Should The Correctional Be Reformed Into Law Abiding Citizens?

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration among the developed countries, with 2.2 million currently in jails and prisons. The number of inmates with mental disorders has been increasing during the past three decades, most likely the result of the deinstitutionalization of the state mental health system. Correctional institutions have become the de facto state mental hospitals. There are more seriously and persistently mentally ill people in prisons than in all state hospitals in the United States. When incarcerated these people face many disadvantages on top of their sickness. They do not receive the psychiatric help they need, nor do they receive proper medication or therapy. In addition, the guards do not know how to properly deal with people with mental disabilities. With so many issues in the criminal justice system there is no room for improvement for these inmates.

Everyday correctional officials work to deal with mental health inmates. Often hotly debated, many search for ways to work with this growing population. Glaze and Bonczar (2009) estimate around 2.3 million people are incarcerated within the US and of those, 20 percent suffer from some form of mental disorder. Even with such a high number, the rate of mental illnesses within the prison system is on the climb. Many of these inmates will remain incarcerated and receive little to no treatment for their mental issues. This essay, will look at the practices associated when dealing with mental illness and discuss the strategies on dealing with this growing issue.

As a country, we should care about all of our citizens and work toward bettering them, because we are only as strong as our weakest link. When it concerns the issue of corrections it should not be a discussion of punishment or rehabilitation. Instead, it should be a balance of both that puts the spotlight on rehabilitating offenders that are capable and willing to change their lives for the better. Through rehabilitation a number of issues in the corrections field can be solved from mental health to overcrowding. More importantly, it allows offenders the chance to do and be better once released from prison. This paper analyzes what both rehabilitation and punishment are as well as how they play a part in corrections. It also discusses the current reasons that punishment as the dominant model of corrections is not as effective as rehabilitation. After explaining rehabilitation and punishment, then breaking down the issues with punishment, I will recommend a plan for balance. A plan that will lower incarceration rates and give offenders a second chance.

Thousands of people are residing in United States prisons and jails, and they go untreated. The very institutions which confines offenders, creates people with mental illness and drug addictions disorders. Crime needs varying interventions targeting problem-specific areas due to numerous factors.

Corrections are an important part of the criminal justice system and they work in concert with law enforcement and the courts. Citizens in the United States expect criminals to be monitored, with some in secured facilities, so they will not fear of becoming continual victim of crime. To illustrate this expectation further, there are 2.5 million individuals on probation or parole and 1 million individuals in jails or prisons (Morris & Tonry, 2013, p. 370). However, does every individual confined in jails and prisons still need to be there or is there a better way to deal with certain special prison populations? Due to the large number of prisoners within the correctional system, certain special populations of inmates do not receive the rehabilitation or care needed to successfully reintegrate back into society. Additionally, these special populations create an undue burden on the correctional system in terms of financial costs associated with their confinement. There are changes that can be made to the criminal justice system to accommodate special populations of inmates. This paper will explore the alternative

In the 1970s and 1980s, a massive amount of inmates began fillin up the United States prison systems. This huge rate of growth in this short amount of time, has greatly contributed to the prison overcrowding that the United States faces today. In fact, the prisons are still filled to the seams. This enormous flood of inmates has made it practically impossible for prison officials to keep up with their facilities and supervise their inmates. One of the main reasons why many prisons have become overcrowded is because of states’ harsh criminal laws and parole practices (Cohen). “One in every 100 American adults is behind bars, the highest incarceration rate in the world” (Cohen). The amount of inmates in corrections systems, throughout the

Through the obvious statistical evidence of the United States Prison system and the exploration of detrimental prison culture it becomes apparent that the system needs to be reformed. Prisons are not cost effective and they do not provide the right correctional help. The United States prison system is deeply flawed. Prison creates a culture that is detrimental to prisoners and all

At any given time, a single corrections officer, can expect to be outnumbered by upwards of 400 inmates (Conover, 2011). It can be chilling to work in the midst of hundreds of inmates, some of which initiate attacks and inappropriate relationships. However, other issues have impacted the psychological health and physical safety of the staff. Detrimental factors have included heavy workloads, the prisons physical structure, and a lack of support from both peers and superiors. Each workplace issue has been in addition to role problems, specifically role ambiguity and role conflict (Schaufeli & Peeters, 2011). It is believed that anyone of these undesirable facets of prison should be enough to deter the public from attempting to enter such

The American Penal System has become a laughing stock to many citizens who view the system as lacking and useless. The correctional facilities have become overpopulated and are housing more repeat offenders than ever in American history. To find out what could be the cause of this, the focus need to be put on the training of the officers which provide security, the management of the facilities and the legislature which make the rules for governing such an enormous body of people. The training of people, who will be guarding the all offenders, especially those with mental challenges, required in-depth training, which correctional officers do not receive. Correction is the punishment intended to reform, improve or rehabilitate (Corrections.2014).

Today’s prisons do not effectively rehabilitate criminals, they are likely to reoffend and be incarcerated multiple times. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “At least 95% of inmates in the U.S. state prisons will return to their communities upon release, and more than 66% will be rearrested within three years.” (Beyer 2). The majority of prisoners who are in the same environment both before and after they were arrested continue to break the law. If jails and prisons focused more on rehabilitating criminals rather than only punishment, this number is likely to decrease. Prisons in the United states are overcrowded. This became a legal issue in 2011, when the Supreme Court required a reduction in California’s prison population by over 40,000 inmates. (Beyer 1). Cramming too many prisoners together does not benefit any party in the correctional system, and it is likely to cause more issues between prisoners. This also puts the safety of prison guards and correctional officers in jeopardy, because physical altercations between prisoners are more likely to occur. 676 per 100,000 people in the United States are imprisoned, which is the largest incarceration rate in the world. (Beyer 2). This number could decrease with a prison system that focused on a prisoner’s need as an individual. This includes education, job preparedness, and a plan for life

Since 1985, the Jail Populations have nearly tripled with the top 3 States that exceed incarceration rates being Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. Unfortunately, some jails face overcrowding everyday, and are forced to resort to denying prisoners or finding alternative means to reduce the number of prisoners. It is reported that most of the overcrowding occurs in urban jails (e.g. The Tombs in NYC, the Cook County Jail in Chicago, the Los Angeles County Jail and the Old District of Columbia Jail) (Siegel & Bartillo, 2014).

The American prisons system is a failed system. It needs tremendous change so that it can truly serve its role in the American society. For instance, the high rate of recidivism is sufficient evidence that the system has serious deficiencies. Emphasis ought to be made on the basic mission of these correctional facilities because inmates must be educated, rehabilitated, and ensured of

The biggest issue with prisons right now is that they are extremely overcrowded. This problem is attributed to the rising crime rate. Currently the crime rate is fairly high, “Nationwide, law enforcement made an estimated 11,302,102 arrests in 2013” (FBI). Not all of these arrests were sentenced prison time, nonetheless thousands were. 631,200 people were incarcerated in prisons last year (Carson). Several people argue that the crime rate is lower than it has been, however the best crime rate is 0. Prisons aid in lowering the crime rate because criminals cannot commit crimes while they are locked up and currently there are around 2 million criminals not committing crimes (Prisoners), nevertheless once those prisoners are released they return to a life of crime. Statistics show, “two-thirds of prisoners will reoffend” (Criminal Justice). One of the main roles of prison is to rehabilitate prisoners so that they will not commit other crimes; however, it obviously is not working. To alleviate this problem, prisons should counsel prisoners and educate them on why crime is

In the United States the word “prison” brings to mind images of dingy cells, violence, poor provisions, and overall suffering. Prisons are, by no means, made to be luxurious facilities with the inmate’s comfort at mind, but many prisons across the nation have issues that cannot be ignored. While inmates are incarcerated, they are still people with rights. Inmates should not be subjected to unethical practices and they should have their needs sufficiently met. It is up to these correctional facilities to provide, to the best of their abilities, an environment that is manageable and invokes rehabilitation. Prison is thought of as the place where bad people go to pay for their crimes. Due to this way of thinking, it can be easy to dismiss their

On any given day when the news come in, there is an individual who is been handcuffed to be shipped off to jail or prison. This paper is meant to unfold budgeting, safety (overcrowding), rehabilitation programs, recidivism and gender related issues the prison systems in America faces. One might ask “Why the prisons systems are become so overcrowded, why recidivism rate so high and what are the prison system officials is doing to help those who are incarcerated?” Due to prisons been under staff, overcrowding is taking a drastic toll on the prison systems. Since inmates killed a correctional officer during a riot at Delaware’s largest prison in February, more than 100 guards have quit or retired early, leaving staffing levels at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna dangerously low (Galvin, 2017). Correctional officers have to be on edge when at work, due to the unknown of when prisoners will strike. Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested. Of those prisoners who were rearrested, more than half (56.7 percent) were arrested by the end of the first year. Property offenders were the most likely to be rearrested, with 82.1 percent of released property offenders arrested for a new crime (Recidivism, n.d.). It is evident that the prison system is in turmoil. Recidivism is getting worst, and with the little staffing that the prison system has, they are doing the best they can. The criminal justice