding means these judges are sending people to an overcrowded prison instead of searching for rehabilitation centers to help the problem. Overcrowding can lead to, dangerous conditions, fighting for your space, and sometimes inhuman situations. These can lead to anxiety and could resort to death . One way to help solve this problem

Today, in America, some prisoners are living worse than some third world countries are for little crimes such as thief. Overcrowded prisons can literally be defined as placing more prisoners in a prison facility than the prison was built to maintain. Every prison has a recommended capacity for which they are to hold prisoners, since there is such an increase in offenders going to prison, these capacities are being ignored and the population of these prisons are significantly increased, making them overcrowded. Too many prisoners and not enough room. This country needs to spend more money to build new prisons. New prisons cost too much to build. There are more prisoners than the guards can control safely. Because of overcrowding some state prisons are sends their inmates down to local prisons. Some prison inmates are sleeping in hallways, storage rooms and even lavatories. Due to overcrowding some prisons are producing conditions so unhealthy it is against the constitution. Because the new prisons won’t be built for a while some prisons are doing the only thing they can, freeing inmates early. Another reason for overcrowding is that more people are going to jail for smaller, less offensive crimes. Because the number of people in prison, the educational programs are limited. Before the inmate was placed near his or her program but now they are placed where ever there is a bed. Some prisons are placing inmate wherever there can. Some prisoners need special education that is not

Prison Overcrowding has become a major issue in the United States. Many laws such as the three strikes law and also mandatory minimums have played a major part in prison overcrowding in the United States. The violence that is caused by prison

Prison overcrowding occurs when the number of inmates incarcerated exceeds the capacity in that system. In the United States, this has become problematic, especially in state prisons. Criminal behavior and a variety of policies cause prison overcrowding, and it harms personnel, inmates, and taxpayers.