The Overlooked Issue
The inefficiency of the prison system in Nebraska, and all over the United States, has been overlooked for far too long. People are blind to the issues that are being caused by overpopulation and understaffing within these facilities. These horrific conditions are a likely cause of the rehabilitation that has been consistently lacking across the United States. These issues and their link to an individual’s likelihood of having a criminal relapse, will be explored within this paper. This paper will explore the proven effective ways to lower the recidivism rate. These proven ways will contradict the current setup of how the United States operates this system. Additionally, the basic terms and current tactics of the prison system will first be discussed. This will help establish the issues in a clear format before going into the tactics that will be used for progress. The first of these proven tactics that will be looked into is the need for an addiction treatment resource. The next item on the agenda to be analyzed is a broad version of education and skill building within the cell. The conclusion of this paper will be reached after seeing a clear need for change in this system as it relates to the United States.
The Overlooked Issue
How often does the average person think about the prison system in their state? People are unlikely to acknowledge issues that do not affect their day to day lives. The inefficiency of the prison system does not tend to make the front page of the news. Therefore, this is a serious issue that goes unnoticed. However, this is an issue that is causing a widespread outbreak of additional issues in states like Nebraska.
The System
When looking into the usage of a prison system, many people can reach a consensus. This consensus is seen as the end goal. The end goal is always to reduce crime. This should be occurring by getting criminals off the street, and hopefully rehabilitating them to the point that they are no longer a societal threat. Unfortunately, in a majority of prisons this is not the case.
Recidivism is a basic concept in criminal justice. Recidivism is defined by the National Institute of Justice as “referring to a person’s relapse into criminal behavior, often after the person receives sanctions or undergoes intervention for a previous crime” (NIJ 1). This will often be referred to in the statistics of individual prisons. This will be presented as the recidivism rate of a certain prison facility or state.
There is a long list of problems in relation to Nebraska’s prison system. These problems, whether noticed or not, do affect the communities in which the prisons reside. The current prison system is not efficient, sustainable, or effective. What does this mean for the communities that fill them and surround them? This means that safety is thrown out the window. This means that rehabilitation is thrown out the window. This means that money is being thrown out the window. This makes the prison system, essentially, useless. This system now creates repeat offenders. This system is no longer serving the purpose it was built to serve.
So where exactly does the problem start? It begins with the overpopulation, racial misrepresentation, and lack of rehabilitating aspects. Here in Nebraska, there are not nearly enough employees to handle the growing prison population. Overcrowding has led to a severe lack of resources for inmates to rely on. Recidivism refers to the tendency of a previous inmate to recommit a crime. The likelihood of this is shown in percentages. These percentages have reached alarming rates across the United States. This in itself is proof that the current system in place is not working. The goal of this system should be to lower this percentage. That should be a priority. However, this is not the case when the only worry is the population crisis. In the United States hundreds of thousands of people are released from prison each year. Of that large group, every two out of three people will land back in jail. This number should horrify people enough to take action.
Local media outlets have begun taking notice writing titles such as “A Crisis With Consequences: Nebraska’s Overcrowded, Understaffed Prisons Turn Costly for Taxpayers, Unsafe for Prisoners and Guards”(Alamdari 1). Within this article, the overuse of tax dollars is discussed. This overuse is being used to make up for the lack of a functional system. “The prison population has been over capacity since 1982, according to department data. By September 2021, the average number of prisoners reached 149.8% of the system’s design capacity. It’s projected to continue growing” (Alamdari 1). How horrific will the numbers need to get before change occurs? Next, let’s take a look into aspects that need the most immediate change within this current system. The changes discussed in the following paragraphs will offer the most drastic impact on recidivism. This is an aspect that desperately needs to be focused on.
The Treatment Resources
There are many solutions that could be offered to this complex issue. However, there are a few changes that should be the starting point. Statistically, 85% of prisoners have an active addiction or were incarcerated for a crime related to substance abuse. Thinking logically, the best way to treat an addiction is not known to be punishment. Instead, a known solution is substance abuse rehab with trained professionals. Inmates do not currently receive this treatment, which could be contributing to their relapse into substances and crime. These specific individuals do not need punishment, they need treatment.
It becomes increasingly difficult to recover from a substance abuse issue when your temptations follow into prison. Many people would not view substance abuse treatment as a necessity in prison. This is due to the assumption that individuals will stop cold turkey once they have been placed in a penitentiary. This could not be farther from the truth. Drugs are smuggled into prisons all over the country every single day. This means that the addictions of inmates could continue to worsen throughout their sentence. Drugs finding their way into prisons seems far-fetched when you never hear about it happening in your area. Luckily, the Lincoln Journal-Star has reported on issues in Nebraska specifically. In this article, former employees with first hand experience speak out about the things they have witnessed while being employed at a Lincoln prison. The article title, “There are so many drugs: Workers talk about the dangers at Lincoln prison”, says a lot about the issue at hand. These employees go on in the article to describe the horrific way the prison has been running. Additionally, they go on to speak about the frequency at which they are finding drugs within the prison. All employees can agree that these findings happen on a daily basis (Young 2). While the solutions offered in this article are limited, the input offered is invaluable. While this article’s main focus was the additions aspect of prisons, other articles offer up some other aspects where inefficiencies are common.
Education
Outside of substance abuse related issues, many individuals would benefit from more in depth skill building programs that will assist them in life after prison. This would then, hopefully, contribute to lowering the recidivism rate. This in depth skill building would likely resemble the education system in the United States. Additionally, there could be components of trade schools implemented in prisons. This would ensure that the skills are not purely academic, but also functional. Having these very inclusive programs would be a huge step in the right direction. This would not only improve prisons life, but society as a whole. Prisons would finally have an output of inmates that can fill jobs matching the skill set they acquired during their sentence. This will then contribute to the number of routes that become available to these new free members of society. From here the feeling that ex-inmates have of thinking they have no choice but to return to their former lifestyles, will vanish. This is where real progress will be made. However, not everyone will agree with this stance.
There are two very common arguments made against my argument for in depth skill building. The first argument presents itself as in depth skill building being overkill. Some people think that because some programs are already made available to inmates, that should be enough. However, these programs do not allow for a strong resume to be built. Without a decent resume, these inmates will never break the criminal cycle they have become trapped in. In turn, they will end up right back where they started. The second argument is usually financially based. That argument is “why should taxpayers be providing this?”. The answer to this question is simple. That is because tax dollars are already being used to keep these individuals in a cycle of prison stays. Why not allocate the money to a source that will eventually lower the recidivism rate.
There are many individuals with a lot to say about the use of higher education in prisons. Several of these people are addressed in the University Business’ article. “ ‘Colleges and universities cannot fully commit to inclusion and diversity without offering quality prison education programs, says Ann Jacobs, executive director of the Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City’” (Zalaznick 1). Ann Jacobs goes on in this article to explain exactly why the lack of equal opportunity in prisons is upsetting to her. She justifies this statement by referring to the temperament and life stage of prisoners. Prisoners have clearly had some trouble in their past. However, Jacobs believes that they are in a spot where they can analyze their wrongdoings, and devote the time needed to improve their lives with the help of education. “Jacobs sees individuals in prison as a highly receptive audience. They have sufficient time to do the coursework, and are often reflecting on the paths their lives have taken as well as thinking about the future” (Zalaznick 2). This is a realistic and valid argument that can be made on behalf of inmates. The last point that needs to be highlighted in this article is somewhat of a test trial. A college offering higher education has reported that zero percent of those who completed the program have been back in prison. The college, of course, attributed this to the options that higher education gave these individuals. This information and informal report goes to show the impact that education can have on these individuals.
The issues present in the prison system may not be completely solved by implementing these changes, but it is very likely that the results would be an improvement. The numbers are continuing to get worse year by year. If no changes are made the safety of employees and inmates will be at a greater risk than ever. Additionally, tax payers will be put in a rough situation. In conclusion, drastic changes to inmate resource programs within prisons is the key to stopping this horrific pattern.
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