Discussion

Discussion

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Discussion

Records of the US prisons and jails reveal that the prison population has increased dramatically in a few decades. These records reveal that there were around 196,000 total prisoners in the USA including federal and state convicts in 1970 (Pritikin, 2008). This number increased dramatically by more than 700% and reached to 1,570,000 in 2010. Criminologists Steven Raphael and Michael Stoll studied this development and found that this increase does not mean that the crime rate in the USA also increased rather this shows the improved performance of the institutions related to this field and comparatively strict incarceration policy adopted by courts (Enns, 2014).

Data collected by the analysts reveal that criminal catch rate increased during this period and the arrested criminals received longer incarceration. Due to better equipment and the use of technology police were able to arrest almost fourteen out of fifteen criminals. Moreover, they received longer sentences and difficult release before the completion of their incarceration period (Steadman, Monahan, Duffee, & Hartstone, 1984). According to the data collected by the analysts, the average length of imprisonment for rape increased by 74% during the period between 1984 and 1998. Moreover, this length for assault convicts increased by 40% and larceny by 48% in the mentioned period.

The US government has adopted the policy to observe the released convicts for a certain period that has boosted the Correctional Intuitions industry (Brodsky, 1982). The authorities argue that recently released convicts are always vulnerable to crimes therefore it is the government's responsibility to save them from being exploited by any internal or external force to commit the crime again. The government has encouraged the private sector to assist the authorities in this respect. Resultantly, we see fast trending of correctional institutions all over the country (Bartollas, 1985). The official website of IBIS World reveals that 2,432 businesses are related to this sector that works coherently to provide better facilities to the prison population. As the prison population increases, the total revenue of this industry also increases as currently, it has a total revenue of 6 billion USD.

References

Brodsky, C. M. (1982). Work stress in correctional institutions. Journal of Prison and Jail Health, 2(2), 74-102.

Bartollas, C. (1985). Correctional treatment: Theory and practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Steadman, H. J., Monahan, J., Duffee, B., & Hartstone, E. (1984). The impact of state mental hospital deinstitutionalization on the United States prison populations, 1968-1978. J. Crim. L. & Criminology, 75, 474.

Pritikin, M. H. (2008). Is prison increasing crime. Wis. L. Rev., 1049.

Enns, P. K. (2014). The public's increasing punitiveness and its influence on mass incarceration in the United States. American Journal of Political Science, 58(4), 857-872.