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Prisons in the United States are overcrowded. The incarceration rate in the United States is the highest in the world. There are more than one million people in the United States that are in a correctional facility. The causes for overcrowding include little attention given to social problems, glorification of violence, an epidemic of drug abuse, and mandatory sentencing guidelines.
The average cost to house a prisoner in a correctional facility is approximately $ 25, 000 per year. There is also the cost of the removal of a portion of the workforce that spends their time in prison rather than helping improve the economy of the United States (Common good Party, No Date). The crowded conditions cause stress in the prison population and makes it more difficult to rehabilitate prisoners. The correctional system in the United States of America is meant to punish those who have broken the laws, however it is also charged with rehabilitating prisoners. When prisoners feel unnecessary stress from overcrowding, then there is less of a chance that prisoners will be rehabilitated. Overcrowding in U.
S. prisons is in need of a comprehensive plan to fix the problem. If more prisons are built, sentences are reexamined, and drug rehabilitation programs are increased, then prison overcrowding will go down. The first recommendation to end overcrowding in prisons is to simply build more prisons. Building more prisons will allow for more space for inmates and reduce the amount of stress each inmate is subjected to while serving time.
Building new prisons is often met with resistance by prison reform groups who claim that adding more prisons will not resolve the dilemma but will only be compounding problems since prison management do nothing to rehabilitate prisoners who are already serving time. This argument is baseless and false. The conception and establishment of new prisons can be part of a comprehensive plan to reform the correctional system. With more prisons built, it is feasible and more likely that additional and efficient modern rehabilitation methods will be created, developed and utilized to offer and provide each prisoner with more one-on-one support from the rehabilitation staff.
Hank Shaw in his Call for Building More Prisons stated that: Republicans are receptive to the various rehabilitation programs many Democrats are proposing, but the state must also build new prisons. Politicians must understand that the overcrowding problem is not going to be solved with only one recommendation. In fact, prison overcrowding in general will not be solved unless they are addressed as part of a comprehensive plan that includes building more prison space as the first priority (2007). The idea is not just to build a structure to answer the prisoners physical human needs but also to design and develop programs which will improve and rehabilitate the prisoners notions about how they should live their lives while they are serving their terms. Reevaluating the sentencing practices is another proposal to help settle the overcrowded prison problem.
The most obvious change is to reduce the penalty for non-violent offences to less jail time and more community service. It will also be a good idea to write more tickets rather than force jail time on first time offenders of non-violent crimes. But off course, this will not mean the eradication of the jail time sentence for some cases in which a non-violent crime has been committed. It is a fact that some non-violent crimes need an appropriate jail time penalty for offenders.
An excellent place to start the reevaluation process is in drug sentencing. It is still sensible and pertinent to sentence drug dealers to long jail sentences, but sentencing drug users to stiff penalties may only cause prison overcrowding. While drug users do have a negative impact on society, it must also be noted that the most immediate negative impact is on the drug users themselves. A more apt penalty in this case would be a rehabilitation program which will encourage and influence drug users to stop this particular habit.
A time in jail, especially in a place where hard-core offenders socialize with the first-timers, will actually cause more damage than cure. Reevaluating the sentence of a prisoner after it has already been given must also be considered as a way to have more prison space. Good behavior by prisoners with a corresponding reward of earlier release will also open up prison space. Massachusetts Governor, Deal Patrick, recently initiated a reevaluation and modification of the states mandatory minimum sentencing laws. It was discovered that the laws often resulted in unfair sentences dumping far too many people in jail, resulting to overcrowding in the prison system. Before the revision of the minimum sentencing law, anyone penalized under these laws are not eligible for early release thus, there is very little incentive provided for offenders to seek rehabilitation.
The purpose of reevaluation is not to eliminate and get rid of the minimum sentencing laws since they do bring about positive outcomes and consequences, such as providing a consistent justice system, but to come up with mandatory minimum sentences that are fair, effective and efficient. Increasing the drug rehabilitation programs can be another solution to the overcrowded prison predicament. Since the majority of prisoners in the United States are in a correctional facility as a result of a drug related offense, perhaps treating drug abuse as less of a crime and more of a social problem would help reduce if not eliminate the prison population problem. It is important to recognize that drug use does increase crime rates in the community -- - drug users often rob people so that they can buy drugs; numerous vehicle accidents and damage to property crimes are perpetuated as results of drug related crimes plus, countless other criminality whose roots and sources are traced to drug abuse and drug crimes.
There is not enough emphasis placed by the government or by the community on the War on Drugs and if there are no sufficient and adequate efforts put into this, it will definitely be lost. Consigning and packing off drug users to the prisons will only result in the swelling of the prison population albeit it would be a wonder if it can have much help in getting rid of drug addicts. The solution is to increase and enhance the design of drug rehabilitation programs. With efficient and dynamic programs, drug abuse offenders will most likely decrease resulting to less drug abuse related crimes and ergo, less people in the prison cells.
Sound drug abuse rehabilitation programs usually consist of several treatment options; most of these are effective while others are particularly effective than most. The Office of National Drug Control Policy lists some effective alternative treatments to imprisonment and one of these is the Treatment Accountability for Safer Communication program. Its prime objective is to provide a bridge between the criminal justice system and the drug treatment community. In this particular program, drug offenders are given community-based supervision and their progress is monitored throughout the process. The expectations from the offenders include remaining drug free, gaining employment, and improving social behavior. Their progress is constantly and consistently reported to ONDCP office so they can monitor and examine the suitability, aptness and success of the program.
Rehabilitating drug users and teaching children to avoid drugs at all costs is an excellent long term strategy to reduce drug related crimes and in effect, overcrowding prison cells. Prison overpopulation is a serious problem in the United States. If a series of short term, intermediate and long term fixes is not put in place soon, then the situation will only get worse. Overcrowding in prisons leads to higher recidivism rates among prisoners.
There are several states that are addressing the problem proactively and in a bi-partisan way. New York, Massachusetts and California have started a comprehensive plan to reduce overcrowding in the prison system. The major aspects of their plans include building more prison space, reevaluating sentencing practices, and increasing the number of rehabilitation programs. This strategy is one that the rest of the states must employ or they face increased overcrowding and the problems that overcrowding puts on society at large.
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Research essay sample on Prison Overcrowding Violent Crimes
