Why Jails and Prisons Are Not Deterrents To Criminals Research Paper

Why Jails and Prisons Are Not Deterrents To Criminals - Research Paper Example 1055). This occurs more often when low risk offenders are placed together with high-risk offenders. Being in prison cuts ties with family members, which has a negative impact on the inmates. As a result, of severed ties with family, deviant bonds are strengthened within the prison society, and the pressure to abide by law is dampened. Prisons offer dangerous conditions in which an inmate has to live. These are in the form of brutalization; where guards utilize violence against inmates, and inmates use violence against each other which makes prisons one of the most dangerous places on earth. Violence against inmates by guards has severe psychological consequences (Pritkin, 2009, p. 1057). From it, a prisoner loses all sense of being human and, as a result, affects their sense of self worth. Apart from this, violence by prison guards causes the prisoner to feel that they do not belong in the outside world and, therefore, lowers the prisoner’s willingness to abide by the set laws. In addition, prisons promote the need to protect oneself due to the violence perpetrated there. Due to this, inmates create gangs to protect themselves; which then proceed to the outside world. Due to their sense of not belonging, they continue their violent activities from prison in the external world. Crowding in prisons is a common occurrence that has beaten the entire concept of deterring crime by locking prisoners in prison. Overcrowding leads to inefficient sorting, classification and monitoring of inmates. From this, the inmate population is not managed effectively which leads to increased rates of criminal activities such as sexual violence and rapes among prisoners. Overcrowding in prisons, also, causes strain on the few available resources (Pritkin, 2009, p. 1058). This is because; the resources assigned to the entire inmate population are not enough due to the high numbers