Reducing Cost and Overcrowding in Faith-Based Prison Ministries - Essay Example

Reducing Cost and Overcrowding in Faith-Based Prison Ministries Growing crime rate in America, according to Maginnis (1996), has compelled the government to “build more prisons and keep convicts behind bars longer” but this has resulted in increased incarceration costs paralleled with high recidivism. The growing business of prison management has been heavy on the public interest financially. Thus, there is a need to cut down the cost and overcrowding in the prisons along with maintaining the system of justice.

Overcrowding can be reduced by addressing the issue that is responsible for so many people going into and remaining in the prison every year. A lot of prisoners remain inside the prison for years because they cannot afford lawyers to pursue the cases or because they leave prisons only to commit more crimes and re-enter the prison thus overcrowding it. Since “prison costs doubled to $24.6 billion over the past decade, and experts foresee substantial increases in the future” (Maginnis), it is important to build faith-based prisons where faith-based programs should be offered to the prisoners.

This is not only beneficial for the purification of their souls leading to less recidivism when they leave prison but is also helpful in reducing costs because faith-based programs tend to save the taxpayers millions of operating costs while ensuring frequent parole. Hence, building faith-based prisons and implementing faith-based rehabilitation programs will reduce costs while reducing overcrowding at the same time since the convicts will most probably be better human beings while leaving the prisons reducing the crime rate and hence reducing overcrowding in prisons.

Thomas and Zaitzow (2006, p.242) state that religion should be introduced to prisons in “correctional programming” and McKean and Ransford (2004, p.4) state that faith-based interventions reduce recidivism that in turn reduces costs required for maintenance, arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations of the re-offenders. References Maginnis, R.L. (1996). Faith-Based Prison Programs Cut Costs and Recidivism. Retrieved March 06, 2011, from http://www.conquesthouse.org/is96j2cr.html McKean, L., & Ransford, C. (2004). Current Strategies for Reducing Recidivism. Retrieved March 06, 2011, from http://targetarea.org/researchdoc/recidivismfullreport.pdf Thomas, J., & Zaitzow, B.H. (2006). Conning or conversion? The role of religion in prison coping. The Prison Journal, 86(2), pp. 242-259.