What Are The Problems Of Incarceration In Prisons

One major problem that we are facing is the mass incarcerations. The overpopulations of prison don’t seem to be getting any better. Currently there are about 2.3 million people that are in some kind of correctional facility. (Wagner, 2017) That is a lot of inmates. Most of these inmates are either non-violent offenders and a lot of them in local jails are not even convicted of a crime they have allegedly committed. The overcrowding of the system with nonviolent offenders can cause serious issues in the system. Looking at the pie chart below of the 2.16 million inmates in local, state, and federal jails only 896 thousand have committed violent offensives. This is about 42% of the prison population. The violent offenders are less than half the
However, what if it was a small child that is 8, 9 or even 10 years old. Their brains and bodies haven’t completely developed yet. What do you think would be fair to immediately punish a young child that may not even know what they did is wrong? Or help treat them so they can get the help they need and grow up and become a normal teenage and not have any behavior issues. The overpopulation of prisons is a safety issue. Prioritizing, categorizing and using rehabilitation systems versus short term sentencing can significantly decrease the over
When inmates are convicted of a crime and a sentence is given it is determined based on the crime and sentence where the person is held meaning minimum to maximum security. Whether they are tried as a juvenile or an adult. When the only sentencing is prison it can become overcrowded. The more inmates that are in a prison area the more tensions can rise. There is a possibility that juveniles and adults can be put together. People of different believes and possible races can be put together. This can cause more altercations between inmates. When there is more altercation the more people will be sent into the medical area and more weapons will be made. This can also cause inmate cells to be doubled so there is more of a chance of inmates having an altercation in the cells. When there are more people in general population there is more of a chance of riots. There is also a limitation on telephone availability which can cause tensions to rise with inmates since they may not get a chance to talk with their loved ones or friends. When inmates are eating lunch, there is nothing stopping one from having an argument with another and getting others involved which can start a riot. This can lead to a lot of violent and potential life-threatening fights. Overcrowding can also affect their yard time. The more inmates that are in the yard the less area people must hang out and enjoy the little time