Our Prison System is Broken and Ineffective
American prisons are among the most overcrowded correction facilities in the country. America is leading the countries with the highest incarceration rate in the world since the majority of the people taken to prison are non-criminal drug offenders. The issue of a failing prison system is one that increasingly elicited debate among American politicians. In particular, the concern has been that the judicial system is highly biased, with certain communities being the main target for arrest. Statistics also indicate that men are the majority inmates, both in local and federal prisons.
Despite the high rate of incarceration in the United States, the rate of crime has not significantly dropped. As a matter …show more content…
The following are some of the signs that the American prison system is not as effective as it is supposed to be. For instance, recidivism. Recidivism refers to the tendency of criminals to relapse into criminal activities after having gone through an intervention following a previous crime. Recidivism is often measured in terms of criminal acts that results in rearrests, reconviction or return to prison. The most common form of recidivism is the drug-recidivism (Durose, Alexia and Howard 21). Drug users have a high tendency to get back into drug-related offenses after being released from jail, hence pointing to the fact that the prison system is failing tremendously.
Besides the non-criminal drug offenders, criminal offenders can also relapse back into their criminal activities upon release from prison. This is because the American judicial system focuses more on sentencing people to serve many years in prison (Cambers 16). According to the National Statistics on Recidivism, about 67.8 percent of inmates set free in 2005 were arrested again within three years after their release. Within five years of prisoners’ release, over 75 percent of prisoners were rearrested for almost the same crimes they had previously committed (Cheryl, Francis and Daniel, …show more content…
American prisons have had many cases of criminal activities and cartels that operate within the system by the inmates themselves. There are many instances of criminal activities that include gun violence happening in the United States prisons (Celinda 21). Research has shown that many inmates in American prisons tend to get tougher on crimes when they are put together with hardcore criminals (Cambers 14). Many theories have been suggested to explain the increase in crimes among prisoners. One such argument is that since prisoners have reduced chances of employment upon release, some resort to criminal activities as their best option for survival.
The issue of drug cartels is another problem that is currently plaguing most prison facilities in the United States. Many underground drug networks within prison systems promote criminal drug use, hence making it difficult for the government to fight drug and substance abuse (Cambers 19). Many criminal drug lords are serving terms in the United States and are still able to command their underworld army of drug cartels, which again illustrates that the prison system in the United States has not been effective in reducing crime and new alternatives need to be
American prisons are among the most overcrowded correction facilities in the country. America is leading the countries with the highest incarceration rate in the world since the majority of the people taken to prison are non-criminal drug offenders. The issue of a failing prison system is one that increasingly elicited debate among American politicians. In particular, the concern has been that the judicial system is highly biased, with certain communities being the main target for arrest. Statistics also indicate that men are the majority inmates, both in local and federal prisons.
Despite the high rate of incarceration in the United States, the rate of crime has not significantly dropped. As a matter …show more content…
The following are some of the signs that the American prison system is not as effective as it is supposed to be. For instance, recidivism. Recidivism refers to the tendency of criminals to relapse into criminal activities after having gone through an intervention following a previous crime. Recidivism is often measured in terms of criminal acts that results in rearrests, reconviction or return to prison. The most common form of recidivism is the drug-recidivism (Durose, Alexia and Howard 21). Drug users have a high tendency to get back into drug-related offenses after being released from jail, hence pointing to the fact that the prison system is failing tremendously.
Besides the non-criminal drug offenders, criminal offenders can also relapse back into their criminal activities upon release from prison. This is because the American judicial system focuses more on sentencing people to serve many years in prison (Cambers 16). According to the National Statistics on Recidivism, about 67.8 percent of inmates set free in 2005 were arrested again within three years after their release. Within five years of prisoners’ release, over 75 percent of prisoners were rearrested for almost the same crimes they had previously committed (Cheryl, Francis and Daniel, …show more content…
American prisons have had many cases of criminal activities and cartels that operate within the system by the inmates themselves. There are many instances of criminal activities that include gun violence happening in the United States prisons (Celinda 21). Research has shown that many inmates in American prisons tend to get tougher on crimes when they are put together with hardcore criminals (Cambers 14). Many theories have been suggested to explain the increase in crimes among prisoners. One such argument is that since prisoners have reduced chances of employment upon release, some resort to criminal activities as their best option for survival.
The issue of drug cartels is another problem that is currently plaguing most prison facilities in the United States. Many underground drug networks within prison systems promote criminal drug use, hence making it difficult for the government to fight drug and substance abuse (Cambers 19). Many criminal drug lords are serving terms in the United States and are still able to command their underworld army of drug cartels, which again illustrates that the prison system in the United States has not been effective in reducing crime and new alternatives need to be