Overcrowded Prison Issues

The prison guards’ narrow-mindedness regarding the scope of their prison duties reflects the prison system’s negligence toward rehabilitating its prisoners so that they return to the free world as more productive members of society. This negligence is shown to ... ... middle of paper ... ...riorates” them and sends them back to society psychologically traumatized and incompetent. Prisons are consistently shown to undertreat their mentally ill prisoners and give them the mental resources they need for proper rehabilitation. The field of psychology needs to extend its rehabilitative nature into the prison system to ensure that prisoners suffering from serious mental illness are being diverted into mental institutions. Otherwise, these prisoners are susceptible to harsh, punitive environment of prison that will only exacerbate their psychopathological symptoms.

I do agree with Zimring, but I also have a few thoughts that don’t agree with Zimring. A decline in crime does correlate with imprisonment, but depending on the way the prison system runs. For example; the way imprisonment prepares the criminals for the world, how the families of the inmates are affected and reasons why Norway’s prison system is more successful than the U.S system all give evidence to the negative side of prisons. Putting someone in prison is done to increase public safety as well as to punish the criminal. The criminal is locked due to their poor actions, but the criminal needs to receive excessive support and learn life skills while in prison.

This especially affects people who were put in jail at a young age. They tend to fall into a routine that the prison provides for them. They can become depressed, alienated from other people, and are even under constant suspicion that someone is going to take advantage of them. This can lead to problems down the road for people who are released from prison and need to make a life for themselves. Finally, prison guards are known for being a dangerous entity in prisons.

It is sad because in America today a lot of these abuse by staff or not reported or taken in consideration because a lot of offenders are frightened of what the staff can do to them. In the book “Correction the Essentials” many officer cover their selves by having other co-worker lie to get them out of facing charges of abusing inmates. In reality, it would not matter if inmates in prison try to report abuse or not because it would be their word over

A lot of the behavior in the control unit could be considered odd but the underlining issues and intentions are what they prison guard has to try to understand. The prison workers try to distinguish the “mad” and the “bad”... ... middle of paper ... ...ntal health jacket when they see that its terms create the possibility for this change in how they are treated and, for some, in how they feel” (Rhodes, 2004, 121). The way the prison system is set up it does not allow the prisons to have any self-respect. They have no reason to want to get better and they continue to have a cycle of the prisoners treating the guards poorly and the guards treating the prisoners badly. Fortunately one prison is changing this terrible cycle so that the prisoners do not have to bee labeled as “mad” or “bad”.

Therefore, Solitary confinement causes permanent harm to prisoner mental health. Everyone who ever been in solitary confinement come out with personality disorder. While being in solitary confinement, prisoners develop anxiety, depression, fear, irrational anger, suicidal ideation, social withdrawal, and mood swings. Prisoners can be murders but they don’t deserve to be tortured by putting them in a solitary confinement. Solitary confinement supposedly to be correct prisoner’s behavior, but what they don’t realize is they aren’t correcting but making it worse.

Recidivism is when a person who is released from prison and later in life relapses into a criminal behavior. They have been in prison more than once and keep going back to prison for another crime or reoffends such as a parole violation. The main reasons they go back are drugs, trouble finding employment, and being associated with criminal behavior. Released prisoners feel like society is just judging them because of their past. People do not want to hire them because of their background, thus causing them to have no money and not being able to financially support their family.

Thousands of people statewide are in prisons, all for different reasons. However, the amount of mental illness within prisons seems to go unaddressed and ignored throughout the country. This is a serious problem, and the therapy/rehabilitation that prison systems have do not always help those who are mentally ill. Prison involvement itself can contribute to increased suicide (Hills, Holly). One ‘therapy’ that has increased throughout the years has been the use of solitary confinement, which has many negative effects on the inmates. When an inmate has a current mental illness, prior to entering into the prison, and it goes undiagnosed and untreated, the illness can just be worsened and aggravated.

Some ex-convicts face rejection by family members due to their negative figure portrayed by their former mistakes. They are also faced with society, social connections and expectation upon release challenges, as expectations for returning to a life of normalcy are not always realistic due to the society structural changes and technology changes that have occurred in their absence (Welfare Reform, 110). This is more true to inmates who have served long periods in prison. Other challenges faced by former prisoners includes; collateral consequences like lack of food stamps and inability to

Studies have indicated that inmates who are in restrictive unit go through a lot of frustration, stress, angered and can develop, mature or solve the problem because they do not have the chance to communicate with another inmate which makes them feel isolated. Also, they are always fond of acting on impulse and making rational decisions. When this situation happens, it is tough for correctional staff to control them or better still provide treatment for them. Moreover, inmates tend not build a positive relationship with staff, because they a feeling of being treated unfairly. The act of violence by inmates has an adverse impact on the correctional staff.