American Prison System

The Plight of The American Penal System

The United States of America is home to one of the most corrupt and inhumane prison industrial complexes in the world. It is a place where “[s]ix million people are under correctional supervision” (Gopnick, 1), more than were in Stalin’s gulags. America is a country that “has only 5% of the world’s population, yet a stunning 25% of its prisoners, meaning 1 out of every 100 people in America is living behind bars” (Martin, The Empire Files: The Biggest Prison System in History). Through the numbers and facts, the American prison system has shown to be futile and heavily flawed. A nation that seems to be so passionate about their people focuses on the punishment and sometimes torture of their prisoners

If criminals are reoffending once released, little to no reform or rehabilitation has occurred in the time that they were in jail, which shows that America’s prison system is failing. One would think that the government’s main objective is to protect its citizens, but for prisoners, the idea held is that they should be punished and put into harsh conditions for a certain amount of time instead of being treated properly by having the underlying causes of their criminal act identified. These numbers show that America’s method of managing offenders is highly ineffective and contributes to further crime. While the system is defective and typically leads to higher recidivism, crime rates have gone down, as told in an American documentary about America’s penal system: “Crime has actually dropped dramatically over the past 25 years, while numbers sent to prison have increased at an inverse rate” (Martin, The Empire Files: The Biggest Prison System in History). If crime rates have gone down substantially, there should be less people in prison, leading the government to spend less money. So why are more people being sent to prison, and why “[a]t the end of 2012, the Federal Bureau of Prisons was operating at 36% over capacity on average” (Martin, The Empire Files: The Biggest Prison System in

Statistics show that many incarcerated offenders suffer from mental illness, a factor that largely contributes to their criminal deviance. In this case, why does the system then proceed to place them in harsh conditions that will worsen their mental state? This will ultimately contribute to the increase in recidivism rates once they have been released, instead of rehabilitating them or treating them properly. Furthermore, it is stated by the UN that “[c]orporal punishment, punishment by placing in a dark cell, and all cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments shall be completely prohibited as punishments for disciplinary offences” (United Nations, 5). America continues to use corporal punishment as a form of imprisonment, although it is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations which prohibits the usage. As it will be explored later in greater detail, there is a profound connection between crime and mental illness. If a large portion of offenders who are placed in solitary confinement already suffer from a mental illness, this punishment will only aggravate the