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For your senior project, choose one of the following major criminal justice areas: lawenforcement, prisons/corrections, the courts, Homeland Security, private security, or
emergency management. This component will serve as the area for which your senior
project will be based.
Next, identify a challenge or area of improvement within your chosen area. (For
example, one may choose corrections as the topic area and violence in prisons as the
problem). Over the weeks of this course, you will progressively research, learn about,
write and present on a solution to the challenge or area of improvement from both a
tactical and administrative perspective. Receive approval from your professor on your
chosen topic. Additional project expectations are described in week 8.
Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you address the following:
1. Outline the context of the problem or challenge, including the history and any
policy decisions that have contributed to the situation.
2. Why is it important that the problem be addressed?
3. Who is impacted internally and externally?
4. Why do you feel the problem hasnt already been solved?
5. Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do
not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
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•
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This course requires use of Strayer Writing Standards (SWS). The format is
different than other Strayer University courses. Please take a moment to review
the SWS documentation for details.
Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the students name,
the professors name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the
reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
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•
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Explain how historical analysis informs the context of policy or situations.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in criminal justice.
Write clearly and concisely about criminal justice using proper writing mechanics.
Click here to view the assignment rubric.
Linda Cannon Jones
The High Prison Population in the United States
Thesis statement: However, the high prison populations are becoming a problem, and
therefore, it is important that stakeholders find a lasting solution that will not limit the justice
system from prescribing justice but enable it to work more efficiently while at the same time
lowering the prison populations.
I.
II.
Introduction
History and statistics
III.
Why is it important that the problem be addressed?
IV.
Who is impacted internally and externally?
V.
VI.
Why do you feel the problem hasn’t already been solved?
Conclusion
The High Prison Population in the United States
Linda Cannon Jones
CRJ 499: Undergraduate Capstone in Criminal Justice
Professor Doris Mitchell
April 19, 2019
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The High Prison Population in the United States
The justice system aims to uphold the rule of justice and ensure that people are
rehabilitated and deter crime. Therefore, the high population of the American prison system may
be an indicator of the efficiency of the justice system and the effectiveness of the prosecutors to
prosecute cases (David, 4). However, the high prison populations are becoming a problem, and
therefore, it is important that stakeholders find a lasting solution that will not limit the justice
system from prescribing justice but enable it to work more efficiently while at the same time
lowering the prison populations.
The problem of the high prison populations has not started recently. The problem began
in the 20th century with the introduction on the tough on crime policies that gave maximum
sentences to people who participated in some kinds of crime such as drug trafficking among
others (Drew, 1). According to the National Academic Press, by 2007, the United States had
more than four times the prison population it had in 1972. The country that has about 5% of the
population of the world also had 25% of the total world prison population (The National
Academies Press, 2). By 2012, the prison population had grown to 2.2 million inmates in the
country alone. The high prison populations started becoming a problem in the 1970s due to the
changes in the social and political atmosphere in the United States. In the 1970s, the rates of
crime became very high. For instance, between 1996 and 1972, the annual murder incidents had
increased from 8,530 to 18,670 (The National Academies Press, 2). The high murder rates were
just an indicator of the high rates of insecurity and the need for a policy change that led to the
tough on crime rules and therefore the current high rates of incarceration.
There are several reasons why the high prison population is an issue that has to be
addressed more keenly. First, the high inmate populations lead to high expenditures on the
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prisons. The public has to spend lots of money to feed and house the prisoners. According to
CNN, the country spends about 80 billion dollars on corrects as compared to the 68 billion
dollars that go to education. Second, the high prison population represents the racial disparities
that still exist in the justice system. For instance, even though only 12% of Americans are black,
the backs represent about 33 percent of the prison population as compared to the whites who
represent about 30% of the population even though they make up 64% of the American
population (Drew, 1). The large populations also show that the system is not effective as the high
rates of recidivism partly cause it.
The issue of the high prison population affects all Americans in a way or another. For
instance, the tax-payers are the ones who fund the huge percentage of the budget that goes to
maintaining the high population. For instance, Americans fund the prison system using money
that would have been used in other important areas like education and health. The high
populations also burden the prison system (Drew, 1). It is hard for the employees to maintain
order and rehabilitate people in such high populations. Therefore, the value of the money used in
the prison system is very low (National Institute of Justice, 3). Also, the prisoners gain minimal
benefits in the prison system as their high population does not allow wardens to attend to them as
they would have done if they were fewer. The excessive burden that the wardens have led to the
inmates finishing their terms without having changed their behaviors and therefore leading to the
high rates of recidivism. According to data from the National Institute of Justice, about 67.8% of
the people who are convicted are rearrested within your years of their release (National Institute
of Justice, 3). The rate is so high, and therefore, it is clear that despite the high expenditure, the
inmates and the public do not get optimal benefits from the prison system.
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The high rates of incarceration and the high prison population are proof enough that the
problem of the high prison population has not been solved. The United States still has almost a
quarter of all prisoners in the world even though there are higher rates of crime in other
countries. Therefore, it is important that a solution is found.
In conclusion, the high prison population in the United States of America is a serious
problem. The public spends lots of money on the system, and yet the results are minimal. The
system has failed in deterring crime, and therefore, it is clear that it is not working and changes
are needed.
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References
1. Drew Kann. 2018. Five facts behind America’s high incarceration rate.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/28/us/mass-incarceration-five-key-facts/index.html
2. The National Academies Press. 2014. The Growth of Incarceration in the United States:
Exploring Causes and Consequences (2014). https://www.nap.edu/read/18613/chapter/15
3. National Institute of Justice. Recidivism.
https://www.nij.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism/pages/welcome.aspx
4. David Skarbeck. 2014. The social order of the underworld: How prison gangs govern the
American penal system.
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