The Overuse Of Prisons

Cesar

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English

July 22nd, 2019

The overuse of Prisons

Introduction

There has been no second opinion in the fact that with each passing year, the ratio of crime is witnessing new heights. This rise in the crime rate has made people feel more vulnerable. On one side, people in the United States have started avoided unnecessary socializing, and on another side, the law enforcement agencies are ensuring expansion in their resources to guarantee the environment of peace. Despite such efforts, the prison population is increasing. There are people in the U.S prisons which are captivated even for the small crimes, and the loopholes in prison law prevent them from getting early bail. There are prisoners from each age group. The adults being mentally mature and strong have been witnessed molesting the new and young prisoners. There are flaws even in the rehabilitation of the juveniles which have been a much-debated topic too. Lastly, there are many studies which point out the health care problems the prisoners are facing, which mainly erupts from overpopulation and congestion in prisons. In consideration of such derogatory nature of the prisons, it is right to argue that the overuse of prisons is causing more problems and have not benefited in lowering the crime rate throughout the U.S.

Discussion

Some recent studies suggest that the prison overcrowding is caused as a result of the absence of the reforms both in judicial structure and in the prison management structure of the state. Burden writes that the only way which can benefit the prisons and prisoners in the correctional system ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"2gPFt0ZL","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Burden)","plainCitation":"(Burden)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1741,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/s8f0QVnP/items/VQIYPPWV"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/s8f0QVnP/items/VQIYPPWV"],"itemData":{"id":1741,"type":"article-journal","title":"Support Services from Prison to Home: Reentry Programs in a Western State","source":"Google Scholar","title-short":"Support Services from Prison to Home","author":[{"family":"Burden","given":"Bridget"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2019"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Burden). Since the authorities there pay little attention to such endeavors, therefore the prison population is increasing with every passing day. The failures in reducing the crime rates and timely presenting prisoners to courts are resulting in the population increase inside the prisoners. Following are some reasons which explain how the overuse of prison is causing more problems and is not benefitting in lowering the crime rate.

Inmates and prison staff

Beside a large number of prisoners, there is prison staff. In some prison facility, the number of prison staff is proportionate to that of a total number of the prisoners. Collectively, the number of people residing in or along a prison becomes too large. In such a large number of gathering, it becomes inevitable to eliminate health or other issues ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"mXmqYBaT","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Al-Rousan et al.)","plainCitation":"(Al-Rousan et al.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1745,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/s8f0QVnP/items/TTDYP8F4"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/s8f0QVnP/items/TTDYP8F4"],"itemData":{"id":1745,"type":"article-journal","title":"Inside the nation’s largest mental health institution: A prevalence study in a state prison system","container-title":"BMC public health","page":"342","volume":"17","issue":"1","source":"Google Scholar","title-short":"Inside the nation’s largest mental health institution","author":[{"family":"Al-Rousan","given":"Tala"},{"family":"Rubenstein","given":"Linda"},{"family":"Sieleni","given":"Bruce"},{"family":"Deol","given":"Harbans"},{"family":"Wallace","given":"Robert B."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Al-Rousan et al.). There have been studies which suggest that the inmate and prison population collectively becomes a hurdle in effectively managing the administrative functions of the prison. The trickle-down effect of this inefficiency is also beard by the prisoners.

Ineffective correctional facilities

The U.S criminal law call to effectively utilize the correctional facilities which are specified in the U.S law. It’s been very long that there has been no reforms in the correctional laws of the U.S, therefore the correctionl system is insufficient for addressing the developed nature of criminal offense. A recent report presented in the World Economic Forum suggests that sixty-eight percent of the inmates who are released after going through some correctional programs commit a crime in the same year of their release. This proves how ineffective is the correctional system of the country.

Health and other medical issues

Health issues of the prisons mainly invite mental disorders or depressions. These health and mental cases related to the prisoners suggest that mostly commit the crimes as a result of sheer pressure on their minds and nerve. This pattern of their mental disorder suggests that many prisoners become hyper or aggressive while committing a crime. Once they become a part of the prison, they become vulnerable to diseases like Pneumonia, AIDS, Cancer, and diabetes. In some cases, if a prisoner has any health issue, it becomes more worsen. This is one of the worst aspects of the overuse of the prison. Fair (et. al) argue that once a prison facility becomes too crowded, it becomes difficult to control the suicide rate ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"UoFCaOp4","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Coyle and Fair)","plainCitation":"(Coyle and Fair)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1744,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/s8f0QVnP/items/ZGFYZT4I"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/s8f0QVnP/items/ZGFYZT4I"],"itemData":{"id":1744,"type":"book","title":"A human rights approach to prison management: Handbook for prison staff","publisher":"Institute for Criminal Policy Research Birkbeck, University of London","source":"Google Scholar","title-short":"A human rights approach to prison management","author":[{"family":"Coyle","given":"Andrew"},{"family":"Fair","given":"Helen"}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Coyle and Fair). The inmates become too distracted, and they consider ending their life as the most viable option.

Conclusion

The above-presented arguments suggest that the over use of prisons is not done as a last resort. A criminal offender is passed through different levels before becoming an inmate. Sheer negligence is present at all such level administrative level. The end bearer of this negligence is laws the once who are living inside the prison. The prisoners have no other option to share their belongings and other stuff with other prisoners. Such sharing and vulnerability are adversely impacting on the health of the inmates. Some recent studies suggest that many administrative and institutional level reforms are under process, which once completed, will impact positively on the inmate population.

In addition to these, there could be some reforms which can benefit society at large. For example, if the society at large is urged to avoid confrontation and the resources are equally justified among the people, there remains no reason that crime prevails in the society. Similarly, the institutional and constitutional level reforms should be made more enthusiastic; it will assure the solution of this crisis in months if not in the days. Lastly, the health and life safety of the prisoners be made assured by the administrators. This reduces the health hazards to the prisoners. The causes of the over the use of prisons presented above to justify the urgency of lowering the inmate population, which otherwise would be disastrous for the U.S society at large.

Works Cited:

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Al-Rousan, Tala, et al. “Inside the Nation’s Largest Mental Health Institution: A Prevalence Study in a State Prison System.” BMC Public Health, vol. 17, no. 1, 2017, p. 342.

Burden, Bridget. Support Services from Prison to Home: Reentry Programs in a Western State. 2019.

Coyle, Andrew, and Helen Fair. A Human Rights Approach to Prison Management: Handbook for Prison Staff. Institute for Criminal Policy Research Birkbeck, University of London, 2018.