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Pros And Cons Of Prison Incarceration

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Introduction
Incarceration is a growing problem in the United States. Overall, the prison capacity has increased due to the frequency of custodial punishment, longer sentences, and high recidivism rates, which leaves approximately 60% of the prisons at maximum capacity (Ginn, 2012). This environment presents challenges for security as well as for prison healthcare practitioners. Since security is the major concern in these prison facilities, healthcare is a subsequent interest. However, if competent healthcare is not available to inmates, they don’t have the luxury to find another source to treat their health concerns. This executive summary includes information about the current healthcare concerns in prisons, prison expenditure on healthcare, …show more content…

On average, inmates have significantly higher rates of chronic diseases and illnesses such as hypertension, asthma, arthritis, cervical cancer, and hepatitis (Binswanger, Krueger, & Steiner, 2009). Furthermore, mental healthcare problems are consistently more prevalent in prison populations in comparison to the general public, and the strict prison subculture is extremely detrimental to individuals suffering from these diseases (Birmingham, 2003). Overall, prisoners receive a lower quality of mental health care even though the court mandates that the incarcerated receive adequate healthcare. Adequate healthcare is usually only reserved for those who have severe or serious mental or physical illnesses and injuries. Treatment is dependent on resource availability and demand. More than 50% of the prisoners who underwent pharmacotherapy for mental diseases prior to being incarcerated did not receive medication while in prison. The lack of treatment can have a severe consequences such as rehabilitation failure, recidivism, or even death (Reingle Gonzalez & Connell, …show more content…

Prisons provide a location where these people can learn and grow, while maintaining the safety of the general public. However, maintaining the same level of safety and care within prison facilities is essential to the reform process. Overall, the average amount of money that each state spends each year per prisoner is $33,274. In contrast, the state of Utah spends approximately $22,182 per prisoner. Furthermore, approximately 11% of the total money spent is dedicated towards healthcare needs. To serve as a point of comparison, 68% of prison expenditures provide for personnel salaries (Vera Institute of Justice, 2015). With the low amount of funding, healthcare has little effect on the overall prison

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