Alternate Corrections Proposal
Alternative Punishment for a Population of Inmates
Alternate Corrections Program Proposal
The need for a major overhaul of the U.S. prison system, and its purpose, is becoming increasingly recognized by human rights organizations around the world (for example, see Bewley-Taylor, Hallam, and Allen, 2009; Pew Center on the States [Pew Center], 2010). Prior to 1972, the size of the prison population in the United States predictably tracked the growth rate in the general population, but during the past 38 years has grown by 705% (ibid., p. 1). In contrast, the U.S. population grew by less than 44% during the same period (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011, p. 1). If we include the number of Americans currently under community supervision, then about 1 in 31 Americans is under some form of correctional control today (Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, p. 1; U.S. Department of Justice [U.S. DOJ], 2010, p. 2).
The dramatic increase in the prison population over the past 38 years has been attributed to the reemergence of Puritan values towards punishment and a rejection of rehabilitation as an effective intervention (Cusac, 2009, pp. 171-173). At the legislative and executive levels this attitude theoretically led to stiffer sentencing guidelines, longer sentences served (Pew Center, 2009, p. 1), and the War on Drugs (Bewley-Taylor, Hallam, and Allen, 2009, pp. 2-4). Other factors that may be driving the unprecedented increase in the U.S. prison population during the 1970s and 1980s include the maturing of the "Baby Boom" generation into their teens and early adulthood, which is the age when criminal activity is most likely to occur, and the negative influence of the Civil Rights and the anti-Vietnam War movements on respect for government authority (Blumstein and Wallman, 2000, p. 4).
Since the mid-1990s violent crime rates have declined substantially (U.S. DOJ, 2011), a trend that is consistent with the baby boom generation entering middle age and the relegation of the 1960s Civil Rights and Peace movements to the history books. Despite this substantial decrease in crime rates the rate of prison population expansion continued to outpace general population growth (Pew Center, 2009, p. 1), which suggests the primary forces behind a growing correctional system was legislative.
The cost to American taxpayers has been staggering. After increasing by an estimated 336% between 1996 and 2006, the cost to taxpayers per year rose to an estimated 68 billion dollars, becoming the second most costly social program behind Medicare (Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, p. 11).When analyzed using a cost-benefit approach, locking up the most violent, repeat offenders is well supported, but when incarcerating nearly half of all entering prisoners cost more to society than it's worth, then this explains in part the 312 billion dollar deficit state budgets are currently struggling with (ibid., pp. 17-20). For example, it was estimated the state of Washington averts 37 cents of crime-related costs to society for every dollar spent locking up non-violent drug offenders. A theoretical "tipping point" probably lies somewhere between 207 and 397 inmates per 100,000 residents, since incarcerating a greater percentage of the population seems to provide little benefit and may even lead to increased criminal activity. The current incarceration rate is around 506 per 100,000 citizens, which implies that releasing half of the state and federal prison population would have little or no negative impact on society and may even improve crime rates further (Pew Charitable Trusts, 2009, p. 21).
Designing 'Punishment' for the Half Remaining in Prison
Nearly half of the prison population can therefore be transitioned to community supervision or have their sentences commuted. The inmates eligible for early release would be non-violent, minor offenders, or first-time minor offenders with little risk of repeating an offense. The release of these inmates would cut in half the current corrections budget, thus freeing up tens of billions of dollars for reducing state budget deficits, funding community supervision, and expanding other social services proven effective in reducing recidivism.
Society's primary concern regarding the remaining inmates is the administration of a just punishment for the crime committed and the prevention of recidivism once released. The first concern is primarily determined by the courts and is beyond the scope of this essay. As prison reformers though, recidivism is our primary concern.
Recidivism rates are astonishingly high, with close to 30% reoffending within six months of release and nearly 60% within two years (Vito, Tewksbury, and Higgins, 2010, p. 22). It would be easy to assume that these rates reflect fatal flaws in the character of these inmates and therefore approach rehabilitation programs designed to reduce recidivism with a sense of futility (Cusac, 2009, pp. 171-176). A large body of social science research suggests this sense of futility...
Punishment Program This punishment program is a middle ground between incarceration and traditional probation and parole. The individuals participating in this program are released into the community, however, they are subject to very strict guidelines and conditions; failure to meet the requirements leads to a jail term in one of the state's jails to serve their sentence. The punishment program is divided into three types; house arrest, day reporting and
Incarceration Alternatives Pros and Cons In some ways, there are nearly as many different pros and cons to incarceration alternatives as there are varieties of such pros and cons. As a social institution, incarceration has a definite function in helping to keep those who would harm other members of society from doing so. However, that same social institution can overlook or miss several other functions that are needed in society for
S. General Accounting Office (GAO) estimates' in 1991 stated that nearly 30% of those incarcerated had used drugs daily in the month before committing the offense for which they were in prison. By the year 2003 there were approximately 6.9 million individuals either on probation, in mail, or in prison which equals 32% of all U.S. adults residents or 1 out of every 32 adults. (U.S. Bureau of Justice Corrections
In their opinion, a strictly penalizing system would be the best solution to put an end to crime. Recidivism is one of the main topics which go against the concept that it is best for the criminal justice system to adopt programs which are mainly intended to punish people. Prisons are of great importance to society, as they succeed in holding, punishing, and rehabilitating the persons that pose a threat
Prison Inmates Should Be Paroled Early to Help Control the State's Budget Problems This paper argues that inmates at State prisons should be having premature releases from prisons so that the States can manage their budget problems. As the paper illustrates, despite criticisms on parole that it introduces unreformed culprits back in the society and that the program is unorganized, parole is a major contributor in reducing prison populations, which
S. pp). This is partly due to high recidivism because within three years of their release, two of every three prisoners are back behind bars (U.S. pp). Criminologists attribute the prison population growth to "get tough on crime" policies that have subjected hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug and property offenders to long mandatory sentences (U.S. pp). Malcolm Young of the Sentencing Project, says, "We have to be concerned about
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