Evaluating US Correctional Facilities: Need for New Prisons? - Essay Sample

Introduction

The study aims at evaluating the current state of the correctional facilities in the United States to determine whether there is a need for new prisons. Hypothetically, there has been an increase in crime rates over the past two decades. However, the number of prisons have remained the same during this period. Nevertheless, many prisons in the United States have been operational for many years with minimum renovations. Thus, there is a need for research on the state of correctional facilities in the United States. The study is essential for the development and improvement of the jails and prisons in the country.

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Peer-Reviewed Articles on the Topic

There is a lot of literature and educational materials covering the topic of prisons in the United States. A large number of articles are large research projects including the subject at a broader angle. Most of the information is in the raw data form, making it tedious to get precise information from such materials. However, the following are the three peer-reviewed journals selected for the research proposal topic.

• The Prison Journal
• A Review of the Impact of the Correctional System on Community Health
• Research on American Prisons

The Prison Journal

The Prison Journal uses APA citation. The journal investigates the current status of correctional facilities in the United States (Hagen, & Cochran, 2019). The prison journal achieves this objective by making a comparison between the public and private correctional facilities. It also analyses the quality of service delivery in these two categories of prisons. The journal uses the following research questions to achieve its objective:

• How does the quality of services for the inmates and cost-effectiveness to the government compare in private and public prisons?
• What is our knowledge about public and private prisons?
• Where do we go after private prisons?

The prison journal uses 42 private correctional facilities that were available in Texas in 2001 as a sample for the study. The journal takes an exploration design in analyzing and presenting the findings of the research. The journal explores the routines in the private prisons selected in Texas for the study. Observation, interviews, and surveys were the primary methods of data collection used during the research (Hagen, & Cochran, 2019). Therefore, the prison journal bases most of its findings on the interviews conducted by various inmates, as well as observing the lives of the prisoners in the selected private correctional facilities.

The research established that the information on the cost-effectiveness of the private correctional facilities is unreliable due to the lack of a standard procedure in data collection within the facilities. Therefore, the research recommends a centralized database in both the private and public correctional facilities that would contain the most accurate and reliable data. Therefore, there is a dire need for a database that has updated and trustworthy information for both public and private prisons accessible to policymakers.

A Review of the Impact of the Correctional System on Community Health

The article uses APA citation. The primary purpose of the research is to study, analyze, and evaluate the impact of prisons on the lives of people within the community. The research also aims at establishing the impact of prisons on the inmates (Freudenberg, & Heller, 2016). The analysis uses the following questions as a foundation for the study:

• How do jails and prisons influence the health of urban communities?
• What are the health conditions of the incarcerated population?
• What are the objectives and roles of correctional facilities to the urban population?

The research focuses on the New York City population for the study of the impact of the prisons on the urban population. The research takes an exploratory approach in addressing the conditions of the prisons, as well as the roles of the jails to the prisoners and the community at large. The research primarily explores various existing literature content for the study. The research also examines observations of multiple researchers who have researched this topic in several prisons. Thus, the primary methods of data collection are surveys, interviews, and mining from existing literature. The research takes advantage of a large number of available survey results for the study.

The research revealed that the correctional facilities impact not only the lives of the inmates, but also people close to the inmates. According to the study, correctional facilities have a significant impact on urban communities. The most affected are low-income and minority neighborhoods (Freudenberg & Heller, 2016). As a result, incarceration leads to a disruption of family life. Nevertheless, the research established that prisons are essential for the safety of people in the urban neighborhood. Prisons positively influence the lives of the urban population through crime reduction and incapacitation of the criminals.

Research on American Prisons

The research on American prisons employs the APA citation style. The study focuses on the current issues on the correctional facilities in the United States, such as privatization of prisons, the impact of privatization of the prisons, the implication of state budgets of the privatization of the prisons in the United States (Gaes, 2012). Therefore, the researchers examine the current state of the prisons in the United States to determine if the privatization of the prisons is the right course of action both for the inmates and for the country. The following research questions were essential for research on American prisons.

• What are the expected results of the denationalization of prisons?
• What are the impacts of state budgets and policy actions on prisons in the United States?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of prison privatization in the United States?

The research is both an evaluation and explanation research. It takes an evaluative approach to examine the current states of the privatization of prisons in the United States. The research also takes an analytical approach by explaining the various aspects of the privatization of prisons in the United States. The research mines data from the previous studies and works of different scholars.

The research reveals that even though there are some disadvantages of privatization of prisons in the United States, there is no significant difference between public and private prisons. According to the research, the states that actively employed private correction facilities experienced a reduction in their expenditures on federal prisons (Gaes, 2012). Thus, the study recommends for increased use of private prisons to support the already existing federal prisons and ease congestion in the various jails across the United States.

The New Prisons in the United States

The New Prisons in the United States is the topic for the proposed research. The three articles offer ample information essential for the study. The research aims at establishing the current state of the prisons in the United States and determine whether the construction of new prisons is necessary.

Research Question

• Is it necessary to build more prisons in the USA?

Research Methodology

A Review of Alcohol drinking pattern and risk of alcoholic liver cirrhosis: a prospective cohort study.

The article adopts APA citations and aims at gathering data on the effects and risks alcohol has on the liver. The article's authors used a prospective cohort study to collect data. The study illustrates how individuals who consume too much alcohol are at risk of contracting liver cirrhosis, among other lifestyle diseases. To acquire an accurate conclusion on how alcohol leads to liver cirrhosis, the researchers asked questions about individuals drinking patterns. The rationale for asking this question is to determine the link between alcohol drinking patterns and liver cirrhosis, which has been missing in most research papers.

The research used a sample size of 354-204 patients'.Both men and women above 16 years made up the research sample size. The cohort research design implemented questionnaires and observations to gather data. Questionnaires were administered to the sample population to obtain the baseline information regarding drinking patterns and alcohol consumption rates. After questioners were conducted and filled, follow up data was gained by observing national registers.

Hazard ratios were used to obtain research results. The rates used measured alcoholic cirrhosis with alcohol type, drinking frequency, and amount of alcohol taken throughout an individual's lifetime. After the research was conducted, the HR ration in daily alcohol drinkers was higher than in individuals who consume alcohol 3-4 times a week. The researchers concluded that men who drink alcohol daily at a high-risk level of getting liver cirrhosis. The research also found that drinking wine had a lesser risk level of contracting liver cirrhosis compared to drinking beer and liquor.

Proposed Benefits of the Research

Correctional facilities are an essential component of peaceful existence in a community. They are not only used to punish offenders but are useful in the rehabilitation process of the inmates before their integration back to the community. Correction facilities help in fighting crime, drug abuse, violence, and other forms of malpractices. Thus, jails and prisons form a crucial part of human survival. Researching on prisons and jails helps in getting critical information that can help to improve the living conditions of the inmates. The research offers a basis for the evaluation of the requirements of the prisons in the United States. Nevertheless, the study provides essential information for the development of prisons in the United States.

The primary objective of the correction facilities is rehabilitation besides incapacitation and punishment. For a correction facility to better serve its purpose, there is a need to regulate the number of prisoners in any correctional facility. An imbalance between the number of inmates and the resources within the correctional facilities can have far-reaching effects. Nevertheless, there has been an increasing number of crimes within the United States. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important to access the current situation in prisons and determine whether there is a need to construct new jails in the United States. Thus, the research is crucial in obtaining reliable information about the conditions of the prisons in the United States to determine whether new prisons are necessary.

References

Freudenberg, N., & Heller, D. (2016). A review of opportunities to improve the health of people involved in the criminal justice system in the United States. Annual report of public health, 37, 313-333.

Gaes, G. G. (2012). The current status of prison privatization research on American prisons. Unpublished manuscript, College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL. ExpressO. Available at: http://works. Bepress. com/gerald_gaes/1.

Hagen, C., & Cochran, J. (2019). The Prison Research Gender Gap. Undergraduate Scholarly Showcase Program (Spring 2019).