Environment In Prison

This paper explores the topic of mental health within prisons and how it affects the inmates. The report of my findings were through research of twelve articles, two credible website sources, and a published textbook.

Despite the fact that my parents have worked in the criminal justice system for many years, I have never given much thought to the treatment of prisoners. As we learned from the readings, the current state of the United States criminal justice system is imperfect to the point of cruelty to those involved in it. This is truer for individuals with a mental illness. Due to a lack of psychiatric facilities throughout Alabama and overcrowding of those that do exist, many criminal offenders with mental illnesses are sent to prisons instead. State prisons are currently overcrowded, leading to substandard conditions such in almost every aspect.

There is no single exact reason for the cause of recidivism and why prisoners return to a life of crime living with imprisonment, but some of the reasons do include the following: lack of socialization, inability to reintegrate into society after returning from prison, antisocial attitudes, association with other criminals, lack of support, substance abuse, neglect or abuse of parents of guardians.( http://study.com/academy/lesson/recidivism-definition-causes-prevention.html). According to The Daily Beast “One of the biggest factors is age. The prison population is getting older,” (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/22/america-s-recidivism-nightmare.html) In a recent

Prison culture or the “values, norms and attitudes that inmates form in terms of institutional survival” (Bartollas, 2013), can be described in one of three models. The Deprivation Model describes the inmate’s behavior as the product of the environment, more specifically the attempt to adapt to that which he is deprived of as a result of incarceration (Bartollas, 2013). An example of such would be the pseudo family unit or physical relationships that inmates form as a result of the absence of such relationships while incarcerated.

The government imprisons criminals so they can rehabilitate, and to keep them off the streets. By throwing a felon behind bars it will not teach them to change their ways. Once they get out they will go back to old ways. Prison is just a living situation for criminals to house at until they finished serving their time.

The revolving door of recidivism is extremely different than it was only just a few decades ago though. Nowadays there are so much more offenders being arrested and released from prison than there was in the past. Not to mention most of them nowadays have served significantly longer prison terms than those offenders in the past, which in turn contributes to recidivism and the increasing rates over the years. Very few and far in between ever really received the benefit of the vast rehab or even pre release programs in the prisons, so in turn they end up right back where there started. They go in without and education and they come out without an education; they go in with no social skills and come out with no skills, they go in criminal and come out an even better criminal. How does that all work?? Who knows but lock them up.

The United States prison system struggles eminently with keeping offenders out of prison after being released. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than third of all prisoners who were arrested within five years of released were arrested within six months after release, with more than half arrested by the end of the year (Hughes, Wilson, & Beck, 2001). Among prisoners released in 2005 in 23 states with available data on inmates returned to prison, about half (55 percent) had either a parole or probation violation or an arrest for a new offense within three years that led to imprisonment (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder, 2014). Why are there many ex-offenders going back to prison within the first five years of release? Are there not enough resources to help offenders before or/and after being released from prison.

Inmate culture is a concern to prison facility because of the impact it can burden upon the prison. The prison code, norm, values, and prison argot are part of their cultures. When an inmate enters into the correctional facility they will adopt a prison lifestyle. Therefore, when they are release many will do the" U-shape curve effective" according to Staton Wheeler. For instance, some inmates, that live a violent lifestyle will congregate with others with the same characteristics (Schmalleger & Smykia, 2016). In my opinion, a drug dealer or gang member will gain a position of importance in the prison setting it gives them a sense of power from other inmates. Donald Clemmer believes that inmates belief, value, and behaviors grow antisocial

The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world with over 2.4 million people in jail (American Friends Service Committee). A census taken in 2005 discovered that out of those 2.4 million prisoners behind bars, 81,622 of them were being held in solitary confinement (Casella and Ridgeway). In that same 2005 census, it was gathered that 44 states use solitary confinement in their prisons (Casella and Ridgeway). Eleven years later one can only image how these numbers have changed, and most likely grown. As defined by Solitary Watch, “Solitary confinement is the practice of isolating people in closed cells for 22-24 hours a day, virtually free of human contact, for periods of time ranging from days to decades.” Solitary confinement

The revolving door on American prisons is as bad for the communities across the nation as it is for the people being cycled through the system. In “Offender Reentry”, David Allender, delves into how recidivism affects both the criminals and the community. Americans are starting to realize that the current prison system is not designed to reform, only to punish criminals. Because of this many ex-convicts are released from sentencing and allowed back into the real world without the necessary social skills to properly reintegrate. The problem became obvous with sex offenders, followed by minor drug crime. Allender points out that “The limited funding for treatment programs, which occurs because no one can prove that criminal activity did not happen

Solitary confinement in prisons is unethical because it not only has adverse side effects on the mental state of those confined, but it lessens their chances at reformation and is essentially a form of torture. Economically, it doesn’t make sense. It also damages the psyche of the inmates and in doing so reinforces the cycle that keeps people in prison.

Combating recidivism and the continuously growing prison population has been an ongoing problem that has been steadily draining federal, state, and local budgets. In a vain attempt to reduce recidivism the criminal justice system made sentences harsher, which in turn lead to more prisons being built to house the booming prison population. For almost 30 years’ researchers have sought answers for why so many criminals return to crime within five years of being released. These

Living in the prison system is no walk in the park. It is especially worse without there being rehabilitation programs put in place. There are many types of felons in prisons, and a lot of these felons are still continuing to partake in many types of misconduct while behind bars. Most of them are lying, stealing, cheating, conning, raping, and fighting. Many prisoners are also Smuggling in all kinds of contraband. Contraband are items that are illegally brought in the prisons such as drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, cell phones, and ect.. Some inmates are doing drastic criminal actions, like for example, there has been an incident where inmates held prison officials hostage in attempt to escape (explained by Hopkins in “Lockdown”, paragraph 3). Crimes like this happen in prisons because they think there are no other options.

First and far most what is considered proper living conditions for a criminal. Yes, I believe they should have a sanitary establishment where they could sleep, eat, and shower, that is least we could provide for anyone. I do not think taking away privileges from any confinement facility will promote less repeat offenders. Instead of taking away we should be trying to help the individuals who can be rehabilitated, with programs that can teach them how stay on the right track, help them get a job, and provide for themselves. I know that everyone is not able to recover but if we gave those men and women who are willing to learn these tools then we would see less repeat offenders. Prison should not just be a place of confinement, it's where these

Today, with the increase in the prison population combined with the rising costs of protecting public safety and rehabilitating prisoners, correctional leaders across the country are challenged with operating at maximum efficiency to provide quality services in a time of limited resources. The concept of sustainability in prisons will bring science, environmental education, and nature into the prison setting. It will involve offenders in research and conserving biodiversity and provide science education and green job training to the offenders. (SPP)