Prison Overcrowding

Prison Overcrowding

The problem of prison overcrowding has emerged as a serious problem for the country in the recent decade. There are several causes and factors that have resulted in the emergence of the problem or dilemma of prison overcrowding (Corman, 2005). The elementary failure on the initial level of the policies related to the correction or solution of the problem of prison overcrowding has also contributed significantly to the development of the issue. The initial steps taken by the concerned authorities regarding the correction of the problem has lead towards the creation of a havoc and panic situations in the system. The problems have affected various departments and institutions and the authorities especially from the financial perspective. The cost of housing the prisoners has burdened the authorities and policy makers and their costs have increased with a tremendous amount (Corman, 2005). This increased cost has increased the death row and influenced the prisoners towards incarceration process that is a high amount to be considered for the prison expenses. This paper discuses the factors and reasons that have resulted in the overcrowding of the prisons. It also seek answers and solutions to the possible alternatives that could help in the lowering down of the prison populations and helps the authorities in dealing with the issue of prison overcrowding and the problems emerging from the prison overcrowding.

The problem of prison overcrowding is becoming a dilemma that has impacted several nations and states and it is spreading widely in almost all the states of the country. Some of the states that are severely affected by the problem include New York, California and Texas. It has been observed that during 1980s, the states had a more strict perspective on the issue of prison overcrowding with the toughest policies to deal with the issue of prison overcrowding. The strict perspective on the crime and criminal related activities has resulted in the formation of new policies and procedures for the prevention of prison overcrowding (Corman, 2005). Some new policies were adopted that were either not required or have resulted in severe consequences for the authorities associated with the prison overcrowding issue. The state of California has adopted some policies and procedures and enforced those in the prisons in order to deal with the criminal activities in the state and prevent the prison overcrowding issue. On the other hand, the state of New York has impleenmbetd the approach of broken window policy in order to deal with the issue of prison overcrowding. It has been observed that the law of three stike has resulted in the overcrowding of prisons in the states that have adopted such policies to deal with their crimes and issues in the state (Corman, 2005). The policies implemented by the states to reduce the criminal activities in the local communities have caused them to arrest more people and criminals. This has created an environment of increased populations of criminals in the prisons. The prison sentence and the time period for ...