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Penal System Research Paper

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Penal System Research Paper
America’s Penal System: Help or Punish?
“Jails and prisons are designed to break human beings, to convert the population into specimens in a zoo - obedient to our keepers, but dangerous to each other” (Davis). The penal system was first put in place to lock away criminals and protect the community. Now it has become a space with a constant flow of visitors. Inmates are falling into the depths of their minds as they stay isolated within cells with little treatment. Their mental health becomes estranged and detached. When prisoners are released many do not see a potential future and return to their habits. They fall into a continuous cycle of release and recidivate. Increasing rates of recidivism in the American prison system is illustrative …show more content…
America continues to lack a genuine attempt at repairing the penal system. In fact, prisons have become extremely overcrowded, hugely impacting inmates’ health. As a result, diseases are easily passed within the limited and unhygienic six by eight foot cubes, leading to recurring cases of HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis C, and Tuberculosis (Restum 1689). Doctor Liza Solomon discovered “testing of HIV is not done in 19% of jails and 35% of prisons” (435). In addition, isolation has detrimental effects on the inmates’ mental health. There are increases in suicidal tendencies, rage, paranoia, and hallucinations. The lack of social interaction makes it difficult to adjust and behave normally. Irwin, member of the National Academy of Sciences, states “prison life is completely routinized and restricted, over time prisoners steadily lose their capacity to exert power and control their destiny” (qtd. in Travis et al. 177). This complete loss of control causes many inmates to have bursts of …show more content…
The incarcerated population has a substantial amount of health issues, especially the elderly. They cause the least conflict, yet they are the fastest growing group in the whole system, increasing by 25% since 2009 (“Impact of Aging”). According to Viola Riggin, executive director of Health Care Services for the University of Kansas, there will be “record numbers of graying inmates struggling with typical aging maladies, such as impaired vision, mobility issues, heart disease, asthma, dementia, diabetes and organ failure” (17). In addition sexual assault is a silenced and private issue in prisons. The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Statistics
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