PRISONS

Overcrowding in prisons



Overcrowding in prisons

Prison overcrowding is one of the largest problems facing the American criminal justice system today. According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, more than two million men and women are now behind bars in the United States (Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003). The exploding prison population has been propelled by public policy changes that have increased the use of prison sentences as well as the length of time served, e.g. through mandatory minimum sentencing, "three strikes" laws, reductions in the availability of parole or early release, and the War on Drugs campaign.

The overcrowding of prisons has many negative effects on prisoners. Because the experts do not agree on how to solve the problem of overcrowding there is no right answer, just possible solutions. Some components of the justice system believe that building more prisons, privatization, or design is the solution to the problem, while their opponents, and argues that alternative methods could be used to solve the problem of prison overcrowding. These alternative methods include the problem-solving courts such as drug courts.

Over the past few years crime has been declining so why then are our prisons still getting overcrowded. One of the reasons is that courts resort to imprisonment of offenders far too often even when alternative sentences are available. With these alternative sentences available some states have not introduced them while others don't utilize them adequately. Long prison sentences and modifying the parole system, is another reason contributing towards the overcrowding of prisons.

Most studies indicated that crowded conditions could be reasonably well tolerated for short periods, but in terms of a long term crowded environment, prisons contained unusually high concentrations of the stress-inducing features (Panel Discussion, 2002). Although many negative effects of crowding have been identified, overcrowding does not affect all prisons uniformly. For instance, it has been reported that larger institutions with younger inmates tend to be more affected by crowding (Porporino & Dudley, 1984).

To a certain degree, overcrowding has resulted in offenders being classified on the basis of the space available rather than the security level and programs most suitable for the offenders (Cox, Paulus, & McCain, 1984). If the assignment of inmates is carried out solely on the basis of available space, inmates are being manipulated to meet the requirements of the corrections system rather than the environment and programs being modified to meet the requirements and needs of the inmates.

Research has indicated that overcrowding has three types of effects on the daily prison environment. First, there is less of everything to go around, so the same space and resources are made to stretch even further (Cox, Paulus, & McCain, 1984). The opportunities for inmates to participate in self-improvement and rehabilitative programs, such as academic, employment and vocational training are curtailed.

The lack of work, or work opportunities leads to inmate idleness, often reinforcing the maxim that idleness breeds discontent and disruptive behaviour (Cox, Paulus, & McCain, ...