¶ … prison overcrowding and its effect on the criminal justice system. Prison overcrowding has skyrocketed in the United States in the last three decades, leading to a multitude of problems in the criminal justice system. Overcrowding costs taxpayers money, it leads to dysfunction within the penal population, and it creates dangers for prison staff. It is a result of many items in society and the criminal justice system, and it must change if America's prisons are to remain effective and viable.
Many people may not be aware just how much the prison population has grown in the last thirty years. One researcher notes, "From 300,000 prisoners in 1977, the prison population has risen steadily to over 1.5 million as of June 30, 2005, a 400% increase" (Pfaff, 2008). The two largest states housing prisoners, California and Texas, have seen stupendous growth in their prison populations, but not in their funding. Another researcher notes, "Funding for prisoner services and programming did not remotely keep pace, which meant that many more prisoners had to make due on much less" (Haney, 2006, p. 1). Thus, prison growth is phenomenal, but the funds to maintain these prisons are not, and this places stresses on the criminal justice system and society as a whole.
Factors in Prison Overcrowding
Since the 1970s, Americans have become increasingly vocal about the need for prison and sentencing reforms, and many states have passed "three-strike" laws that return habitual criminals to prison for long or even life terms. This has helped raise the prison population. There are also more policing efforts to crack down on drugs, prostitution, illegal immigration, and gang-related crimes, which has resulted in more prisoners entering the system. In addition, societal factors,...
This view stresses a sociological approach to crime, suggesting that the behavior of criminals is more easily adapted and changed when law enforcement agents understand the circumstances and immediate environment an offender lives in that may contribute to offensive behaviors, and to one's behavioral characteristics. Literature Review The purpose of the preliminary literature presented is to provide an overview of the historical foundations leading to prison overcrowding, an exploration of the populations
Prison overcrowding is indeed a grave problem that many states face. It is a phenomenon that both the international and national parties have faced for decades (Howard,1996). Overcrowded correction facilities may lead to the failures of programs in the prisons, violations of civil rights and also violence between inmates. Prison overcrowding may develop as a result of steady, regular, continuous increase and enlargement of prisoners which then develops to what
Prison Over-Crowding Prison Crowing Solutions The over-crowding situation in California prisons has reached critical mass and the state is fairly short on options that are both possible and viable given public opinion and/or budget constraints. Even with that being the case, a solution has to be come to given the spiking crime rate and over-crowded prisons. All of those will be explored with some fleshing out of the topic as the paper
The need for less restrictive parole policies could help relieve prison overcrowding (Kunselman & Johnson, 2004). According to Hughes (2007), "On any given day, a large number of the admissions to America's prisons come from individuals who have failed to comply with the conditions of their parole or probation supervision. For years, the revocation and incarceration rate of probationers and parolees has had a significant impact on the growth of
In the United States alone, sexual attacks in prison are considered rape when penetration occurs. It is estimated that inmates are approached with unwanted sexual advances over 80,000 times per day (Anderson, 2001). Other more shocking statistics are (Anderson, 2001): There is an estimated 300,000++ instances of prison rape a year. Among this, 196,000 are estimated to happen to men in prison while 123,000 are estimated to happen to men in
Federal Bureau of Prisons While most people seem to agree that prisoners should have access to basic healthcare while incarcerated, there is tremendous variation about what type of healthcare constitutes basic care. The reality is that many prison inmates receive a better quality of healthcare than non-incarcerated working-class individuals, but many inmates also suffer consequences because of significant medical neglect. For the federal prison system, the Federal Bureau of Prisons
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