There has been a widely talked about debate in the United States centering around the incarceration problem. The budget has been farmost the most talked issue including the quality of life for the inmates. Two theories have been specifically been discussed: rehabilitation and deterrence. Deterrence has been the leading theory for the twenty years, in the past decade some views have been shifted to rehabilitation. Evidence from the Department of Justice have backed these claims with shifting towards rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is the future of the United States incarceration problem due to public opinion and the pressure from the federal government. The sentences length was determined in various points in time, the little details can add
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Mainly because of Marijuana sentencing was so high, the “war on drugs” significantly influenced sentencing and corrections. “Expansion of criminal sanctions for drug crimes began in the 1970s but picked up speed in the 1980s with the declaration of “war on drugs” and the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988. From a crime control perspective, it was thought that increasing arrests and punishments for drug offenses would reduce illegal drug use and sales” (Mackenzie). These long sentences act as a deterrence instead of actually trying to help the situation. This was a turning point in the corrections, parallel the corrections budget has increased exponentially as well. The increase was the turning point for public opinion on the incarceration prison. They were taking away money from the school system and pouring it into the incarceration system. The incarceration has to change its ways due to the pressure from the federal government and the pressure from the American people. If people have shorter sentences and required programs for drug rehabilitation, then costs and overcrowding will …show more content…
In the Office of Justice report, they stated “For the second year in a row, the number of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities at yearend declined, as the U.S. prison population decreased by 0.9% in 2010” (Carson). This proves that the United States is slowly moving away from long incarceration and deterrence policies to more of rehabilitation. It also states, “During 2011, the number of releases from state and federal prisons (688,384) exceeded the number of admissions (668,800)” (Carson). Before, the majority of people are getting admitted not released and this shows how the government is gradually changing the ways of the how we are dealing with
Mainly because of Marijuana sentencing was so high, the “war on drugs” significantly influenced sentencing and corrections. “Expansion of criminal sanctions for drug crimes began in the 1970s but picked up speed in the 1980s with the declaration of “war on drugs” and the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988. From a crime control perspective, it was thought that increasing arrests and punishments for drug offenses would reduce illegal drug use and sales” (Mackenzie). These long sentences act as a deterrence instead of actually trying to help the situation. This was a turning point in the corrections, parallel the corrections budget has increased exponentially as well. The increase was the turning point for public opinion on the incarceration prison. They were taking away money from the school system and pouring it into the incarceration system. The incarceration has to change its ways due to the pressure from the federal government and the pressure from the American people. If people have shorter sentences and required programs for drug rehabilitation, then costs and overcrowding will …show more content…
In the Office of Justice report, they stated “For the second year in a row, the number of prisoners under the jurisdiction of state and federal correctional authorities at yearend declined, as the U.S. prison population decreased by 0.9% in 2010” (Carson). This proves that the United States is slowly moving away from long incarceration and deterrence policies to more of rehabilitation. It also states, “During 2011, the number of releases from state and federal prisons (688,384) exceeded the number of admissions (668,800)” (Carson). Before, the majority of people are getting admitted not released and this shows how the government is gradually changing the ways of the how we are dealing with