Incarceration And Prison Analysis

The article discusses whether prisons are becoming a business or a place to treat criminals as slaves. The United States houses more prisoners than any other country. According to Schmalleger, he states “The incarceration rate for state and federal prisoners sentenced to more than a year has reached 500 prisoners for every 100,000 U.S residents” (2014). This is one out of every two hundred people in the United States. It is given that this number will continue to rise as the years pass. However, if the criminal rates are dropping then why are criminal rates climbing? Prisons are an industry that needs those prisoners to make money. If there was no one getting incarcerated, then there would be no money made. The projected cost to incarcerate an inmate in prison for 2013 is 55,551. The philosophy of prisons today is based the …show more content…
Criminals commit crimes because of many different factors, such as the area they grew up in, poverty level, family history or mental illness. For example, a struggling man trying to provide for his family wants to get his child a toy for Christmas. Instead of getting a job, he goes and holds up a toy store. While in jail he serves his time and once he’s out, he does this act again. There is no rehabilitation of prisoners learning to act out in others ways. They are able to work in prison, but there is no education. They are unable to learn how to provide for their families or get themselves out of poverty stricken areas. I believe this is a reason for overcrowding, it is a cycle. Instead of rehabilitating the criminals to perform as a providing citizen, they sit in jail and end up back in there years later. According to Schmalleger, “About 68% of state prisoners lack a high school diploma” (2014). I personally believe this is the main reason for overcrowding or having so many