Essay on Prison Growth In American From 1970-2008

The U.S prison population rose by 700% from 1970 to 2005. A rate far outpacing that of general population growth and crime rates.

The proliferation of prison overcrowding has been a rising concern for the U.S. The growing prison population poses considerable health and safety risks to prison staffs and employees, as well as to inmates themselves. The risks will continue to increase if no immediate actions are taken. Whereas fighting proliferation is fundamentally the duty of the U.S. government, prison overcrowding has exposed that the U.S. government will need to take measures to combat the flaws in the prison and criminal justice system. Restructuring the government to combat the danger of prison overcrowding, specifically in California, thus requires reforms that reestablishes the penal codes, increases the state’s budget, and develops

An uninformed person might say that the amount of imprisonment is going up because there are more crimes being committed. In the time between 1960 and 1990, property crimes rose by 200 percent and violent crimes rose by 400 percent. So it is clear that rising crime rates did play a part in the increased incarceration rate during that time. However, in recent years, this has not been the case. This is because

Public opinion surveys show that more and more people believe that crime is increasing. People feel less safe in their environment and have thus started to take measures to protect themselves. Matt Taibbi states, “In 1991 there were about one million Americans behind bars. By 2012, the number was over 2.2 million, a more than 100% increase.” But is this view accurate? Statistics show that the population two decades ago America’s population was approximately 266 million compared to today's population which stands at approximately 322 million. Since the population of America 20 years ago was less than it is today, you can’t possibly compare today’s the crime rates and prison population to rates that were calculated years back. It’ll obviously seem

Over the last decade the prison population in the United States has increased but the total admissions has decreased. In 2004, the national statistics for the prison population showed 1,497,100 persons to be incarcerated from Federal Institutions to State Institutions. Ten years later in 2014, the prison population increased to 1,562,525. This increase in population is not as dramatic when it comes to comparing 2004 and 2014. However, comparing 2014 to 1978 there is a tremendous increase in population, the total population in 1978 was 307, 276. From the war on drugs to the increase numbers of homicides, in 36 years we have incarcerated over one million additional people. In one year, the justice system admitted 631,

One major problem facing American prisons are the extremely high incarceration rates. According to a report released by the National Research Council, “The US rate of incarceration, with nearly 1 of every 100 adults in prison or jail, is 5-to 10-times higher than rates in Western Europe and other democracies.” (Zurcher, 2014, para. 3) Based on this report it is clearly illustrated that the incarceration rates are absurdly high in comparison to other major countries. Furthermore, strict sentencing laws and minor drug offences are a major contributor to America’s prison population. Miller writes, the US prison population grew by 700 percent due to an influx of drug arrests and tough sentencing laws. As of now 1.6 million people are behind bars in federal and state prison, leaving America with the largest prison population in the world (para. 11). With a 700 percent increase in prison population one question comes to mind. Does America have an increase in criminal activity compared to other countries? Despite the massive increase in incarcerations, crime has not increased significantly increased over the years, and prison doors are still clanking at an exorbitant rate.

The economic components associated with maintaining and operating public prisons in the U.S. has become a prominent topic in recent years. Many anti-prison activist such a Angela Y. Davis and Ruth Wilson Gilmore contend that the involvement of private corporations and the prevailing social ideology have contributed to the radical expansion of prisons in America.

Growing up, almost everyone is told never to break the law or there will be severe consequences. This includes many things happening but the one most talked about it prison. Prison rates in the United States are at an all time highest not only in the country, but in a world as well. This has caused many problems that affect not only the people within the U.S, but the country as a whole as well.

We often see crime rate go up, and it depend on society involvement many time we see offender’s in and out the prison system. Most of these offender’s dealing with poverty, no job and bad infulence. That case them to make the bad choice, many feel like don’t have nothing else to choice from other then crimes. The United States prison system has been tremendous grown over the past years. Where there have been so many difference in philosopy in the way they operate prisons. So therefore, by 1967 it was reported that state and Federal prisons held less than 300,000 inmates.Medical model with rehabilitating offenders this was the privailing

In the 80 's, the rising number of people locked up as a result of the War on Drugs and the wave of privatization that occurred under the Reagan Administration saw the rise of the for-profit industry. Prior to the 80 's, private prisons did not exist is the US. In a 2011 report by the ACLU, it is claimed that the rise of profit prison industry is a "major contributor" to mass incarceration, along with the stuffed state budgets. Louisiana, for example, has the highest rate of incarceration I in the world with the majority of its prisoners being privatized prisons, profit facilities. Such institutions could face economic failure without a steady influx of prisoners. A 2013 Bloomberg report states that in the past decade the number of inmates in for-profit prisons through the U.S. Rose 44 percent. Corporations who operate prisons,

As can be demonstrated and exemplified from the statistics, it argued that, from approximately 300,000 inmates during the 1970 to above 2.3 million today, that to end, America can now account for having 25% of the world’s prison population (Jing, 2010; Price and Morris (2012). This gave room for the private prison industry to evolve into what it is today, due to the vast increase of prisoners. Worth to mention is that private prisons have become a cheap and easy solution to the continued increase in prison population which has caused social, legal, health and humanitarian challenges for the government of the united-states. Jing, (2010) argues that the major objectives for the privatization for the government is to reduce overcrowding, efficiency

In fact, many studies have been conducted to study that issue but none of the studies have been able to yield persistent results. For example, Marvell found in his study that when more people are incarcerated the crime rate decreases (Lim, 2008, p. 3). However, Liedka found in his study that when more people are incarcerated the crime rate increases (Lim, 2008, p. 3). Regardless of the results that these studies have yielded, lawmakers passed laws that created mandatory and longer sentences, thus making punishment more severe for criminals while at the same time creating the beginnings of mass incarceration (Lim, 2008, p. 12).

Currently, many prisons are beginning to be run by private corporations. If a company is running a prison then they need prisoners to stay in business. Around 1 in every 107 Americans is currently being housed in a prison. The United States has about 5 percent of the world’s population yet 25 percent of its prisoners(ACA, 2008). This is the easiest way to maintain a large prison population is by maintaining the current drug war. The largest private prison company in the United States is Corrections Corp. of America(ACA, 2008). In the last twenty years, CCA has donated nearly $5 million dollars to certain political

The concept of prison privatization is not new; it has its genesis as early as the 18th century. However it has been received with mixed reviews over the effectiveness, the legality and whether or not it has the civil rights of prisoners as a priority. More importantly is that prison privatization profits are in direct conflict with a prosperous economy.

Prisons have been around for many years. The prison was created as a punishment for individuals who broke the law. There could be many reasons for a person to receive imprisonment; ranging from homicide to fraud. Due to many law violations, there are more people in prisons and jails. From the year 2000 to the present, there was an increase. Jails and prisons house about 1.6 million individuals (Peak, 2012). There are many reasons why there is an increase in individuals going to prison. The first is the use of drugs. This so called war on drugs has left many individuals in prison for possession of drugs, distribution or attempting to distribute. This war on drugs has left many to argue for legalization of some drugs to reduce the amount of people being imprisoned. The second reason could be for the failed lessons of prohibition. Other reasons include “truth-in sentencing laws, violence on television and in the movies, and a general deterioration of morals and of the family” (Peak, 2012, 204).