Free Essay Example: Solutions for Prison Overcrowding

There have been massive amounts of inmates in the state and federal prisons that have continuously hurt U.S. correctional facilities (UNODC, 2013). In fact, prison overcrowding is one of the major problems faced in all prison systems. When the prison capacity is surpassed, there are poor conditions that lead to depraved quality of life, therefore, compromising prisoners’ wellbeing. This paper will elucidate different solutions that can be deployed in addressing the issue of prison overcrowding.

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Fair Social Policies and Crime Prevention

To address overcrowding sustainably, with its root cause, there should be a comprehensive analysis of public policies using all relevant aspects instead of relying on criminal justice only (UNODC, 2013). In this case, crime is categorized as a social issue that cannot be rectified through criminal justice systems. Therefore, social problems like poverty, as well as social marginalization, should be addressed to prevent crimes and violence, which will, in return, help to reduce prison overcrowding. In this regard, the government needs to enact evidence-based strategies for alternative crime responses that take imprisonment as a last resort.

Early Release and Parole

The government should consider awarding the inmates who exhibit good behavior by giving them an early release or parole (Florida, 2020). Such an act will be a crucial incentive for creating better environments for non-violent prisoners. With standardized and reduced sentence lengths, overcrowding in prisons will be greatly lowered. Additionally, this strategy will involve a routine cutting of sentences down to periods that are more manageable and also suitable.

Political will and Reform of Criminal Justice Processes

Political will help in introducing policies and programs that potentially challenge punitive approaches that could have resulted in prison overcrowding (UNODC, 2013). Adopting comprehensive criminal justice reforms will also allow responding to cases in a coherent and holistic way. For example, some factors within the process of incarceration may be reformed as a way of lowering unjust sentences, especially to those with a minor. When the minor offenses are settled with restorative justice resolutions instead of criminal court, the system will be prevented from being bogged down unreasonably. Furthermore, engaging the social policy will also ensure that individuals in criminal court can still access legal aids before they face trials.

Reducing Recidivism

Recidivism primarily refers to the acts of re-offending and is a major cause of high rates of imprisonment. Thus, with activities like rehabilitation programs as well as drug and alcohol courses, individuals with related crimes will be offered recovery assistance. In fact, in New York, it was found that rehabilitation programs were 15 times more effective as compared to normal imprisonment (Florida, 2020). Also, individuals who were released committed over 60% fewer crimes (Florida, 2020). That means the released prisoners are unlikely to repeat crimes, which shows that lowering recidivism is an effective solution to prison overcrowding.

Conclusion

Prison overcrowding is a major problem in prison systems and can be solved in various ways. First is through fair social policies and crime prevention by taking some crimes as social issues, thus addressed and rectified socially as opposed to criminal justice systems. Secondly, early release and parole will be a solution where those exhibiting good behaviors are released. Thirdly, through the political will and reformed criminal justice processes, minor offenses are settled using restorative justice and not criminal justice system. Reducing recidivism through programs like rehabilitation will also lower prison overcrowding.

References

Florida. (2020). Four Ways to Reduce Prison Overcrowding. Florida Tech University.

https://www.floridatechonline.com/blog/criminal-justice/how-to-reduce-prison-overcrowding/UNODC. (2013). Handbook on strategies to reduce overcrowding in prisons. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

https://www.unodc.org/documents/justiceandprisonreform/Overcrowding_in_prisons_Ebook.pdf