The Issue of Jail Overcrowding - Research Paper Example

OVERCROWDING IN PRISONS Prison overcrowding is a factor that has continually researched and argued in the whole country. Prison or jail overcrowding is taken to mean a situation where incarceration centers have too many people than they can hold. Prisons are usually designed to house a specific number of inmates; however, it is not uncommon to find prisons that have exceeded the prescribed capacity. This analysis will focus on three main areas of jail overcrowding; the causes, effects, and possible solutions. A literature review will be conducted that presents the pertinent statistics of the number of inmates in an average prison, and the main causes of the bloated jails. This will focus on current research on the issue of jail overcrowding. The cause of this overcrowding is discussed, followed by the main effects of jail overcrowding. The effects of jail overcrowding are divided into different factors, the main ones being he impact on the inmates, the impact on humanitarian conditions, and the impacts on the state. This is followed by two main recommendations on reducing jail overcrowding and the associated effects. The two strategies have been proven effective if they are utilized in their entirety. The recommendations are assessed in terms of their relative advantages and disadvantages to the prison and inmates. Introduction Prison bloating refers to the extent to which a prison exceeds the prescribed capacity for inmates, a factor that is often ignored because of the associated complications. Many prisons are holding more than the advisable number of inmates, a factor that results in reduced jail capacity. With the increase in crimes committed all over the country, state prisons are often bulging at the seams, since the costs of increasing the number of prisons is vast. Building new prisons is a costly affair both for the government and the community, therefore, the usual options is to let prisoners share limited space in prisons. The physiological effects of overcrowded jails cannot be denied, since it is expected that violent criminals squeezed together will commit more crimes. Statistics indicate that there is an increased prevalence in sexual abuse crimes and violent misconduct in prisons that exceed intended capacity (Armstrong 23). Prison overcrowding has been researched in two forms, spatial and social density. Spatial overcrowding is concerned with the amount of space each inmate is given in the housing units, and social density refers to the number of inmates sharing one housing unit. Social density is the one that contributes to most of the negative effects of overcrowding in prisons since if it occurs, many people will be sharing the space hence the adverse effects will be felt more in that facility. The prison environment is usually cruel since there are people of different natures, and most of them are prone to anti-social behaviors hence find it hard to relate to one another (Brooks 60). This implies that there are conditions of idleness and boredom prevalent in the prison setting. Overcrowding will make the inmates share the same resources, and this can cause strive inside the housing units. Moreover, since there is nothing much to do but the same routines, boredom is a common occurrence, and it can lead to various evils inside the facilities. Since the inmates will have to share the same resources, they will have problems when engaging in activities that are supposed to improve them such as access to employment and training inside the prisons. This makes them idle hence, they will engage in disruptive behaviors, which they will continuously engage in order to make their lives lively (Howard 15). Lack of access to the limited resources will have negative consequences in the inmates and they end up being frustrated. Consequently, this will lead to competition for the limited resources, which will make inmates aggressive and violent, hence causing restlessness in the prisons. Literature review Causes of Prison overcrowding An analysis of existing literature indicates that are a number of reasons that cause jail overcrowding, with the main factor being an increased number of people being sent to prison for incarceration (Beck). The increased number of new inmates in prisons is usually caused by the increasing crime rate, which forces courts and law enforcement agencies to increase the rate at which people are sent to prison. This is complemented by harsher penalties being handed out to individuals who commit repeat offences in the cause of their lives. Another factor that increases the number of people being sent to prison is the war on drugs (Armstrong 50). Statistics indicate that the war on drugs is an increasing phenomenon, since it accounts to more that 20% of total prison inmates. The second cause of increased jail overcrowding is the politicization of the entire sentencing process, which introduces an aggressive tough on crime attitude by the government. This factor indicates that the political environmental is increasingly incensed by the increasing crime rates in the country; therefore, new legislation is introduced that increases harsher sentences for offenders. Essentially, this should be accompanied by an increase in prison infrastructure, but the associated costs are great. Therefore, the resultant effect is that more prisoners are held in the same prisons, without an increase in capacity. The third factor that increases instances of jail overcrowding is a lack of meticulous planning in the prison population projection. The government is supposed to estimate the number of prisoners per year, and use the increase in crime statistics to increase the number of prisons. However, the lack of efficient planning means that the same prisons are used to accommodate an increasing number of prisoners. The total offender population in the country is always expected to increase with an increase in the number of crimes committed and the introduction of harsher penalties, therefore, it is expected that adequate measures should be taken to increase prison capacities. Prison overcrowding is also caused by a lack of prison facilities in the incarceration centers themselves. For example, statistics indicate that the lack of prison beds in out of state prisons posses a problem to the department of corrections. The dormitory facilities present in the prisons require additional facilities to equip them however, a lack of funding means that inmates are forced to share facilities, which results in the stated prison overcrowding. The increase in offender population should also be followed by an increase in in-prison facilities, yet the government does not consider increasing facilities to cater for the increasing population. Effects of jail overcrowding As already stated, jail overcrowding has adverse effects on the justice system, the individual, and resources available to the prisoners. The social and spatial density factors previously mentioned come into play in the effects of overcrowding in prisons. The effect of prison overcrowding does not come into play because of the number of people, rather due to the amount of resources available to the inmates (Haney 268). Overcrowding will make the inmates share the same resources, which can cause strife inside the housing units. Moreover, since there is nothing much to do but the same routines, boredom is a common occurrence, and it can lead to various evils inside the facilities (Haney 269). Since the inmates will have to share the same resources, they will have problems when engaging in activities that are supposed to improve them such as access to employment and training inside the prisons. This makes them idle, hence, they will engage in disruptive behaviors, which they will continuously engage in order to make their lives lively (Levitt 135). Lack of access to the limited resources will have negative consequences in the inmates and they end up being frustrated. Consequently, this will lead to competition for the limited resources, which makes inmates aggressive and violent, hence causing restlessness in the prisons. Crowding stresses individual inmates, and this in conjunction with the uncomfortable prison setting, affects the behavior of the inmates. The inmates will live in fear, idleness, and they will find it hard to maintain their identity while in the facilities, which further increase the levels of stress. People counter differently to stress since others may choose to withdraw, others become aggressive and others may be depressed. These reactions show that whatever method the inmate chooses, it will have negative impacts on the psychological and physiological make-up. Research shows that, in crowded systems, there is competition for resources, which leads to social withdrawal that will have negative impacts on the inmates. They will not cooperate with each other, which is the source of violence inside the prisons since everyone will want to guard themselves against those who want to exploit the others (Tartaro 502). Research also shows that crowded settings are less personal since everyone wants to get the best for themselves and this creates division among people. Overcrowding leads to poor management of the facilities since prisoners with different crimes might be placed in the same housing unit due to lack of space. This implies that the correction process will be slow since the inmates may take up bad behaviors from those they share housing units with or they may be mistreated. Inmates end up being stressed and rehabilitating them becomes a hurdle due to the negative effects of overcrowding and slow adjustments. In a crowded setting, diseases are also bound to be prevalent since they are easily spread. Diseases such as tuberculosis will be a common occurrence in a crowded setting since there will be no enough ventilation hence spread of the diseases will be swift. Proposed solutions to prison overcrowding The issue of prison overcrowding has to be resolved if the humanitarian and psychological impacts have to be resolved. An analysis of available literature indicates that there are two possible means of alleviating the effects of prison overcrowding; either through a prison expansion model or through a community corrections model. Both of these models are effective in their use, therefore it remains the discretions of management to analyze the relative advantages and disadvantages of each model and decide on the best model. The prison expansion model is usually they best model if an existing prison has enough space for expansion purposes. The model is usually embarked on in two ways, either increasing the amount of resource allocation to a prison, or building new prisons to accommodate increasing capacity. The prison expansion model reflects a system where the authorities forecast the expected increase in prison intakes, and act appropriately to ensure that necessary capacity is allocated (Hutchinson 31). The decision to use this model is influenced by the expected number of new inmates in a prison, where the authorities can decide to increase available facilities or build new ones. For example, the main facility needed in a prison is the number of beds. Therefore, the management of a prison can forecast the expected number of prisoners and increase the available number of beds. This model is usually associated with tough stances taken by the authorities on crimes, where offenders are not paroled or given community-based sentencing, instead, they are sentenced immediately. The second option for controlling prison overcrowding is the use of a community-based corrections model, which means that alternative methods of sentencing are introduced. The community based correctional model is an introduction of options aimed at reducing the umber of offenders sent to prison, for example, law enforcement agencies can introduce systems of fining or otherwise punishing punitive offenders. The community-sentencing model is meant to keep minor offenders out of prisons, which means that the prisons are kept for serious criminal offenders and long-term offenders. Examples of community-base corrections include bail sentences, community service, suspended sentences, probations, and home arrests. The main advantage of this system is that minor offenders are not kept in the same prisons as the main offenders; instead, the prison system is kept for hardcore offenders (Hutchinson 32). Offences like petty stealing and first-time minor offences can be punished using this model, though it requires the use of very strict laws. This system is based on a hierarchical system of sentencing, where the sentencing is introduced based on a hierarchy of offences. The main advantage of this model is that it manages all the accused people in the society and at the same time ensures that prison overcrowding is minimized. Works Cited Armstrong, John. What Is Causing Prison Overcrowding, 2000. State of Connecticut Department of Correction. Print. Beck, Allen. Jail Bloating: A Common but Unnecessary Cause of Jail Overcrowding. Justice Concepts Incorporated. Brooks, Cynthia. Overcrowding and Violence in Federal Correctional Institutions: An Empirical Analysis, 2004. Drextel: Drextel University. Print. Haney, Craig. The Wages of Prison Overcrowding: Harmful Psychological Consequences and Dysfunctional Correctional Reactions. Journal of Law & Policy, 2006. Vol. 22. Pp. 265-293. Print. Howard, John. Prison Overcrowding, 1996. Alberta: John Howard Society of Alberta. Print. Hutchinson, Grace. New Initiatives from the NIC Jail Division. Corrections Today, 2000. Vol. 62. Pp.30-32 Levitt, Steven. The Effects of Prison Population Size on Crime Rates: Evidence from Prison Overcrowding Litigation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1996, Vol. 111(2). Pp. 319-351. Print. Tartaro, Christine. The Impact of Density on Jail Violence. Journal of Criminal Justice, 2002. Vol. 30(6). Pp. 499-510. Read More