Prison Overcrowding Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Prison Overcrowding - Research Paper Example Generally, prison overcrowding is not a modern phenomenon because internal insurgencies and wars result in prison overcrowding. But in the modern context, several factors (say, apart from internal insurgencies and wars) force prisons to face the problem of overcrowding. Some people consider that prison overcrowding is deeply rooted in the functioning of the criminal justice system. But some others consider that prison overcrowding reflects the change in governance within the context of the Criminal Justice System. Still, one can see the modern concept of prison privatization curbs the development of the prison system because the government is no longer the protector of the prison system in general. Thesis statement: The research on prison overcrowding proves that the factors like privatization, less capacity of prisons, increase in crime rate, increase in incarceration, ineffective Criminal Justice System, and ineffective planning result in prison overcrowding. First of all, private prisons are entirely different from government prisons because the former is based upon contractual agreements with different government agencies and the latter is under the direct control of the government. This basic difference is exploited by the private prisons because profit (say, based upon the funding from the government) is the ultimate aim. In the beginning, private agencies were allowed to undertake some services related to the prison system like transportation and serving food. During the era of disinvestment, private prisons became popular in the US and UK. Gradually, other developed nations followed this path and private prisons began to flourish in different nations.