The rise in imprisonment in America over the past years has risen at an alarming rate. The United States of America prison population has increased from about three hundred thousand inmates in the 1970’s to over one million inmates in recent years. Statistics show that America has the highest number of inmates in the world (Pfaff 173).The so-called “war on drugs ” which attracted long prison sentences has acted as a major factor contributing to the increase in the prison population (Golembeski 1702).
Between the years 2003 and 2010, the prison population rate in the state of Georgia increased by about three hundred percent owing to the ‘zero tolerance rule’. New correction facilities had to be built to accommodate this increase using the gains in the budget from plea bargains and fines (Piacentini 186).
Overcrowding of prisons faces different challenges such as escalation of inmate’s misconduct. Tension and violence increase when the inmates are crammed into a small space and therefore, can lead to high cases of violent deaths and suicide rates. Overcrowding also causes inmates to spend less time in the recreational areas as facilities are limited and can lead to riots as inmates become frustrated. Prison workers are also at risk as there is an increased inmate-to-staff ratio (GAO 19). Additionally high numbers of inmates results to limited resources thus inmates receive less quality rehabilitation programs thereby resulting to recidivism. The increased numbers have also caused less access to job training, drug treatment programs, and education as there is a long waiting list and the facilities are limited. Overcrowding also causes higher cases of illnesses as contagious illnesses are easily spread amongst inmates living in confined areas. Finally, overcrowding of prisons also puts a strain on the institution budget as a there is more utilization of resources as equipment wear out at a faster rate and there is more consumption of power and water making the bills to be quite high.
As a solution to prison overcrowding, the state of Georgia has endorsed penitentiary reforms. The prisons now exercise a rehabilitative approach rather than the punitive approach in order to reform inmates and reduce recidivism. The rehabilitation programs should be expanded in an attempt to accommodate more inmates hence enabling them to serve their full term in the drug rehabilitation programs other than the short period they serve due to the long waiting list as a result of overcrowding in jails. Inmates should also be able to leave jail with a transcript of some sort showing the skills they acquired in jail and the rehabilitation programs they undertook in order to assist them to blend to blend - in back into the community and restart their lives.
The state can also reduce prison sentences for petty crimes and increase fines so as to create more space for more violent crimes. There should also be more sentencing options like community work and be confined in rehabilitation centers for the petty offense like DUI and drug addictions.
The state should increase the number of inmates that can be released early by allowing old inmates above the age of sixty who were sentenced to life but have reformed to be recommended for parole and increase rehabilitation programs that assist inmates in gaining credit towards their good conduct (Garland 36). Such credit would allow more inmates to be recommended for parole thereby increasing the chances of more inmates being released from prison early and as a result reducing the population of the prisons.
All in all correction facilities in the state of Georgia are overcrowded and unless the government finds a permanent solution, it continues to cause a strain on the state’s budget and also risk security of the inmates and staff working in these correction facilities. The most effective solution would be to expand rehabilitation so that we can have more reformed inmates. As we know a reformed inmate contributes to a healthy society thereby reducing crime.
Works Cited
Council of State Government Justice Center, "Reducing Recidivism: States Deliver Result (New york: Council of State Government Justice Center, 2014) Print.
Fullilove, CynthiaGolembeski :Robert. "Public Health Consequences of Imprisonment." American Journal of Public Health (2005): 1701-1706. Print.
GAO, Bureau of Prisons: Growing Inmate Crowding Negatively Affects Inmates, Staff, and Infrastructure, GAO-12-743 (Washington, D.C.: Sep.12, 2012).Print.
Garland, Brett, Eric Wodahl, and Robert Schuhmann. "Value conflict and public opinion toward prisoner reentry initiatives." Criminal Justice Policy Review 24.1 (2013): 27-48.
Golembeski, Cynthia, and Robert Fullilove. "Criminal (in) justice in the city and its associated health consequences." American Journal of Public Health 95.10 (2005): 1701-1706.Print.
Pfaff, John. The War on Drugs and Prison Growth: Limited Importance, and Limited Legislative Options, 52Harv. J. Legis.173 (2015) Print.
Piacentini, Laura, and Gavin Slade. "Architecture and attachment: Carceral collectivism and the problem of prison reform in Russia and Georgia." Theoretical Criminology 19.2 (2015): 179-197.Print
