Prison in the US justice system - Research Paper Example

The current conditions of prisons will be considered, as well as the presence and implementation of recidivism programs, rehabilitative programs, introductory back into society programs, and steps taken to ensure the safety of the public after a prisoner has been released. When most people think of prisons, cold, rundown jail cells for the purpose of punishing hardened criminals is what usually comes to mind. While punishment is one of the primary reasons that prisons exist, there are two other reasons that often go overlooked: to protect and to rehabilitate.

Prisons are used to protect both society and the criminal. Society needs protection against harmful individuals and groups, and the criminal needs protection from those in society wishing to seek revenge for any wrongdoings (for example, the father of a murdered child might feel tempted to go after the murderer). Prisons also help to rehabilitate to prisoners so that they can learn to handle their anger in healthy and beneficial ways, and will also be less likely to commit crimes once they have been released.

In recent years, many state and federal prisons have been under fire due to the physical conditions that prisoners are being forced to live. The majority of these issues have stemmed from the two greatest ordeals that prisons are facing, which are overcrowding and underfunding. As early as 1991, prisons throughout the United States have faced a significant increase of inmates, and thus an increase in prison overcrowding (Weschler, 1991). The number of prisoners being released back onto the streets is shrinking while the number of prisoners being brought into prisons is continuing to grow.

The demand to maintain prisoners is too great and cannot be kept up with. To make the overcrowding even worse is the underfunding of our state and federal prisons. Due to nationwide budget cuts and our current economic recession, our prisons are among the institutions that are being given the cold shoulder