Effects Of Overcrowding On The Prison System

According to statistical data found in the Bureau for Justice Records, there are a number of problems that most prisons in the country face. The records indicate that the number of adult federal and state inmates increased from `139% in `1980 to 260% (Walker, 1999). As a natural default, the United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This in itself brings about one of the major problems that are faced in modern incarceration which is overcrowding in most prison facilities. The number of offenders in the country has increased rapidly over time while the country prison system has not really been able to cope with this rapid increase. Prisons intended for one or two inmates are now crowded with more than fifty individuals. Because of this most prisons are overcrowded and most of the facilities available are unable to cater for the needs of all the prisoners (Siegel, 2009).

Another current and future issue of concern for prisons and prison administrators stemming from overcrowding is prison violence. Prison researcher Stephen C. Light found that when conditions such as overcrowding worsen. Inmate misconduct often increases (Gaines & Miller, 2008, pp. 340).Prisoners often use violence as a way to show power or to control other inmates. Prison violence is a means of surviving for some inmates who think of violence as a deterrent against victimization or violence to acquire money or sexual favors. The correctional officers also have to resort to violence as a form of discipline or controlling prison gangs and riots.

As of 2015, 2.7% of adults in the United States were under correctional control, the lowest rate since 1994, however that is still roughly 6.7 million adults (Kaeble & Glaze, 2016). While the correctional population has declined, correctional facilities in the United States are still grossly overcrowded, with many facilities at or surpassing capacity. A report in 2010 by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation showed that on average, facilities were at 175% capacity (Brown, 2010). However, as of midnight on October 31st, 2017 the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported that their facilities, on average, were 132% occupied (Brown, 2017). Not only is prison overcrowding a burden on the facilities themselves, but also on the inmates. Prison overcrowding, that is, housing more inmates than the facility can humanely facilitate (Haney, 2006), places a strain on all resources throughout the correctional facility, including on the healthcare that’s offered, educational programs, and most dramatically on the physical space available to house inmates (Ekland-Olson, 1983).

The overcrowding prison reflects that the inmate population has grown much faster than the funding for prisons, which is controlled at the state level. In most cases, state funding has not come close to keeping up with the rise in the prison population, leading to decrepit prison infrastructure that is wholly inadequate for housing such large numbers of inmates. Without capacity to house inmates properly, some prisons have resorted to having prisoners sleep in gymnasiums, and many have overcrowded cells to accommodate the extra bodies. This overcrowding has led to deteriorating cleanliness of prisons and declining safety. Today, non-violent prisoners are forced to live in close quarters with violent ones, and the results are predictable.

As we all know – there are tons of social issues within the entire world that Criminal Justice Practitioners deal with, most likely, on a daily basis. One of the many social issues I’ve chosen is Prison Overcrowding.

The Unites States of America’s prison system is a flawed mess. To open the eyes of our government we must first take a stand against unlawful government decisions, and show support for the greater good of society. What are our own tax-dollars paying for, what are the flaws in the justice/prison system, why is overcrowding in prisons causing tension, and what are ways our society and government can rebuild the system that has been destroyed over the years? Most criminals in prisons are not a danger to our society because they commit crimes just to use jail as a shelter, causing the overcrowding of prisons and wasting away of what we really should be paying for.

There are well known documented issues that have been known to cause overcrowding in prisons. Some of these issues include poverty, lack of education or employment opportunities, drug or alcohol use and abuse, and mental

Evidence shows that overcrowded prison conditions increase crime in these confines, such as inmates attacking guards. Instances like this happen in these unprincipled institutions daily across the United States, making overcrowded prisons dangerous to

Overcrowding is a big issue when it comes to prison reform. Overcrowding means these judges are sending people to an overcrowded prison instead of searching for rehabilitation centers to help the problem. Overcrowding can lead to, dangerous conditions, fighting for your space, and sometimes inhuman situations. These can lead to anxiety and could resort to death . One way to help solve this problem

According to Incarceration Nation (2014) “The United States holds only 5% of the world’s population and has nearly 25% of its prisoners at about 2.2 million people”. This becomes an issue of space there are currently 1,518,559 federal and state prisons in the United States of America and only 192 correctional facilities across Canada as of 2006. According to the Bureau of Justice (2013) the Indiana State Prison facilities were created to house 32,075 inmates but at the end of 2013 they were holding upward of 48,653 inmates this is 16,578 more than what the system is supposed to hold. This intern creates a large amount of double celling which by law prisoners are supposed to get allocated a certain amount of space thus increasing the amount of issues that overcrowding is causing. Take for instance Tillery V Owens a case handled by the Pennsylvania Court of Appeals. They found that double celling violated the 8th Amendment under a “totality of conditions” analysis was the overall prison conditions consisted of dilapidated, overcrowded and unsanitary prison condition. So this becomes the biggest issue with overcrowding the prisons are becoming unsuitable for criminals to stay in but they have to serve their

When it comes to inmates possessions it is harder for them to protect their personal property from other inmates in an overcrowded prion (Cobb 78). Often times inmates don’t have lockers to lock their possessions away causing inmates to steal from one another (78). According to the Home Truths article in my overcrowded prison, there is no admission and orientation program. In my opinion to be brought from the streets, to a jail, and then to a prison where you are not informed about the rules and regulations is a disastrous process. Most prisons, federal and state, have some sort of classification system, which determines a prisoner's custody level- the closeness of his confinement and the type and range of facilities and privileges open to (Cobb 78). It is very difficult under overcrowded conditions to get proper and full classification evaluations (78). I believe this would cause many inmates to end up in areas where violent prisoners could prey on the weaker inmates. According to the Home Truths article in overcrowded prisons there are very few programs, since most of the resources, including space and staff, must be devoted to the personal use of the administration. In my opinion if the inmates do not have adequate programs to give them something to do it often times lead to criminal behaviors. Under overcrowded conditions, the very best that staff have been able to do for us prisoners is to feed, house,

Prison Overcrowding has become a major issue in the United States. Many laws such as the three strikes law and also mandatory minimums have played a major part in prison overcrowding in the United States. The violence that is caused by prison

Prison overcrowding has been a problem for many years now it is not something that just became an issue. There are many factors that have contributed to prisons being over crowded. Such as offenders being sent back to prison for not completing community service, receiving harsh sentencing, and being a repeat offender; meaning once they are released they commit a new crime and get sent back to prison. Or it could possibly be the fact that private companies are the ones who benefits the most from having an overcrowded.

We can see examples of overcrowded jails all over the US and even out of the US. "California's prison system, originally designed for 100,000 inmates, currently houses 173,000 inmates and has resorted to housing approximately 17,000 inmates in makeshift beds in locations like prison gymnasiums"(Smith, 2006). High government officials scrambled to find remedies to this problem (Camp, 2004).

Another big factor that causes prison to get overcrowded would be all these shootings going on when the cops find the person, they get them for a terrorist act, which is a federal offence, so the federal prisons are the highest in the overcrowding. A really big reasons that the federal prisons is getting overcrowded is anytime someone has a problem with someone they shoot them. There has more shooting in 2016 and 2017 that they are double celling in federal prisons. (Prison overcrowding is a growing concern in the U.S.) People hear about all these shooting and how they do not find the person that is doing the shooting, but when they do it is stretched to the highest term that they can serve. The prisons are so overcrowded that they started holding them folks into county and state jails.