Issues In Overcrowded Prisons

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.

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.

One major problem of prison overcrowding is the effect it has on prison organizational stability. The more prisoners and people put in jail have made it harder for prison guards and staff to monitor and control them. The entire prison system must make enormous changes in order to accommodate for the number of inmates versus the number of prison guards (O’Leary). This often results in a misclassification of offenders. Many who come through the system are classified based on the amount of space available instead of on the security level and programs that would be most suitable for them (Howard). “It is not uncommon to find inmates, classified as medium security, incarcerated in maximum security institutions, while other inmates are in medium security who were previously considered candidates for maximum security” (Howard). Misclassifying offenders often leads to “slow progress through the corrections system as well as a slow exit” (Howard). This in turn only prolongs and increases the overcrowding problem (Howard). The corrections programs should be reformed to meet the needs of the inmates rather than the inmates having to adjust to meet the requirements of the system. Offenders need to be on specific rehabilitation programs that are customized to fit their needs, such as alcohol and drug abuse programs and so forth.

There are many important issues, challenges and problems within the United States correctional system that need to be addressed. I found it difficult to focus on just three issues. The first problem I will discuss in my paper will be the issue of the growing population in the prisons. Prisons are overcrowded and murderers who have served barely half of their sentence are being released because the state

The three gravest threats to officer safety: First inmates provide a direct source of stress

According to these percentages, most of the prison inmates are black males, between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four, and convicted of violent offenses. There are several critical issues involving penitentiaries. The two major problematic issues of prisons are cost of operation and overcrowding. Operational costs of prisons are exponential.

Due to the “war on drugs”, prison overcrowding is becoming more and more of an issue, putting a strain on not just the law enforcement but our society as well. America has been implementing a “war on drugs” policy since the early nineteen – seventies. Since the creating of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 1973 under Richard Nixon, then the Office of National Drug Control Policy under Ronald Reagan in 1988, the United States has found themselves in an endless war and in constant debt huge amounts of money.

Inmates can be destructive to the facilities by starting riots and not complying to the warden or officers. When riots start they can be very damaging because inmates flood or throw their body fluids around their cells. When inmates do not obey officers when windows are covered in the cells is destructive because the officers have no idea what could be happening in the cell

There is a lack of desire to help one another. This is part of the prison culture. When money is required to buy items that are needed or wanted, the requirement to give up prison job in order to enter treatment is a huge endeavor. Offenders can face physical threats of violence from other offenders if they participate. Treatment inside the prison system is inadequate to the community if there are no services available upon release for the offender and they are more likely to drop out of any treatment program that not related to their needs. Limited treatment resources can be related to the lack of trained staff and available treatment models. Many offenders want treatment, but worried that programs may cause them to have lower status within the prison setting (9 Treatment Issues, 2005).

Individuals with mental illness state that being in this type of environment causes them to feel alone. This type of feeling from being confined leads to depression and severe self-harm (such as the prisoners who had cuts all over his arms). In addition, many inmates become delusional and have hallucinations, which is another huge issue that causes many of the behavior issues. There is one positive effect of mentally ill being incarcerated (in some cases) because they are able to get medication that they were otherwise not able to get when on the streets.

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.

The key issues within the jails and other short term detention centers are the over crowded population, the mental health issues, bails, along with funding for these facilities. When I did my research on the cook county jail, Sheriff Tom Dart spoke on how many inmates were detained due to lack of funds they posses for bail. Tom Dart said that many of those inmates would not be there if their bail bonds were not so expensive, which could help with the overcrowding of the jails. There was an interview taken with an inmate in the county jail and the inmate stated he was incarcerated for retail theft, stealing $70 worth of ground beef. This inmate could not afford bail so he had to sit in the county jail until convicted of the crime. Furthermore, the county jail is the only place where most people gets their comfort from. We have so many poor people who are living on the streets as a consequence have no funds for food, that finds their way to the county jail for the comfort of warmth and meals during the winter months. Mental illness has become a huge conversation

Over the past years, the prison population has increased dramatically. Can overcrowding in prison contribute to inmates not receiving the right treatment? Are inmates receiving the proper care while behind bars? Does locking away individuals who struggle with health and medical needs cause people to become even more unhealthy while they are incarcerated then released from prison. Unfortunately, it is clear that there are many health/ medical issues that affects inmates while they are incarcerated.

The issues in the US prisons. There is a lot of them one is the private prisons that cost more to run then a public one. The food is another very big issue. The amount of people in their for the little things. These are the major issues.