ELDERLY: SHOULD THEY SUFFER IN PRISON OR SIMPLY BE RELEASED?
Karenna Cruz
American Public University System
This paper will explore the question of if the elderly imprisoned and in deteriorating health should reside in prison or be released. Should the government continue to house and pay the expenses of keeping the elderly incarcerated, or should they be released if they are simply near the end of their life and are unable to commit any further crimes?
The Concerns of Keeping Imprisoned Elderly Offenders Today, there are prisons across the United States of which house elderly inmates who can barely walk, talk, and function within their daily life without the help of prison employees or volunteers. Some elderly inmates cannot even remember the crimes they have committed due to developing dementia. Should these types of offenders really be forced to stay within the prison system and cost the states
For example, in Oklahoma, prisons are usually on lockdown due to the lack of enough officers to secure the prisons. The staffing is at only seventy five percent putting prisons on what is called a warehouse mode. This means that inmates are stored with minimum or no rehabilitation efforts. Within Oklahoma, paroles have no choice but to be deigned off by the government if they are to be set free into the community again. Because finances re so limited within these prisons, they were forced to come up with an alternative. A low cost solution that they have come up with is to have other prison inmates trained to be orderly’s to work in the infirmary. This allows these inmates to help in providing care for the sick and elderly patients within the prison. It is researched and studied and only about one in every three elderly inmates, return to
When envisioning a prison, one often conceptualizes a grisly scene of hardened rapists and murderers wandering aimlessly down the darkened halls of Alcatraz, as opposed to a pleasant facility catering to the needs of troubled souls. Prisons have long been a source of punishment for inmates in America and the debate continues as to whether or not an overhaul of the US prison system should occur. Such an overhaul would readjust the focuses of prison to rehabilitation and incarceration of inmates instead of the current focuses of punishment and incarceration. Altering the goal of the entire state and federal prison system for the purpose of rehabilitation is an unrealistic objective, however. Rehabilitation should not be the main purpose of prison because there are outlying factors that negatively affect the success of rehabilitation programs and such programs would be too costly for prisons currently struggling to accommodate additional inmate needs.
Overcrowding in prisons may cause prisoners to not receive the rehabilitative curriculums that they want in order to be reintegrated into society. This is the case in California, with individuals serving their prison sentences in jails, where they do not have the space to incorporate areas to hold the programs necessary for prisoners to assimilate back into society (KQED and Center for Investigative
The United States is a nation with the largest prison population and crime rates in the world. When the governmental controlled facilities were in a deficit where they lacked funds and space could not house the inmates, private prisons were developed. Along with the solution of private of prisons, the controversy concerning the funding of health care, recovery and other expenses have been one of the fundamental concerns for the American Justice System. Both the private and public facilities came together and join a partnership where the government facility agreed to bear the expenses of healthcare and other medical exams, and the private facility would find spaces and funds to house inmates. However, to continuously gain profit, the sentencing
In the 1970s, prison was a dangerous place. Prison violence and the high numbers of disruptive inmates led prison authorities to seek new ways to control prisoners. At first, prison staff sought to minimize contact with prisoners by keeping them in their cells for a majority of the day. As time went on, the prison authorities began to brainstorm the idea of having entire prisons dedicated to using these kind of procedures to control the most violent and disruptive inmates. By 1984, many states began construction on super-maximum prisons. In California, two supermax facilities were built by the state: Corcoran State Prison in 1988, and then Pelican Bay in 1989. The federal government soon followed suit and in 1994, the “first federal supermax opened, in Florence, Colorado.” It was not much longer before supermax prisons could be seen all over the country (Abramsky). In Wisconsin’s supermax facility, with similar conditions being found in a majority of supermaxes, there are “100-cell housing units” that are in groups of 25 cells. These cells all face a secured central area. Technology plays a major role in keeping the facility to the highest security standards. Every cell’s doors are controlled remotely and the cells include “video surveillance, motion detection and exterior lighting” (Berge). With these technological securities, there are also procedural precautions. Inmates are kept in their cells for 23 hours a day until their sentences are done. This is said to be for prisoner and staff safety, although some feel otherwise. In 2001, 600 inmates at Pelican Bay went on a hunger strike, demanding reform. Those on hunger strike believed that the isolation and deprivation they faced was against their Eighth Amendment rights. ...
Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.
...t of people who return back to a law breaking mentality after they get released from prison. When you release people instead use these alternatives versus confinement it is less of a waste of expensive resources, taxpayer’s money, as well as time. A medium between control and treatment needs to be met in all of the prisons, or jails. Some men or women need more strict conditions and supervision practices while others may just need more of the services that should be offered such as rehabilitation, and alcohol or drug prevention. Any of these options will not be easy nor diminish this overcrowding issue quickly. It will take time, patience, and cooperation with both the inmates or ex-offenders family, friends, courts as well as law enforcement and jails.
It is right for an elderly person to spend years to even a lifetime in prison? Apparently it seems appropriate to the United States. The elderly inmates are increasing rapidly as well as the cost of their health care. They become a burden in the prison's budget in addition to the citizens of this country. Many of these inmates are past 60 years old and dream of dying after being freed, however end up taking their last breath in a prison cell. Hill, Stella and Parker are examples of elderly in prison who are highly ill and continue to take more and more money while being incarceration under their conditions.
There are different eras of prison. The reformatory era, industrial era, punitive era, treatment era, community era, and warehousing era are the different types of era of prisons. The Reformatory Era lasted from 1870-1910. The Reformatory era was good for prisoners because it actually teach them discipline while they were incarcerated. The inmates were getting education and vocational programs that can later help them become successful in life. They were getting quality skills. Furthermore, they will help them with how to be in economically self-supportive when they will get out of prison. After prison they will get parole and visit their parole officer every month and be going to rehabilitation program. Secure holding and/or monitoring of offenders. In the industrial era, there were large volumes of factories growing, and inmates worked in factories for very cheap. Punitive Era was from 1935 to 1945. This era focused on punishment. Treatment Era was from 1945 to 1967. This era was focused on fixing the offender. Community Era was from 1967 to 1980. In this era, they believed inmate should privileges, halfway houses, and a work release program. Warehousing Era was from 1980-1995. In this era, they believed that incarcerating as many people as they could protect the society. It made the growth of prison overcrowding. Just Desserts Era is from 1995 to the present. This era believed that incarceration is appropriate punishment for criminal behavior.
Life seems to get busier and more hectic as each generation passes. As generations continue to age, a common dilemma arises that must be resolved: whether or not to put their aging loved ones into a nursing home. Nursing homes have become excessively more popular as the elderly continue to have longer life expectancies. Nursing homes at first were only for those who were poor and had no family to care for them, but now has become an option for families who simply cannot sacrifice the time and effort to care for their elderly loved ones. Morality and ethics is a huge factor in the difficult decision, which many moral factors are considered. In order to analyze how to effectively decide whether or not to put an elder in a nursing home, two theories
Prisons are overcrowded, with inmate populations over 2 million Americans the report goes on further to say the four jurisdictions with the highest actual number of prisoners age 50 and older are California (27,680), Texas (27,455), Florida (17,980), and the federal prison system (25,160)” (American Civil Liberties Union, 2012). According to Sari Horowitz in an article for the Washington Post titled The painful price of aging in prison, “Prisoners 50 and older represent the fastest-growing population in crowded federal correctional facilities” (Horowitz, 2015). As the numbers of aging inmates go up, the demand for healthcare also increases. It is hard to pinpoint why our prisons are so crowded. The major topics of discussion seem to be our countries get though on crime attitude, harsher sentencing policies and the declining number of criminals receiving the death
(Old behind Bars the Aging Prison Population in the United States). Incarcerated elderlies need special treatment; they cannot depend on themselves anymore. They are too old and too sick to move. Sixty-three year old inmate, Bruce Harrison, said “I get dizzy sometimes when I’m walking...One time, I just couldn’t get up”. (Story Sari Horwitz). Is it really good idea for an elderly inmate with health problems to be in prison? There comes a point where illness prevents a human to commit anymore crimes, therefore having an ill elderly in prison is just costing money for taxpayers. A different approach can be taken. Assessments of different kinds can be developed in order to assess the illness and evaluate if the inmate is a threat to society. If the inmate is not a threat due to their age and/or illness, then by all means the inmate should be released, this way taxpayer’s money can be saved. At this point in an elderly’s life, they have done most of their time. There are cases where the inmate has a terminal illness and it is just costing money for the taxpayers.
With the substantial increase in prison population and various changes that plague correctional institutions, government agencies are finding that what was once considered a difficult task to provide educational programs, inmate security and rehabilitation programs are now impossible to accomplish. From state to state each correctional organization is coupled with financial problems that have depleted the resources to assist in providing the quality of care in which the judicial system demands from these state and federal prisons. Judges, victims, and prosecuting attorneys entrust that once an offender is turned over to the correctional system, that the offender will receive the punishment in which was imposed by the court, be given services that aid in the rehabilitation to those offenders that one day will be released back into society, and to act as a deterrent to other criminals contemplating criminal acts that could result in their incarceration. Has our nations correctional system finally reached it’s critical collapse, and as a result placed or American citizens in harm’s way to what could result in a plethora of early releases of inmates to reduce the large prison populations in which independent facilities are no longer able to manage? Could these problems ultimately result in a drastic increase in person and property crimes in which even our own law enforcement be ineffective in controlling these colossal increases of crime against society?
In the 1970s and 1980s, a massive amount of inmates began fillin up the United States prison systems. This huge rate of growth in this short amount of time, has greatly contributed to the prison overcrowding that the United States faces today. In fact, the prisons are still filled to the seams. This enormous flood of inmates has made it practically impossible for prison officials to keep up with their facilities and supervise their inmates. One of the main reasons why many prisons have become overcrowded is because of states’ harsh criminal laws and parole practices (Cohen). “One in every 100 American adults is behind bars, the highest incarceration rate in the world” (Cohen). The amount of inmates in corrections systems, throughout the nation, sky-rocketed to 708 percent between 1972 and 2008. Today, there are about 145,000 inmates occupying areas only designed for 80,000 (Posner). Peter Mosko, “an assistant professor of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice” (Frazier) stated, “America, with 2.3 million people behind bars, has more prisoners than soldiers” (Frazier). There have been studies that have shown “there are more men and women in prison than ever before. The number of inmates grew by an average of 1,600 a week. The U. S. has the highest rate of crime in the world” (Clark). Because of this influx in inmates, many prisoners’ rights groups have filed lawsuits charging that “overcrowded prisons violate the Constitution’s 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment” (Clark). It is clear that the United States corrections system needs to be reformed in order to eliminate this problem. Prison overcrowding is a serious issue in society due to the fact it affects prison ...
Although it may not seem like a major problem to most people in the United States, prisons are becoming overcrowded, expensive to maintain and have little to no effect on the moral discipline of inmates. The current prison system is extremely inefficient and the purpose of prisons has been completely forgotten. According to Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, the primary purpose of prisons is to punish, to protect, and to rehabilitate. Not only is there an increase in prisoners, but there is a rise in the number of repeat offenders. Alternatives such as counseling, drug rehabilitation, education, job training and victim restitution must be better enforced and organized. People do not understand the severity of the problem mainly because
“The history of correctional thought and practice has been marked by enthusiasm for new approaches, disillusionment with these approaches, and then substitution of yet other tactics”(Clear 59). During the mid 1900s, many changes came about for the system of corrections in America. Once a new idea goes sour, a new one replaces it. Prisons shifted their focus from the punishment of offenders to the rehabilitation of offenders, then to the reentry into society, and back to incarceration. As times and the needs of the criminal justice system changed, new prison models were organized in hopes of lowering the crime rates in America. The three major models of prisons that were developed were the medical, model, the community model, and the crime control model.