Addressing Federal Prison Overcrowding

Federalprisons may experience rising rates of violence among prisoners and growing levels of stress among prison staff because overcrowding contributes to increased inmate misconduct, which negatively affects the safety and security of inmates and staff . If you start cramming more and more people into a confined space, you’re going to create more tensions and problems, it creates the possibility that someone’s going to snap and have a violent incident.  Overcrowding also puts a strain on prison infrastructure such as dining halls, bathrooms, laundry rooms and even television rooms, which become more difficult to access. Some institutions might have to reduce prisoners’ visitation time. Everything provided for the inmates will eventually be so limited because there is not enough to give to each and every inmate. These prisoners have a different mentality. Their personalities can range from extremely short tempered to unconsciously erupting with abusiveness towards anyone around them. Instead of causing them to feel pressured by cramming inmates in one area, there needs to be a source of comfort given to them because the whole concept is to reform their mentalities and behaviors so they can be aware of their behaviors that caused them to end in prison and help them recover and become new people with rehabilitation programs so they can get back on their feet. States still need to be tough on crime, but in ways that emphasize personal responsibility, promote rehabilitation and treatment, and allow for the provision of victim restitution where applicable. Inmates who want and need the programming begin to get frustrated with the overcrowding, and that can lead to acting out.  Some inmates without programming head to the streets without addressing their criminal needs.

There is an important matter that we need to mention though, which are the serious incidents that the guards or employees are facing in the overcrowded federal prisons. Overcrowding can create dangerous conditions for inmates and prison staff. Guards are assaulted by prisoners and attacks involve weapons. Hundreds of inmate on worker assaults has occurred at various prisons over the past several years, including the brutal stabbing murder of Correctional Officer Eric Williams by a prison inmate and the shooting death of Lt. Osvaldo Albarati . Inmate’s actions can get out of control when there are too many of them crammed in a limited-spaced area. There has to be control over their actions. These inmates are audacious, reckless, and inconsiderate of others. The more we cram into one prison, the more disasters will erupt. Limiting the prison population will enable the employees and guards to have some control on the inmates to try and prevent brutal incidents and try and maintain the safety of everyone present in these federal prisons.