The Psychological Effects of Prisons

1146 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on health issues in prisons

The Psychological Effects of Prisons

"I have visited some of the best and the worst prisons and have never seen signs of coddling, but I have seen the terrible results of the boredom and frustration of empty hours and pointless existence"

-former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger

"If recent incarceration rates remain unchanged, an estimated 1 out of every 20 persons (5.1%) will serve time in a prison during their lifetime.

-U.S. Department of Justice

One of the largest problems with the prison issue in America today is that it gets little attention. Unlike education, pollution or gun control people are usually not concerned enough to get involved with the problem until it happens to someone they love or themselves. Many people don't realize that the U.S. in on the same level as third world and totalitarian nations in it's practices of corrections, according to some activists. The prisons in the U.S. are in severe default of the international laws on human rights and cruelty. The facts have been proven true in studies done by the UN. Guards are now known to perform acts of violence on inmates that are sometimes more severe than the crime that put the inmate in prison. In one article about the harshness of the correction officers a former inmate describes one of the beatings of another inmate as one of the worst beatings he'd ever seen. "The assistant Warden grabbed his testicles and starts yanking on them". " At least fifty guys got in on it maybe more". (Prison Activist Resource Center, 1)

The more and more I open my eyes and read about prison conditions the more I realize that they are concentration camps in the sense that a abnormal number of people are concentrated and tortured within its con...

... middle of paper ...

...recidivism rate. This once again proves the fact that decent human treatment is far more effective than methods practiced in the rest of the corrections system. In my opinion the "SHOCK" program should do a better job at promoting pride and values and should be longer than a few months, but is definitely a huge step in the right direction.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

Chris Cozzone. "Coddling My Ass". 1994-1999. (opening quotation)

Chris Cozzone. "Gallery". 1994-1999

Swift, Morrison I.. Humanizing the Prisons. The Atlantic Monthly August 1911, 10/12/00

Recidivism Among Federal Prison Releases in 1987: A Preliminary Report. Miles D. Harer, PhD. March 11, 1994 http://www.bop.gov/orepg/recid87a.html

From Alcatraz to Marion to Florence-Control Unit Prisons in the United States. 1992.

Show More
Related

  • A Comparison Of Prison Life In Norway's Ideal Prison?

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    For decades, prison has been signified as an unspeakably horrifying place for those who have done harm to our society. Nevertheless, in today 's society, shows like Wentworth, orange is the new black and prison break illustrate prison in an entertaining way. A way that is so detached from reality. However, in the article "Norway 's Ideal Prison," by Piers Hernu, he clearly reveals and gives us a vivid picture of what prison life is like in Bastoy, the home of Norway only prison. On the other hand, "The Prisoners Dilemma," by Stephan Chapman argues how in Islamic countries criminals are being cruelly handled and how flawed the American penal system is and needs to be adjusted. Even though there are many similarities in both articles on what

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Prison Reform

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over the past several decades, the number of prison inmates has grown exponentially. In 1980, prison population had numbers around half a million inmates. A graph of statistics gathered from the U.S. Bureau of Justice shows that between 1980 and 2010, the prison population grew almost five times, topping out at nearly 2.5 million. According to an article in The New York Times, the average time spent in jail by prisoners released in 2009 increased by 36% compared to prisoners released in 1990. Many people, such as those at Human Rights Watch, believe that the increase of these numbers has been because of tough-on-crime laws, causing prisons to be filled with non-violent offenders. This rise in crime rates, prison population, and recidivism, has led politicians as well as ordinary citizens to call for prison reform.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Mass Incarceration

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The past two decades have engendered a very serious and historic shift in the utilization of confinement within the United States. In 1980, there were less than five hundred thousand people confined in the nation’s prisons and jails. Today we have approximately two million and the numbers are still elevating. We are spending over thirty five billion annually on corrections while many other regime accommodations for education, health

    Read More

  • The Negative Effects Of Solitary Prisonation In Prisons

    1427 Words  | 3 Pages

    More than half of prisoners reoffend within at least three years of leaving prison. Those who reoffend tend to have more severe and more aggressive offenses than previously. A man by the name of Brandy Lee has shown that by having a very strict program in prisons, violent offenders in San Francisco jails reduced the amount of violence in jails. The program also helped to reduce the rate of violent re-offences after leaving the jail by over 50 percent.

    Read More

  • Corrections: The Fundamental

    1392 Words  | 3 Pages

    The number of individuals that are incarcerated in the United States on a daily basis has surpassed 2.2 million (Gibbons & Katzenbach, 2011). Annually, 13.5 million people at some point and time spend time in prison or jail with approximately 95 percent of them ultimately returning to society (Gibbons et al., 2011). Taking the aforementioned statement into considerations the author believes that it is safe to say that what goes on behind prison walls effects all members of society. When correctional facilities are unsafe, unhealthy, unproductive, or inhumane it affects both the people who work in them as well as the people that are living there at some point and time.

    Read More

  • Is Prison Overcrowding Fixable?

    2004 Words  | 5 Pages

    The prison system has shaped the modern world and helped to create the society we have today. We feel safer and, especially in the United States, we are freer and can keep our sense of freedom because we feel safe enough to do what we want. The prisons systems have set up their own methods of keeping the small world of the prison in control. They have created their own rules, and regulations to keep the system running smoothly. “Further, the National Prison Association (NPA)—forerunner of the American Correctional Association (ACA)—already had been in existence for three decades, providing a valuable professional forum for prison officials to meet, share ideas and advocate solutions” (Herman 50). It is essential that these systems keep constant control of the situation inside the prisons. The control that they put over the prisons not only needs to be maintained, but ne...

    Read More

  • Problems with the American Prison System

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Prison System

    2698 Words  | 6 Pages

    The prison system in the United States was not always like it is today. It took mistakes and changes in order to get it to the point it is at. Some people think that prisons should still be being changed while others feel that they are fine the way they are. It is hard to make an argument for one side or the other if one does not know about the history of prisons as well as the differences between prisons structures and differences in prison management. Knowledge of private prisons is also needed to make this difficult decision.

    Read More

  • Crime And Incarceration In The Criminal Justice System

    1067 Words  | 3 Pages

    From the beginning of the Criminal Justice System, the obsession was with prison and punishment. In the last few years, this focus forced the jail and prison populations to skyrocket higher than any other place in the world. There is never a class we are not reminded there are currently 2.3 million people in United States prisons and jails. The criminal justice system or the correctional system has not changed yet remained its focus on deterrence and isolation not on the proactive ways of dealing with crime.

    Read More

  • Recidivism and Addiction

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, released prisoners with the highest re-arrest rates were robbers (70.2%), burglars (74.0%), larcenist (74.6%), motor vehicle thieves (78.8%) and possessing or selling stolen property (77.4%) A conservative estimate is that some 67% of state prisoners have such a problem. In another study it was found that the number of inmates returning to state prison within three years of release has remained steady for more than a decade. Strong indicators that prison systems are failing to deter criminals from re-offending.

    Read More

  • Nonviolent Offenders

    1487 Words  | 3 Pages

    America locks up five times more of its' population than any other nation in the world. Due to prison overcrowding, prisoners are currently sleeping on floors, in tents, in converted broom closets and gymnasiums, or even in double or triple bunks in cells, which were designed for one inmate. Why is this happening? The U.S. Judicial System has become so succumbed to the ideal that Imprisonment is the most visibly form of punishment. The current structure of this system is failing terribly. To take people, strip them of their possessions and privacy, expose them to violence on a daily basis, restrict their quality of life to a 5x7ft cell, and deprive them of any meaning to live. This scenario is a standard form of punishment for violent offenders, although not suitable for nonviolent offenders.

    Read More

  • Solitary Prisonation In Prison

    1051 Words  | 3 Pages

    The features of enhanced confinement that consistently draw the most profound condemnation revolve around: the often-brutal forms and compassionless deprivations in which these units or facilities operate, the harrowing living conditions that inmates are compelled to endure, the resulting physical and psychological damage to body and soul, and the questionable legality of such confinement. Leading human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are regularly outing the United States for operating torturous prisons that house convicted criminals in the most deplorable and extra-legal conditions. (Marion Experiment pgs.

    Read More

  • Prison System Problems

    1220 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • America’s Prisons and Their Effects On Society

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    Trachtenberg, B. (2009, February). Incarceration policy strikes out: Exploding prison population compromises the U.S. justice system. ABA Journal, 66.

    Read More

  • Acidivism And Recidivism

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the National Institute of Justice recidivism is one of the most fundamental concepts in criminal justice. Recidivism refers to a person’s reoccurrence or continuation of criminal behavior that persists after the person receives their sanctions or arbitration. Researchers from the statistics of The Bureau of Justice found that two-thirds, 67.8%, of released prisoners were rearrested within three years. About three quarters, 79.6%, were rearrested within five years of their release. At the end of the year, 56.7%, which is more than half of those prisoners were rearrested. The most likely to be rearrested were property offenders, 82.1% of released offenders were rearrested for

    Read More

More about The Psychological Effects of Prisons

Open Document