The Effects Of Post Incarceration In The Prison System

One in every 108 adults were placed behind bars in 2012 (Dimon). That made for 2.2 million prisoners in the United States ("The Sentencing Project News - Incarceration"). This is almost the population of Houston, Texas ("Facts and Figures"). In the years following its creation, the correctional system has become a rougher place to live with nearly one percent of the whole United States population behind bars. Both the mental illness and murder rates have increased, along with return rate of prisoners. The increase of problems can be blamed on the many factors including the unstable prison environment, the rapid spread of disease and the high return rate. In general, U.S. prisoners are far worse off than those in other countries in terms

The most common disorder reported after being in jail for an extended amount of time was Post Incarceration Syndrome (Gorski). Post Incarceration Syndrome can be defined as “a set of symptoms that are present in many currently incarcerated and recently released prisoners that are caused by being subjected to prolonged incarceration in environments of punishments” (Gorski). It causes the prisoner to have a difficult time connecting and coping with normal daily life. This can be due to the PTSD or antisocial personality traits that the prisoner gains with this disorder (Gorski). It can also cause the victim to become addicted to drugs and alcohol (Gorski). This disorder often causes people to struggle once they are released from prison, causing life on the outside to be a difficult one. This was illustrated in the case where one of the prisoners who suffers from this disorder said, “ It’s not to the point where you want to commit suicide,” he said, “but sometimes, I’m at the point that I’d be wanting to write the judge and say, ‘Just give me the death penalty. Just give me the death penalty, man” (Goode). To add to the problem 73% of prisoners reported chronic depression while 78% said that they felt “emotionally flat” (Goode). Depression is a huge problem in the correctional system because the prisoners often do not receive the care they need. This can also lead to jail suicide and self