Biggest Issue in Prisons

I can probably say there are a lot of problems with in a prison as in drugs, violence, gangs and overcrowding. Out of all of those things I believe the biggest issue facing the American correctional system is overcrowding. It wasn't always an issue back in the day or if it was it's probably not as bad as it is today. Overcrowding may not seem like a big issue but let's take a look, what causes prison overcrowding? What does prison overcrowding cause? And can it be stopped?

Prison overcrowding is caused by a variety of issues, such as not enough room in prisons, fluctuating crime rates, changes to laws and improvements to law enforcement tactics. So first the obsessive view from some lawmakers that the only way to reduce crime is to keep offenders off the streets no matter what the crime. In other words don't worry about rehabilitation just keep the offenders in jail for the rest of their lives and pay the cost of housing, boarding, and punishing them. Their view is that punishment is the deterrent and that we should not waste money on rehabilitation. Second, certain federal prosecutors have the win at all costs mentality. All they care about is getting a conviction. They will withhold critical evidence from the defense team and will resort to immoral if not illegal tactics in their investigation of the offense. Their personal opinion is that they actually do not care if the defendant is guilty or innocent, they just want a conviction. They want to extract their pound of flesh. Also researchers have determined that some of the causes of prison overcrowding are harsher penalties for criminal activities, changes to laws that make new actions illegal, high recidivism rates and needed improvements to the penal system.

Once the causes of crowding have been fixed researchers can begin to address the problems it causes and deal with them. The best way to solve the problems created by overcrowding is by eliminating overcrowding. Double ceiling inmates in prisons are required to have a certain amount of space if not it is addressed as potentially cruel and unusual punishment. Prisoner misconduct and its causes indicate that prison overcrowding may not be a direct cause of prisoner misconduct. But prison management style is related to misconduct and it is possible that overcrowding has a direct effect on prison management as it creates a far more stressful environment on the corrections officers and wardens. A psychological consequence of prison overcrowding high prison population has a direct negative effect on the psychological state of inmates. Overcrowding has been known to cause far more stressful situations and has prompted prison officials to react inappropriately on occasion due to being forced to contain ill advised numbers of prisoners. Prison overcrowding can make inmate violence because there are so many people and all can be targeted. Inmates have really nothing else to do but cause a rack it nothing worst