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Emily Acosta
Davis
Government 4
2 November 2015
Prison Reform: Overcrowding
Is prison overcrowding considered to be a primary concern within United States? This
subject is not talked about in the news as much as it should be. We always talk about how
criminals should be put away, but does anyone ever think of how crowded they are? Even though
the criminals have committed crimes, they are still human and deserve the right to be treated as
such. We should stop prison overcrowding because it has been known to cause far more stressful
mental and physical situations, it causes health problems, and it heightens the chance of prison
fights.
In a penitentiary lifestyle, inmates can encounter many situations that lead to an unsafe
and stressful environment. Overcrowding has been known to cause far more stressful situations
and has prompted prison officials to react inappropriately on occasion due to being forced to
accommodate ill-advised numbers of prisoners (Online Bachelor's Degree in Criminology and
Criminal Justice). After spending so much time in one place, people are bound to be irritated and
stressed out which needs to be released in some way, the result is people lose control. In addition,
this also has an effect on prison officials since they are the ones that have to watch over these
prisoners and calm them down. This is not an easy job. Not only is the situation stressful but also
being confined to a small cell will make it worse. The already-taxed Bureau of Prisons network
swelled to 39 percent above capacity through last September, and is expected to surge to more
than 45 percent above its limit in 2018, says the Government Accountability Office report, titled

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"Growing Inmate Crowding Negatively Affects Inmates, Staff, and Infrastructure" (McLaughlin).
These numbers show us that prison crowding is only getting worse. Sometimes it gets really hard
for the prisoners, mentally, so they give up. For example, The suicide rate in these 29 prisons is
approaching an average of one per week (Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr). Too many
people and not enough prisons contribute to an unsafe and stressful environment.
Just because prisoners are in a prison doesnt mean that they are safe from health
problems. And of course it does not help that the United States prison population far exceeds
that of any other country in the world (OConnor). Since they exceed the population, then that
simply means that it is that much easier to get some sort of health problem. For example, In
1992, there were 18 cases of AIDS per 100,000 people in the United States. In prisons, the rate
was 362 cases per 100,000 inmates (Oliver 75). No one likes prisoners, but that doesnt mean
that they dont need anything to help them out. In a crowded prison, it is easier to get diseases.
After all, there are many ways in which diseases can be transmitted. They're so crowded that it's
endangering the lives of inmates and corrections officers, BOP Director Charles Samuels Jr.
recently testified. To manage this population, the bureau is putting two or three bunks in a cell,
and converting television rooms and open bays into sleeping quarters (Miles). With
overcrowding comes the use of space that was never intended to be used for certain things.
There are many types of criminals; some have short fuses, while others may be very
patient. Overcrowding heightens the chances of fights breaking out (Oliver 68). In prisons,
there will always be that main group that tries to run the show. As more and more people start
gathering, there could sometimes be some sort of conflict. In addition to the 1,671 incidents of
violence perpetrated in these 29 severely overcrowded prisons by inmates against CDCR staff
last year, and the 2,642 incidents of violence perpetrated in these prisons on inmates by other

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inmates in the last year, the suicide rate in these 29 prisons is approaching an average of one per
week (Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr). At the end of the day, no one really knows
how one is going to react and there can be many forms of violence in prisons. You have to be
ready for anything.
Some might say that prisoners shouldnt be treated so nicely; they deserve jail time after
committing illegal actions. After all, even after serving time, some end up back in jail for
repeating the same thing as before or something worse. 67 percent of inmates released from
state prisons in 1994 committed at least one serious new crime within three years (Butterfield).
Since times have moved along the United States has gotten better at this part and not as many
people relapse because there are groups that one can go for addictions and problems. Others
might wonder why we spend more money on prisons rather than other more pressing and
important subjects. What messages are we sending when we spend more money on educating
kids in prison than on our kids struggling on the outside? (Chavous). We are still educating the
kids, but how do we expect to get the kids, that are in prisons, back out into the world and make
sure that they dont relapse without helping them out a bit.
Overcrowding prisons should be stopped since it causes a stressful physical and mental
environment; it causes health problems, and increases the chances of fights breaking out.
Overcrowding causes much of a bigger issue than a solution, if any, is possible. The United
States of America needs to create federal guidelines for all US prisons if we want to help
everyone in an effective way.

Works Cited

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Chavous, Kevin P. "Why Are Prisons More of a Priority than Schools?" The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 June 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-p-chavous/why-are-prisons-more-ofa_b_1611956.html>.
Miles, Kathleen. "Just How Much The War On Drugs Impacts Our Overcrowded Prisons, In
One Chart." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 3 Apr. 2014. Web. 1 Nov.
2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/war-on-drugs-prisonsinfographic_n_4914884.html>.
McLaughlin, Michael. "Overcrowding In Federal Prisons Harms Inmates, Guards: GAO Report."
The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Sept. 2012. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/prison-overcrowdingreport_n_1883919.html>
O'Connor, Rachael. "Scholar Commons." Site. University of South Florida, 2014. Web. 01
Nov. 2015. <http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5086/>.
"Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr." Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. N.p., n.d.
Web. 18 Oct. 2015. <https://www.gov.ca.gov/news.php?id=4278>.
Oliver, Marilyn Tower. Prisons: Today's Debate. Springfield, NJ: Enslow, 1997. Print.
"Online Bachelor's Degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice." Online Criminal Justice
Degree from PSU RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
<http://online.ccj.pdx.edu/resources/news-articles/prison-overcrowding-is-a-growingconcern-in-the-u-s/>.