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Causes and consequences of jail overcrowding
Causes and consequences of jail overcrowding
Overcrowding in jails and prisons
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30 Days: Jail
In this documentary series, 30 Days: Jail, directed by Morgan Spurlock, Morgan questions whether the system is proper and effective, or whether they need to change and reform the system. The 30 Days: Jail is a true story, therefor the story is nonfiction. The details and events that transpire in this documentary series are facts. The 30 Days documentary film series are short films, which each episode last roughly thirty minutes long. Morgan Spurlock has filmed three seasons of the documentary series 30 Days. The reason why Morgan filmed these series of 30 Days was, because he wanted to put himself in other people’s shoes to show their life experiences and what they go through on a daily routine. Morgan is a writer and director, he has other works such as Supersize Me, Mansome.
To begin with, while many of these other people are in jail or prison, we do not see or know what all these inmates go through on a daily routine. In jails and prisons, two out of three inmates end up going back to jail
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eventually after being released. Drugs make up over fifty percent of the inmates in jails and prisons. There are more inmates in prisons and jails that are ill or become ill, than the number of inmates being ill in a mental institution. The meals for the inmates are only sixty-seven cents each tray, so that is three times a day per prisoner. In jail and prisons, to punish the inmates, they use solitary confinement. Also, while in jail, we see several things being done that we agree with. When people go to jail or prisons, they are given sentences that they have to serve out. Although, while the inmates are in jail or prison, there are things that the inmates can do to cut their sentences some, so that they are not in jail or prison the sentence that they are being forced to serve out. Depending on the inmate’s reason for being imprisoned, they can do some things to cut their jail sentences. Inmates are able to be chefs in the cafeteria to take some time off their sentences, though to do so, the inmates have to have good behavior in order for the jail or prison to allow them to do so. When Morgan went to the jail, he had to go to the west side. Some jails and prisons have more than one side. The jail that Morgan was committed in, has a west side and east side. When people are committed into the jail, they are committed to the west side. The east side of the prison is for rehabilitation purposes. People can choose to do the rehabilitation program on the east side, while others are sent there before they are about to be released from jail or prison. The east side of the jail gets the inmates ready for being released to try to help them back into the real world, they try to help guide them in the right way as they do so. Although, while in jail, we see multiple issues that we disagree with.
One of the biggest issues with jails and prisons is how crowded they are. In jails and prisons, they are way too over populated in the number of inmates that they can hold. Drugs are the main cause of jails and prisons being way overcrowded. I do not agree with how overcrowded the jails and prisons are. Morgan showed the result of overcrowded jails and prisons. Jails and prisons are way to over populated so therefor, inmates have to sleep on floors or find a spot to rest, because there are not enough beds to hold the number of inmates that are committed into the prisons and jails anymore. I also disagree with how their running their disciplinary strategies because if they did a better job, then two of three prisoners would not be back to jail shortly after leaving. What they do on the inside should help to where more inmates will not be back after being released from jail or
prison. Thinking back to the film, Morgan’s experiences in jail have some similarities to many of my childhood punishments. Morgan volunteered himself to go for thirty days and put his self in other people’s shoes that are in jail or prison. I can relate some of his experience to my own. I was sent to two different mental institutions for almost three years total. Like jail and prison, mental institutions go by good or bad behavior as well. In the mental institutions you have to be there for so long and try to prove yourself, and that we are getting better with good behavior as well in order to be released. For meals we do not get options of what we want to eat, but I will say that our food we got served was most likely a lot better than the prisoner’s food they get. In conclusion, what Morgan Spurlock did, I would give him props because not too many people would do something like that, most others would be too scared and nervous to put themselves in their shoes. The outcome of doing what he did was good because he got out of it what he wanted. Morgan wanted to see how the inside of jails and prisons worked, if they were effective or if they need a reform and change of the system they have. He did so, and got the results he wanted without getting hurt or in trouble. Along the way, Morgan even meet some nice people who could turn their lives around if they wanted to really do so.
Morgan Spurlock is the documentary genius behind the t.v. series 30 days. Each episode is about an hour long and depicts an experiment where, for thirty days, Spurlock himself or volunteers are challenged with modern day contentious issues by being immersed in a lifestyle that is dissimilar than their own. During the experiment, a camera crew tracks the subjects, chronicling events and emotions they experience. Throughout Jail, Spurlock effectively utilizes multiple argumentative strategies and rhetorical appeals to convey the deficiency of the penal system, making the episode a success.
In addition, perhaps one of the flaws is in the people who send the prisoners to the jails whether it be the judge, probation officer, or the district attorney.
Instead of prisoners just sitting in a cell doing nothing, why not put them to work, "Every inmate that works saves taxpayers $5,000 a year"(Smith). There are prisoners that work in greenhouses, that generated $57 million in revenue. As budget cuts rise working prisoners become more and more valuable. Inmates are finding ways to save money by recycling there old mattress, that would of end up in landfills. Some prisons even have their inmates help clean up dirty parks around them. While the prisoners are doing this they are learning skills , that will help them with different jobs. Prisoners that do a good job get rewarded with money bonuses. Prisoners learning how to be more responsible and understand how to become a better person will help them in the up coming future. With the prisoners getting paid for bonuses for good work this will make it feel as if it’s a real job. The experience that the inmates are receiving will help them with jobs once they are released from prison. Prisoners will strive to do better with the bonuses they are receiving, and will understand again what its like work. Now with this happening this will ensure the prisoners will have a better and healthier
The book titled Beyond Bars: Rejoining Society After Prison offers invaluable lessons of how both men and women may successfully depart prison and return to society. The book was written by Jeffrey Ross and Stephen Richards, both of whom are college professors and criminal justice experts. The population of prisons across the United States has increased dramatically in recent decades despite overall crime rates decreasing during the same time period. Approximately seven million American people are in some form of correctional custody. Between the years1980 and 2000, America’s prison population increased by 500 percent. During the same time period, the number of prisons grew by 300 percent (Ross and Richards, xii). Close to 50 percent of people admitted to confinement have previously served time, exemplifying that the criminal justice system “recycles” inmates through the system again and again (Ross and Richards, xi). Unfortunately, many convicts simply do not remember how to or are ill-equipped to return to society once their sentence ends. Ross and Richards, through their valuable lessons within their book, seek to lessen the problems that ex-prisoners may face when released from prison.
...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.
I found this video funny, entertaining, and engaging. The clip start off with John Oliver saying how the United State have over two million prisoners which is more than the prison population of China, saying that American prisons are broken. According to China, it has one of the highest population in American and most of our products and goods are made from China. With the United State having more prisoners than China, it just make the United State look pathetic. John entertain viewers by using funny scenario that are related to prison, scene from movie,s and kids shows such as the sesame street; which include singing and dancing. From the video Prison Last Week Tonight clip, the scenario that I found that was the most entertaining and funny
California’s prison system has been a hot topic for the better part of the past two decades. In 2006 it was estimated that California’s prison system was at 200 percent of its capacity (“California”). This severe overcrowding not only affects those in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), both inmates and staff, but it also affects society as a whole. Inmate’s rights are being violated due to the overcrowding and the taxpayers are being left to foot the bill for a system that is falling apart from within. Too many people think that the solution to this problem is to simply build more prisons. But that doesn’t seem to be a solution at this time and it doesn’t solve the problem of how many inmates we have in our prisons. With overcrowding being at an all time high prison officials are being forced to look at other options such as releasing prisoners early. This too causes a problem because most of these inmates are not properly rehabilitated and end up reoffending. So what is the solution? The entire judicial system as well as CDCR needs to be revamped. Sentencing laws need to be changed and CDCR needs to change their entire approach to rehabilitating inmates.
Maybe if I saw more reports on how prison has improved our society and the criminals who live among us, I would see why we should work on reforming our prisons. Until then, it does not seem to be working. We trust in the government to provide for our safety, but we must take responsibility among ourselves. To understand that the current system does work and that its intent is not to provide a safe society. History has shown us that. What we have done or continue to do will not make this a safer place to live. The problem is not to reform our prison system, for this won't stop criminals to commit crimes, but to find ways and means to deteriorate them from doing the crime.
Throughout history into today, there have been many problems with our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, rape rates are off the charts, and we as Americans have no idea how to fix it. We need to have shorter sentences and try to rehabilitate prisoners back to where they can function in society. Many prisoners barely have a high school education and do not receive further education in jail. Guards need to pay more attention to the well being of the inmates and start to notice signs of abuse and address them. These are just a few of the many problems in our prison systems that need to be addressed.
There are many issues within the United States Prison System today. Two leading examples of what is wrong with the prison system is the high rate of incarceration and the unjust laws that help land people in our prisons. Unfortunately, over the years, there have been few attempts to repair these problems. Fortunately, there are several ways that we can address these issues.
More than 600,000 prisoners are released into the main population of the United States every year. Of that 600,000, 30 percent end up back behind bars within six months of their release, and 70 percent end up returning to jail within three years (Reisig, 409). Upon release, many criminals find that life on the outside is harder on them than it was when they were convicted, sentenced, and locked away. People who know them may become just as prejudiced as the interviewers and landlords who deny them the chance to earn a living or a place to stay. Through the continued use of labels like criminal, thug, crook, and felon, many released offenders feel ostracized and isolated. Their friends and families may turn their backs on them, taking away the few things they have left...
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 first issue that I would like to address is the overcrowding issues in prisons. In my opinion, overcrowding issues are the biggest issues in our correctional system that concerns every citizen. Running a prison required money, resources and manpower, with overcrowding issues, the government would have no choice but to increase the number of correctional facilities, privatized prisons and increasing manpower. According to (Levitt, 1996), “The incarceration rate in the United States has more than tripled in the last two decades. At year-end 1994 the United States prison population exceeded one million. Annual government outlays on prisons are roughly $40 billion per year. The rate of imprisonment in the United States is three to four times greater than most European countries.” (p.1). Overcrowding issues are not only affect prisons but the society as a whole as well. The reason is simply because prison population directly refl...
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 ...
Most people have no idea what it feels like to be in prison, statistically only one out of every five people will know what its like to be in prison. Approximately 1.4 million people out of the U.S.’s 280 million people are in prison. (Thomas, 2) The only reason people know about prisons is because of the media. The news, movies, and books all contribute to people's stereotypes about prisons. Prisoners receive three meals a day, workout facilities, a library, as well as other things. People are also given the idea, through the mass media, that prisoners are free to walk around certain parts of the prison. All of these ideas are cast upon prisons so that people will not be afraid of them. Society has been given the idea that prisons are not very bad on the inside. What is prison life really like?