The Case Against Prisons

Discontinuing Prisons

Prisons have been used as institutions for punishing and rehabilitating offenders for a long period of time. These institutions have been used as facilities for detaining men against their will because of the illegal actions. The use of prisons as incarceration facilities to help in the fight against crime emerged in the most remote antiquity. While these institutions have played a major role over the years in fighting crime, the continued use of these facilities have attracted considerable concerns in the recent past. These concerns are not only attributable to the nature of the facilities but also fueled by their overall impact on prisoners and fighting crime. The case for discontinuing prisons has been supported by the negative effects of prison overcrowding, flaws in the American prison system, and the existence of alternative evidence-based practices or alternatives to prison for criminal supervision.

Negative Impacts of Prison Overcrowding

One of the major reasons that have been utilized in the case against prisons is the negative impacts of prison overcrowding and other flaws in the American prison system. With the highest incarceration rates per capita across the globe, prison overcrowding is one of the major issues facing American prison officers. According to Haney (2006), overcrowding is directly linked to many of the problems that currently face the American prison system (292). Overcrowding has generated significant psychological consequences on prisoners because of harmful or harsh treatment of inmates. Actually, this issue has compromised the welfare of inmates and correctional staff members and affected the role of prisons in reducing the rates of crime. In addition, overcrowding has changed the nature of incarceration, changed correctional norms, and endangered the well-being of prisoners and prison officers or authorities. The issue has also generated indirect social and psychological costs as prisoners are denied effective and meaningful treatment programs.

Apart from overcrowding, the other flaws of the American prison system include solitary confinement, which is a technique used in supermax and maximum security systems. This technique has been a source of psychological problems and inhumane treatment of offenders. The other flaw is the ineffectiveness of the U.S. prison system to act as a deterrent to crime or a measure of reducing recidivism. Actually, the prison system has encouraged rather than prevented high levels of crime and increased crime rates.

Alternative Methods to Prison for Criminal Supervision