Prison System Overhaul

Paper Summary:

This paper examines many of the problems faced by the U.S. prison system, including a burgeoning population, an inability to meet the needs of prisoners with serious psychiatric problems, the high costs of running prisons, and the general lack of impact that incarceration has on crime reduction.

Most People Credit Increased Incarceration with Reduced Crime
Overcrowding
New Home for the Mentally Ill
Prisons are Expensive
Prisoners Can't Be Protected from Other Prisoners
Ineffective in Reducing Crime

From the Paper:

"The United States prison population has skyrocketed in recent years. In 1978 our country had only 500,000 prisoners, but by 2001 the number was close to 2 million (Marciniak, 2002). In 2001 the U. S. Department of Justice reported that many people believe that the reason violent crime declined in the United States during the 1990's was because of tougher sentencing laws that keep convicted criminals in jail and off the streets for longer periods of time (Marciniak, 2002). In fact, the United States has the highest percentage of imprisoned population in the world. While we make up only 5% of the world's people, our prisons hold 25% of all the world's prisoners (Marciniak, 2002). The cost to run all our prisons and jails is estimated to be $40 billion, making it the single most expensive human services program the country has (Marciniak, 2002)."

More papers on Prison System Overhaul:

• Persuasive Essay # 116509 : "Prison Corrections"
• Term Paper # 141945 : "Education for Juveniles in the Prison System"
• Analytical Essay # 63022 : "The American Prison System"

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