Inmates: Improving Society Prisons are facilities to keep convicted criminals from committing crimes and to rehabilitate offenders while keeping them isolated from society. As there are more crimes committed, there are more criminals in this world causing prison facilities to overcrowd. In turn, this costs the government a significant amount of money to keep these prisoners maintained. One of the main reasons for why many prisons have become so overcrowded is because of many state laws and many parole practices. The need for an alternative route for prisoners has grown immensely. Some examples of alternative routes include parole, community service, and house arrest. Alternatives can reduce the amount of criminals in a prison facility and can help the community tremendously. The use of alternatives can not only help us as citizens, but also give prisoners another way of life. Prison systems should help society and resolve the prison from overcrowding by considering alternatives that currently exist and by considering newly proposed ideas.
Prison Growth There are crimes being committed everyday and there is nothing to do to keep those crimes from being committed those crimes. As there are more crimes being committed, this means there are more and more criminals being caught by police officials. Then, those criminals are booked into a facility where they cannot commit those crimes again for the period of their sentencing. As more and more criminals are being caught, this causes prison facilities to overgrow in the number of people being held there. "The Home Office estimates that the average offender commits 140 [offences] in a year" (Whelan). [pic] Source: International Centre for Prison Studies, University of Essex
Figure 1 shows the prison occupancy rates not just in the United States, but also other countries. Although the graph is two years old, it shows that the United States has finally reached its capacity. In many other countries, it shows that they have exceeded the number of prisoners passed capacity. The United States in 2012 reached 2,265,000 total prisoners. In order for the United States to exceed our limit, we need other ways to reduce the amount of prisoners going to prison each day. If we continue to throw prisoners in jail, we will face many problems in the United States. As prisons become overgrown, there arises other challenges that the prison may face during this overgrowth. Overcapacity can cause a huge amount of stress among the prison staff and it can also cause tension for other inmates. As a staff member it is hard to control an overabundance of inmates. This causes prison facilities to hire more staff members, which can reduce unemployment, but can also increase the amount of government spending. As an inmate this can be a stressful time because there are higher risks of violence. There can be a wide range of gang members stationed in one holding facility, which can cause riots, fights, and disputes. This situation may put inmates on their toes, watching their backs for gang members or even other inmates who may not like them because of their skin color, their values, their affiliation, or any countless amount of reasons. Inmates are also getting smarter and smarter while they are in prison, some thinking of new ways to get out, new ways to kill another inmates, or new ways of misconduct to get back at a staff member for putting them in solitary detainment. An overcrowded facility means there is a better chance for the spread of disease within the prison. There are millions upon millions of people who have diseases and those being incarcerated spread those diseases to other inmates. There are even hundreds of ways of spreading diseases. The common diseases that prison facilities face are sexually transmitted disease, blood-borne pathogens, influenza viruses, infection with airborne organisms, staphylococcus aureus infection, and varicella-zoster virus. Many inmates do not take good care of their bodies, nor do many of them wash their hands to prevent these types of diseases. Although washing their hands may prevent some of the diseases, it simply does not prevent them from catching all of the diseases. To keep prisoners rehabilitated it costs money and with a significant amount of inmates being incarcerated it costs even more money for us taxpayers. For a taxpayer the annual average cost to keep an inmate incarcerated is 31,286 dollars per inmate. In New York, the most expensive amount taxpayers had to pay was an average cost of 60,000 dollars per prison inmate. In a city jail, it cost to feed, house and guard each inmate about 167,731 dollars (Santora). In California each year it costs the taxpayers per death row prisoner 90,000 dollars to keep them in regular confinement (Spoto). It is possible that the difference in cost is due to the salary demands of guards or the cost of food. Too many prisoners causes us taxpayers an abundant amount of money that we could be using elsewhere such as on: roads, public safety programs, education, drug and alcohol treatment, heath services, and services for victims and their families. To think, if there were fewer drug offenders in prison rather than actual hardcore criminals, it would save the federal government an average of 1.29 billion dollars, and the prison could save an average of 125,000 dollars per bed year, meaning the worth of prison time for one person (Knafo).
Existing Alternative Sentencing There can be many solutions to solve the crisis of overcrowding in prisons. There are so many possibilities for those who commit non-violent acts or those who have been involved in less violent offenses. Alternate forms of sentencing for many non-violent offenders can include doing community service; being on house arrest; serving time in a county or city jail; paying fines; being in programs such as probation, diversion, rehabilitation, and work release. For the existing non-violent inmates they could also take part in an early release from parole or receive other credits. Some prisons offer educational and vocational training programs to inmates to better their lives after serving their time. As there becomes more overcrowding conditions there has been more competition for prison services. There is a lack dedication for inmates of meaningful educational and work opportunities for prisoners while they are incarcerated. This does not apply for all inmates, but there has those inmates who simply do not care about their education or do not care about their career. They think that since they are in jail that it becomes their life. They want to focus on getting initiated into a group who can take care of them while they are in prison. Some gang affiliated member look down on those who are trying to better their lives after their time. Some inmates think that it is a waste of time and effort to apply themselves. Community service allows inmates to perform services throughout the community. They can provide services such as cleaning up trash, light construction work, and planting trees around the community. Activating criminals to conduct their time for the greater good can result in lower crime rates. It can also result in safer communities, reducing crime in schools, parks, and on the streets. House arrest is an alternative to prison time as well. It is also referred to as home confinement, electronic monitoring, or also as home detention. Prisoners are confined to their home for 24 hours a day having boundaries along the residence. Many programs allows criminals to continue to work, attend to church, visit their probation officer, and go to medical appointments. Not only will this reduce crime and reduce the amount of re-offense, it will allow prison numbers to go down causing less tax money from us taxpayers. Serving time in a county jail or even a city jail allows inmates to work and complete their sentencing on weekends. They are allowed to check in on a Friday and leave on a Sunday (Rodriguez). This can allow an inmate to further his or her career and have the ability to still see their families. If judges push for inmates to serve time in a county or city jails this would reduce the risk of overpopulation in prisons, but could raise the population in those jails. Instead of serving time paying fines can be a common punishment for firs time offenses or those who commit less serious offenses. Fines are justified by court order to distinguish how much the individual has to pay for the crime that they committed. The individual must pay those fines. If the individual cannot pay those fines, then they are obligated to serve time in jail. For an alternative sentence, there are many programs in which an inmate can participate. There are a variety of programs that help develop individuals to become better people in society. They can be a part of programs such as probation, diversion, rehabilitation, and work release. Being a part of a program requires a person to perform a series of acts that they must follow to complete the program. Probation is a program that allows inmates to live their normal lives, but under court-ordered constraints. They must report to a probation officer, abstain from using alcohol and drugs, perform regular alcohol and drug testing, refrain from traveling outside of their jurisdiction, and avoid bad crowds that may cause them from re-committing a crime. Diversion and rehabilitation programs require an inmate to complete a series of drug or any other types of education classes for a period of time instead of serving jail time. This allows an individual to have contact with a probation officer, interact with peers, and behave in social settings outside of jail. Once they complete these programs, their charges may be dismissed or their conviction may even be avoided altogether. Work release programs are when inmates are designated to a work site on a daily basis to perform physical labor instead of serving time behind bars. A person can continue working with a certain amount of pay and still be interactive in the community. When they complete the workday, they can return to their home or return to their designated housing dormitory facility (Rodriguez). Alternatives for a prisoner can crucially help out society and make them understand that prison is not for them. Prison is immediate and an easily understood punishment, but alternative options provide certain amounts of freedom and the opportunity to pay for their mistakes in different ways. There could be a possible chance for inmates to give back to the community, which gives prisoners a life outside that does not involve crime. While being outside of bars it can give prisoners a chance to have a job and be around friends and family. Alternative sentencing could cost taxpayers less money and help out our economy. Government officials are always looking at ways to cut costs and this is a valuable way to reduce spending. The amount we spend to keep inmates sustained in prison could go to better use in our economy. Our economy continues to go into more debt by the minute. Our government justs spending more and more for future generations to have to pay.
Possible Resolutions Inmates, if on good behavior, can choose any alternative sentencing upon request if it is granted by court ruling. There can be other possible solutions for alternative sentencing that have not already been applied. For one, inmates could help out our military, they could perform tedious tasks, or even take production jobs. A possible resolution to prison, if needed, can help out our army system. Those who are on good terms or those who are dedicated to our country could fight in wars. This could reduce the amount of fearful teenagers getting drafted into war. Mothers, wives, and families of free citizens would not have to worry or go into depression over losing their loved ones in war. Generations before ours were drafted into a war in which they did not want to serve because they had good jobs, families, or plans for their lives. If we eliminated the possible chance for teenagers or even adults to get drafted to the war, then we could allow prisoners who are already rotting in jail to serve in our wars. We could take prisoners out of jail, causing a reduction in the over population of prisons, and use them for the greater good. The process for bringing prisoners into the military would be first to put the prisoner into a boot camp. From there they would learn the policy and procedures to fighting battles and training for war. Once completed, there could be a decision made by officials to grant those the opportunity to serve or send back to prison the ones who they think would cause trouble across seas. This process could reduce the risk for those criminals to misuse weapons or even turn against our own people. After they complete boot camp and are chosen, they can begin further training until their skills are needed. For those who complete this task and return from their duties unharmed, they could be released or their sentence could be reduced, giving the prisoner a second chance at life. Another possible solution for inmates is having them perform tedious tasks that a normal individual does not want to do or does not have time to do. There can be many possible outcomes for this solution. One could be assigning inmates to sort through files and file them away. Another could be preparing documents or other assignments for businesses. A solution that would require prisoners to compete tedious tasks while simultaneousness generating money could be for them to work to create "experienced" characters or avatars that could be purchased by digital game players. Prisoners would sit in front of a computer and complete a series of gaming tasks, for example for the game World of War Craft or any other game that requires a series of duties for a character to meet its full potential. They could level up their characters and complete all they necessary requirements that a regular player would first have to accomplish before they receive a good ranking. From there gamers could buy the leveled up character that the inmate has prepared, so that they could achieve success and actually enjoy the game. This would also generate an income that could be used to pay for prisons. Helping with production can save our United States a significant amount of money. Inmates could help out many manufacturing companies by producing a lot more product for their businesses. This can increase the amount of products and goods for consumers wants and needs. Putting inmates to help out a business can allow them to cut budgets and still perform the tasks that need to be done. This could better the time for inmates as they do not have to live a miserable life behind bars. It could give them a chance to help those who are in need.
Addressing the Opposition While alternative sentencing could be good for society and especially for inmates, these solutions do not mean that prisoners would learn from their mistakes. The alternatives may not be successful for the majority of criminals. It might not have the same effect as a hardcore sentence would. There be s a risk of more repeat offenders that have learned from their mistakes by taking a different route. Programs could be ineffective and inefficient due to the freedom that prisoners are given. Alternatives might not have the same effect as a sentence. Some people may argue that if we send prisoners into the military that as soon as prisoners get their weapons they could simply go on a rampage of killing people. Inmates could think that since they are not behind bars that they can just run free and create a new life that they did not have before. It is a risk that society might be involved in more crimes. To some it could be considered shameful and think that a person got off "easy" or that they should be punished for the acts that they pursued. Many citizens would not condone the alternative to the in prison because it would be change, and no one likes change. Change has to happen in order for some solution to prison overcrowding to come about. For those concerned that the punishments would not match the crime with alternative sentencing, perhaps a type of screening for prisoners could be set up. By looking at their cases individually it could be determined whether or not alternative sentencing would work. In regards to prisoners joining the military, the training provided by the military not only would train them to use their weapon correctly, but it would a different visual of respecting authority, being mor patriotic, and giving them a different sense of life once they see a different path of war.
Conclusion
Prisons now-a-days are growing in size everyday and there are not enough holding cells to support the number of criminals coming into the facilities. It is a problem to keep throwing criminals into prisons each and everyday causing overcrowding. Overcrowding can raise the tensions not only for staff, but other inmates. It can increase the amount of diseases being spread and the amount of money being spent. Although alternative sentencing can be more difficult to implement than just simply putting a criminal in a prison, it can still be a successful means of punishment. The results in terms of bettering society can be huge. Not only will it keep streets safer, but it can give our community a more cost effective solution to incarceration. In life there are always decisions to be made, criminals usually choose the wrong ones. With the help of alternative sentencing it can give some the opportunity to sit back and rethink the right decisions by giving them a second chance at life. A new way of life.

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