Essay On Incarceration

Within America’s prison system there lies many issues. Although we know prisons have become a permanent part of America’s justice system and are needed to maintain a healthy functioning society. The big picture is this incarceration,in the manner in which the American system is managing it may be causing more harm than rehabilitation. As of today the incarcerated population is at least four and a half times larger than back in 1980. At a population of approximately 2.2 million people in the United States behind bars the need for change becomes apparent due to the high costs of keeping all of these individuals in prison and also having an incarceration rate higher than any other country in the world.
Increase of Incarceration Population
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Which in recent news has been made quite apparent in various case. Approximately 65 percent of prisoners have not completed high school and 14 percent have less than an 8th grade education. Over a third of the prison population has received public assistance at some point in their lives, 13 percent grew up in foster care, and over 10 percent experienced homelessness in the year prior to entering prison. Those inmates that fall under these categories tend to be repeat offenders who did not have all the opportunities offered in life and fell into a life of circumstances. These inmates tend to find comfort in the system once a part of it. The ideology of having a meal everyday free health care, eye care, dental, vision, a chance at an education never before presented, a bed, roof, etc. The list can only go on but for someone who has been without these base necessities exceed personal freedom within this institutionalized system. Meanwhile, the remaining population is comprised of over 50 percent having mental health problems, while approximately 70 percent were regular drug users and 65 percent regularly used alcohol prior to being