11.Are more Prisons and Prison Beds the Answer to America's Rising Crime Rate After exploring the two controversial views of When Have we Punished Enough vs. The Costs of Imprisonments are Underestimated while their Benefits are O - Essay Example

Reducing crime rate instead of increasing prison beds Introduction For decades the number of prisoners in prison system has increased tremendously. Some of the policy makers have suggested that the best method to deal with this problem is to increase bed capacity of the prison system in order to cater for the high number of people being sentenced to prison. The success of the country towards crime rate does not depend on how the country equips its prison system but the policies that government drafts to prevent crime to be committed.

Increasing prison beds does not reduce criminal level in the country but it increase the government’s burden of sustaining the prisoners as they require to be taken care through feeding and healthcare an aspect that consume government funds (Blumstein & Wallman, 2006). A country with a high crime rate indicates that the government is doing very little to cater for the needs of the young generation. Instead of increasing bed capacity in prisons, that money should be channel towards increasing job opportunities.

Research indicates that high unemployment rates are the main cause of increased crime rate in the country. Creating channels that will increase the employment levels will be a breakthrough towards reducing crime rate in the country rather than solving the problem through locking in young, energetic and innovative and creative generation who are in crime as a result of frustration from lack of employment (Blumstein & Wallman, 2006). Second main problem that could reduce crime rate and therefore, eradicate the need for increasing bed capacity in the prison is increasing access to education.

Majority of the prisoners were unable to afford education therefore, their chances of getting a descent job became minimal. As a result, government should invest much on affordable education to all in order to ensure that young generation gets access to education an aspect that would help them increase their channels of getting a descent earning to support their needs (Blumstein & Wallman, 2006). Housing prisoners is unnecessary venture that would see the government spend a lot of public money while the solution to the problem is to fight against drug use and trade.

America has been trying hard to fight drug trade which has led to high rate of drug abuse an aspect that is associated with high crime rate. Government departments that are mandated to fight drug use is doing very little to reduce the vice. Reducing of drug use will see an increased change in the number of crime rates committed and the number of people sentenced to spend time in prisons (Blumstein & Wallman, 2006). Crime rate is high in areas that have high poverty level e.g. shanties. Instead of the government spending much money in increasing the number of prison beds, it should direct that money towards alleviating poverty levels in these regions.

This will reduce government spending on sustaining prisoners as the number of prisoners will decrease tremendously (Blumstein & Wallman, 2006). Conclusion The effort that the government will put in reducing crime rate will see reduced need to increase bed capacity in prisons. This will also save the young generation from being locked in prison and instead support them in their activities that spearhead the country’s economy. Reference Blumstein, A., Wallman, J. 2006. The Crime Drop in America.

New York: Cambridge University Press.