Question

Be sure your answer is complete and include any relevant diagrams and examples. 3 paragraphs minimum.

Since the 1980s the United States has been "getting tough" on crime by sending more criminals to prison and increasing the lengths pf prison sentences. Briefly explain the four functions of a prison sentence. Is it a good idea to sentence prisoners to longer terms even though this may lead to prison overcrowding? Why or why not? What are the benefits and costs to society from this practice?

Answer 1

There are four primary roles of prison. These are retribution, incapacitation, deterrence and rehabilitation.. Retribution is punishment for crimes against society. Depriving criminals of their rights is a way to make them owe their crimes a debt to society. Disability applies to eliminating criminals from society so that innocent people can no longer be affected. Deterrence means future crime prevention. Prisons are meant to provide notices to people who are thinking about committing crimes, and the prospect of going to jail may deter people from breaking the law. Rehabilitation applies to practices aimed at transforming prisoners into laws that obey by people, including offering jail education courses, teaching job skills, or delivering therapy to a counselor or social worker. Over the years, the four main functions of jails have not been stressed fairly. As a result, prisons vary in personnel size, facility layout, and procedures.

The impact of overcrowding in jail on the system of criminal justice is a complex issue. Overcrowding in jails has become a concern to prison officials as well as to criminal justice as a whole The main causes of this issue lie outside the prison system and therefore not within their control. Prison authorities have attempted to control different inputs to limit the number of individuals assigned to prison systems, but without success

The disparity between the capability of the prison system and the number of inmates to be accommodated was caused by an increase in the number of inmates. The rate of overcrowding of prisoners varies in different countries and does not depend on the population of the prisoners in a state, but on the capacity of the prison of the country to hold them. There are nations where there is a very high number of prisoners, but their prison system is large enough to accommodate them. Likewise, there are countries where the inmate population is small, but the ability of their prison system to hold them is very low.

The effect of overcrowding is the lack of sufficient space and resources to cater for the inmates. The opportunities for inmates to participate in activities to improve themselves and take care of their individual needs through vocational training, employment and academics are being curtailed. Moreover, due to the limited space of the prisons, the inmates lack freedom of movement. Everything goes around in the jails to keep the prisoners occupied all the time, leading them to idleness.

The number of inmates in many nations depends solely on the resources available, thereby exploiting the inmates to contain them in the world of prisons and systems being created and changed to meet the needs of the inmates. Instead of subjecting the inmates to the available resources, the inmates are subject to the available resources. In most countries, the increased population for jails has been going on for more than twenty-five years and it needs to be solved. Nevertheless, there was a reluctance to solve the problem, thus denying prisoners their right to have a better life in prisons.