Overcrowding In Prison

​Mental health disorders are a significant cause of morbidity in prisons across the United States (U.S). Deinstitutionalization of the state’s mental health system has turned prisons into America’s “new asylums”; it has become a warehouse for the mentally ill. Our U.S prison rehabilitative services are not equipped to provide care and psychological treatment for the mentally ill which allows for these mental illnesses to persist, worsen or even trigger new ones. It can even cause inmates to wind up back in prison upon release for minor offenses. In addition to the lack of resources for these mentally ill individuals, the prison environment also directly affects the mental

It is not uncommon to hear of inmates and ex-inmates having lots of health problems. It is said that many prisoners have severe mental disorders and chronic and infectious disease. Living in prison they are provided a health care facility but it doesn’t stop all the things they are exposed to. Often times it has been proven that when people get out of jail they will try to use their mental incapability to their advantage. Although some of them may have some mental issues I believe that they occasionally try to take advantage of it and get what they can from it.

The Ohio Justice and Policy center documented a claim in 2003 for three prisoner’s Rodney Fussell, Gary Roberts, and James Love. The prisoners stated that they obtained incompetent medical care. Although some may argue, they are prisoners and do not deserve medical care, they still have the legal right to obtain it. These three men suffered from Hepatitis C, and periodontal disease.

Jails are facilities used to house inmates who have been arrested and being held pending a plea agreement, trail, or sentencing. Inmates who have been convicted of a misdemeanor criminal offense and are serving a sentence of 1 year or less are allowed to fulfill that sentence in a jail, oppose to those who have been convicted of a felony and were sentenced to 1 year or more for their conviction are housed in prisons. The Cook County Jail was established on January 15, 1831, by the Illinois state legislator. Furthermore, the courthouse and jail were not built until 1835.

The average incarceration of prisoners per year is 2,418,352, however more than half of those prisoners are not provided the proper care needed for their survival. (Cooper, Sabol, West 1) Several inmates are put in unjust situations and living conditions through prison systems that majorly effect their everyday lives. Many of these issues pose threats to the prisoners but are preventable through change in the system. Prison systems around the world are flawed and need to be reworked. Inmates are constantly surrounded by an unhealthy environment full of sexual assault, lack of good health, and unfair treatment based upon disability.

The amount of healthcare our prisoners are allowed is very minuscule when you compare it to a 100% capacity standard. When you have a prison that is at almost 150% to capacity, it turns into being denied basic human hygiene. There have been multiple cases of prisoners being denied hygiene products because of overcrowding that can affect the whole ecosystem. With such a crowded and unhealthy population, you create an environment that is hostile for the prisoners, but can also be a hazard for the employees working there daily. “In such an environment, degrading treatment of prisoners (being denied basic elements of a human life, such as contact with family, adequate health care, hygiene) becomes a constant, while death from untreated disease and suicide (from mental illness) become regular occurrences (Simon, P. 3.) Not only is it harder for the prisons

The rising cost of inmate health care in American prisons has been a topic of discussion for many. What has not been discussed as attentively, though, are the rising mental health costs for the aging inmate population. The mandatory sentencing policies instituted in the 1970s have caused a dramatic increase in the nation’s prison population, with 125,000 of 1.5 million inmates being aged 55 years or older in 2010, according to a Human Rights Watch report. Annual health care costs for an inmate aged 55-59 are approximately $11,000, while the annual costs for an inmate aged 80 and higher are nearly four times that amount. Compare these figures to the $5,500 annual health care cost for a younger inmate and the issue becomes undeniable – it is essential that our nation discovers a way to both decrease health care costs for inmates and address the growing population of elderly inmates.

The impact of budget cuts and a depressed economy continues to pose health care problems for jails and prisons as a whole. The high rate of disease and illness experienced in the prison population poses a threat not only to the prisoners, but to the staff and general public as well (Summary, 2007). Although society thinks of prisons and jails as self-contained, what is occurring inside finds its way to the outside. For instance, untreated staph infections, hepatitis C, and HIV can directly impact the family and friends of inmates, as well as neighborhoods and communities (Summary, 2007).

In chapter five of Ironies of Imprisonment, it is evident that there is inadequate healthcare for those incarcerated. Throughout the chapter the different diseases are discussed as well as myths and misconceptions surrounding healthcare behind bars. Furthermore, proposals to spend healthcare dollars on correctional facilities are becoming more unpopular. This is likely because people do not believe that prisoners have equal rights to normal people, and they see them as less human.

This topic addresses how private prisons are at odds with society’s obligation to provide quality medical care for inmates. Addressing the medical care concerns for prisoners is a basic principle that has found to be commonly neglected by officials in private prisons. “Private prison companies have also been cited for endangering inmates by providing inadequate healthcare services (Mason, 2012).” Is the United States willing to compromise the lives of people, criminal or not to save costs? The continued use of private prisons compromise inmate’s rights to minimal healthcare, “Geo- run Eastern Mississippi Correctional facility inappropriately downgraded mental health diagnoses, discontinued medicine, failed to clean feces and blood out of cell units, and rarely provided mental health care even when requested(Mason,2012).” The inconsistent standards of decency are the realities for prisoners in private prisons. Is lack of health care not inhumane and if it is would it not be unconstitutional because death can come from such conditions and neglect? The fact is private prisons with less than adequate health care or violates the eighth amendment which states that cruel and unusual punishments should not be imposed. “Costs are not enough to deprive any individual of basic necessities; because this is the case, the harsh reality remains that private prisons seemingly focus on quantity

(Wilper, 2009) In this article it is reported that there is high rate of chronic medical conditions. Some of the more common issues in prisons are "coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, chronic lung diseases, HIV infections, hepatitis B and C, other sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, chronic renal failure, physical disabilities, and many types of cancer.” (Bondurant, 2013) Many of these types of medical issues call for continuous treatment which in the end can pose as a

One of the biggest topics of conflict within our government is the medical and health care program for inmates. Some people believe that nothing should be provided to them, while others believe everything should be provided to them. Regardless of what people think medical and health care has to be provided to our inmates and must meet standards set by the government. “In 1976, the United States Supreme Court decided Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97, 97 S.Ct. 285 (1976) holding that '[t]he Constitution is violated when prison officials intentionally deny or delay access to medical care, where they provide grossly inadequate medical treatment, or where they intentionally interfere with the treatment prescribed by a physician” ( Coyne, & Green, 2008). The main goal of the services provided is to treat acute illnesses to prevent diseases. Counseling, exams, and medications are provided to every inmate.

(2013) noted, “Crowded prisons violate constitutional standards, decrease access to programs and services, create major administrative problems, and increase violence” (p. 472). Prison overcrowding is a major concern and in most cases, it is considered as a cruel and unusual punishment according to the Eighth Amendment (Newman & Scott, 2012). Studies from Newman and Scott (2012) further revealed that “prisons are totalitarian and repressive institutions where structures to support responses with human rights of patients are nonexistent or ineffective” (p. 550). Medical and mental health professionals constantly face ethical dilemmas when encountered with pressures to fulfill medical objectives rather than patient

In 2004, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) conducted a survey of inmates in state and federal correction facilities examining the medical problems and other conditions by gender age and background characteristics (Maruschak, 2008). Correctional agencies are required to provide constitutionally mandated treatment for prisoners that have medical problems (Cropsey, Wexler, Melnick, Taxman, & Young, 2007, p. 6). In 1976, the United States Supreme Court mandated an inmate’s right to medical care in Estelle v. Gamble (1976). The cost of medical treatment for inmates is a large expense for correction agencies. According to Lamb-Mechanick and Nelson (2000), medical costs for inmates account for approximately 11% of the average correctional

Within our prison system, an estimated 44% (forty-four percent) of state inmates and 39% (thirty-nine percent) of federal inmates have a medical issue that is beyond the common cough or cold (Maruschak, 2004). Although these inmates reported illnesses, there is likely a much higher percentage of inmates with some sort of ailment but they don’t report it for a multitude of reasons.