Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 7

Research - Essay Example The increase in crime is brought about by the creation of more hardened, violent criminals who are more likely to break the law and end up back in a prison. The number of prisoners currently is six times more than they were during the 1980’s. The rate of imprisonment is currently increasing along with the number of prisoners. The chart below shows the increase of number of incarcerated citizens from 1920-2006. Prison overcrowding is an issue that needs to be addressed by the General Assembly, so as to authorize the expansion of the correctional institutions. This study will focus also on programs and or activities that address the needs of inmates in a crowded prison. Inmate program or activities keep them productive and provides a powerful incentive for positive behavior maintenance, and has proved to be an effective management plan in prisons. This means that programs bring something constructive that inmates can do and learn; thus, creating less time for negative behaviors, meets inmates basic needs, assigns inmates to housing, define and convey expectations of inmate behavior, and supervise inmates. This makes the staff work environment safer with reduced violence and hostility threats. Effective jail program planning assimilates an assessment of jail and inmate needs with evidence-based programs. These programs are aimed to assess the needs of inmates in an overcrowded prison. These programs are divided into three types mainly: activity-focused, reformative, and reintegration. Activity-focused programs aim at keeping inmates busy w hile they are still in custody. Reformative programs offer inmates with knowledge and skills; this is vital as it addresses their personal needs. Reintegration programs concoct inmates for their reappearance to the community as productive citizens. Assessment of these programs will be done to demonstrate that even in situations where correctional facilities have minimal resources; the correctional professionals can plan,