American Correctional Facilities
American Correctional Facilities
Incarceration is the US justice system’s common form of punishment. Incarceration entails confining guilty individuals in correction facilities. The United States leads other countries in the world in terms of incarceration. Schmitt, Warner & Gupta, (2010) estimate that rate of incarceration in the country to be 743 for every 100,000 people. This rate is about 3 to 4 times higher than the incarceration rates in other developed countries. This paper has examined the state of American prison facilities. The paper has identified overcrowding, increasing costs and high rates of recidivism as the main problems facing the American correctional facilities. Alternative correctional strategies are being established to address this problem. These strategies include; community service, parole, probation and victim integrated rehabilitation.
Challenges in the American Correctional Facilities
Overcrowding is one of the significant challenges experienced in the American correctional facilities. As already mentioned, the US is locking up its citizens at a rate that is higher than any other country on the globe. Statistics by Schmitt, Warner & Gupta, (2010) suggest that one out of every 48 men has been in jail. The population of US correctional facilities stood at 2.3 million in 2008. Non-violent offenders comprised the largest proportion of the inmate population, accounting for 60% of the entire prison population. The war against drugs is the primary cause of rising incarceration rates in the United States. The US jail population has expanded by 350% between 1980 and 2000. Studies have attributed this increase to enforcement of strict incarceration policies rather an increase in the level of crime.
The consequences of having overcrowded correctional facilities have ranged from poor health conditions to increased cases of violence within prisons. Overcrowding has caused a strain on prison’s sanitation and other facilities. This deteriorating living conditions for the inmates. Studies have also revealed that overcrowding in prisons also has significant psychological effects. Many prisons experience difficulties in coping with pressure associated with living in crowded environments. Overcrowded has led to increased cases of prison violence. Approximately 216,600 people were sexually abused in the American prisons in 2008 (Kelly, 2012). Seventeen thousand of this rape abuse involved juvenile detainees. Other forms of violence such battery and murders have also become common within the American correctional facilities.
Increased cost is one of the significant issues in the American prison system (Henrichson & Delaney, 2012). The high incarceration rates in the country have increased the cost of maintaining the correctional facilities in the country. Most of the prison facilities within the country are operating above their maximum capacity. Consequently, the administration has to expend a hefty portion of the tax payers’ money to maintain the correctional facilities. Study estimate that the US government spends $ 40 billion every year on the direct maintenance of correctional facilities (Henrichson & Delaney, 2012). There are also indirect cost associated with activities such as hiring prison employees and paying their benefits.
Another challenge experienced in the American correctional facilities is high recidivism rates. Recidivism is the tendency of inmates to revert to criminal ways once they are released from prison. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (2002) conducted a study comparing recidivism rates in the 1980s and 1990s. The study revealed that 67.5% of criminals who were released from prison in 1994 were arrested again within a period of 3 years. This compared to the 62.5% re-arresting rate among prisoners who were released in 1983. Recidivism rates among violent offender remained the same. However, the recidivism rates among non-violent offenders went up between 1983 and 1994. This is an indication that incarceration is not the best way of reforming non-violent offenders.
Policies for incarcerating non-violent offenders were introduced to deal with the problem of drug abuse. Stakeholders believed that imposing tough punishment on these non-violent offenders would deter them from committing crime (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002). However, recidivism statistics reveals the inefficiency of this strategy. Some studies point out that the policies failed to recognize the social issues associated with the drug problem. The studies suggest that the drug problem has been perpetuated by poverty and, therefore, can only be resolved by improving the social economic status of offenders. Another explanation for the increased recidivism rates is that the American prisons were reinforcing crime rather than deterring crime (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2002). Studies suggest that people who go through the American correctional systems come out of the systems as hardened criminals.
An assessment of the present condition of the American correctional facilities indicates that the approach taken is not working. American tax payers are incurring heavy costs in order to maintain petty offender in prison. While the tough punishments were introduced to deter petty crime, they seem to have an opposite effect as indicated by the crime recidivism rates. The condition of prisoners has deteriorated because the prison infrastructure has not grown at the same rate as the prisoner’s population. Even the current trends continue to prevail; the future of the American correctional facilities is bleak. An alternative correctional strategy is needed to address the problem of non-violent offenses such as drug trafficking.
Alternative Correctional Systems
There are a number of alternative correctional systems with the American justice. These alternative systems include; community services, probation, victim integrated rehabilitation and parole (Lichtenstadter, 2011). Alternative correctional systems can help reduce the problem associated with incarceration. Alternative correctional systems can help reduce the cost of incarceration. According to Schmitt, Warner & Gupta (2010) large portion of the incarceration cost is associated with the cost of providing basic utilities to the inmates. Community correction can eliminate this cost by reducing the number of non-violent offenders. The American correction facilities are overcrowded because of sentencing of non violent offenders. Studies estimate that finding an alternative system for non-violent offender could reduce expenditure by $ 16.9 billion. Schmitt, Warner & Gupta (2010), estimate that alternative correctional strategies would reduce correctional budget by $25,000 per inmate every year. The alternative means of reforming offenders ensure that the saving can be realized without jeopardizing public safety.
Alternative correctional system will also reduce overcrowding within the American correctional system (Lichtenstadter, 2011). The community correctional system will ensure that petty offenders are not imprisoned. Reducing overcrowding will enable the correctional system to deal with the problem of prison violence. These systems could ensure that American children and youths, who are often the victims for prison violence, get alternative forms of punishment. Alternative correctional systems will also enhance the living condition within the prisons. This will ensure that prison faculties are over utilized (Lichtenstadter, 2011).
Alternative correctional systems will also reduce crime recidivism rates (Lichtenstadter, 2011). Community correctional systems are most effective in addressing non violent crimes as it encourages the participation of the entire community in the correctional process. This help to integrate the offenders back into the society once he has reformed. This is because the community systems enable the offender to retain employment, social and family network during rehabilitation. However, the alternative correctional approaches can only be successful if they are appropriately formulated and implemented. An effective mechanism is required for identifying offenders that need to be referred to the community system. This is essential in protecting public safety. The alternative correctional systems also need intermediate sanctions from non-violent offenders (Schmitt, Warner & Gupta, 2010). Currently, most community correctional strategies have prisons as their next available option.
Conclusion
The US leads the rest of the world in terms of locking up offenders. In the last three decades, the American prison population has expanded by 350%. The increase in the prison population is largely attributed to enactment of tough sentencing policies with the aim of dealing with the drug problem. The increase in prisoners’ population has introduced various challenges to the correctional systems. There challenges include; overcrowding; inflated costs of incarceration and high rates of recidivism. These problems are a clear indication that approach that currently in use is not working. Thus, alternative correctional strategies have emerged in order to address these challenges. Alternative correctional strategies seek to reduce overcrowding and incarceration by reducing the number of non-violent offenders within the prisons. This would have a large impact given that non-violent offenders make up 60% of the prison population. Alternative correctional strategies also seek to reduce crime recidivism by promoting restorative justice
References
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (2002). “Reentry Trends in the US”. November 26, 2012. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/reentry/recidivism.cfm
Henrichson C & Delaney R. (2012). “The Price of Prison”. November 26, 2012. http://www.vera.org/download?file=3542/Price%2520of%2520Prisons_updated%2520version_072512.pdf
Kelly M. (2012). 13 Signs that America’s Prison System is Out of Control. November 26, 2012. http://www.businessinsider.com/americas-prison-system-is-out-of-control-2012-4?op=1
Lichtenstadter M. (2011). Community Corrections as a Safe Alternative to Incarceration. November 26, 2012. http://www.dcjustice.org/?p=124
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