Managing a prison comes with many unique challenges. Those in charge of running correctional facilities must balance security, order, rehabilitation, and budgetary constraints. One of the biggest issues facing prison managers is managing growing inmate populations with limited resources.
Prison populations have increased dramatically in many countries over the past few decades. In the United States, for example, the number of people incarcerated in state and federal prisons has quadrupled since 1980, reaching over 1.5 million in 2019. Other countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand have also seen prisoner numbers surge.
This swelling of inmate populations has put significant strain on prison systems. Facilities built decades ago are now overcrowded and understaffed. Funding has not kept pace with the increased costs associated with housing, feeding, and providing services to more prisoners. As a result, prison managers must make difficult tradeoffs regarding how to allocate limited funds and maintain basic levels of security and rehabilitation programs.
Causes of Increasing Prison Populations
There are several interrelated factors driving growth in the number of incarcerated individuals:
Changes in Sentencing Laws
One of the biggest contributors to high incarceration rates has been a shift towards more punitive sentencing policies over the past 40 years. Policies like mandatory minimums, truth-in-sentencing, and “three strikes” laws have forced judges to impose longer prison terms for many offenses. The War on Drugs has also resulted in more frequent and lengthy sentences for drug-related convictions. Harsher sentencing guidelines have caused prisoner populations to balloon.
Increased Prosecution of Nonviolent Crimes
A greater emphasis on prosecuting and incarcerating nonviolent offenders, particularly for drug and property crimes, has also expanded the prison population. These types of offenders now make up over 50% of inmates in state prisons. Many critics argue that less serious crimes do not warrant imprisonment and that alternative punishments would be more cost effective and still serve justice. However, political pressure to appear “tough on crime” has driven prosecution and imprisonment rates upward.
Reduced Parole and Early Releases
At the same time that more individuals are being sent to prison, fewer are being released early. Parole boards have become more cautious and restrictive when considering inmates for discretionary release. Between 1990 and 2000, the percentage of state prisoners being paroled declined from 65% to 24%, keeping thousands more incarcerated every year. Prison managers now have less ability to control populations through early release programs.
Probation and Parole Violations
Sending probation and parole violators back to prison for technical violations is another contributor to overcrowding. About 15% of state prison admissions each year are offenders who committed administrative infractions like missing appointments or failing drug tests. While returning violators helps authorities maintain supervision, it also bloats prison populations.
Recidivism Rates
The recidivism rate, or the tendency of former inmates to reoffend and return to prison, is high in most countries. Within 3 years of release, 2 out of 3 former prisoners are rearrested in the U.S. High rates of reimprisonment for new crimes and parole violations keep prisons perpetually crowded. Failure to successfully rehabilitate and reintegrate prisoners causes the revolving door effect.
Consequences of Prison Overcrowding
Managing overpopulated prisons has grave consequences for administrators, inmates, and society at large. Some of the major issues created by overcrowding include:
Increased Violence and Disruption
Cramming more and more inmates into facilities strains resources and raises tensions. Prisoners become frustrated, hostile, and agitated when forced to live in close quarters without adequate space or privacy. The potential for riots, attacks, gang activity, and self-harm increases. Guards have difficulty maintaining order and safety for prisoners and staff. Violence levels are significantly higher in crowded prisons.
Declining Health and Wellbeing of Inmates
With overburdened healthcare systems in prisons, inmates struggle to access medical, dental, and mental health treatment. Communicable diseases spread more rapidly with poor sanitation in packed prisons. The risk of assault goes up when vulnerable inmates can’t be protected. Depression, anxiety, and suicide are more prevalent without counseling services. Inhumane conditions erode mental health.
Reduced Rehabilitation Opportunities
Rehabilitative programming like education, job training, counseling, and addiction treatment help reduce recidivism. But these services are often the first to be cut or crowded out when space and staffing become inadequate due to overpopulation. Lack of constructive activities leads to idleness and misconduct among prisoners. Overcrowding works against rehabilitation goals.
Increased Costs and Staffing Shortages
Housing excess prisoners drives up correctional budgets, creating a strain on government funding. But housing costs aren’t the only escalating expense. More inmates mean higher medical, food service, programming, and personnel expenses. Governments struggle to provide sufficient staff and resources to maintain basic operations, let alone quality rehabilitation programs.
Legal Obligations and Lawsuits
In some jurisdictions, overcrowded prisons have been declared unconstitutional and illegal. Courts have ordered the release of prisoners or imposed population caps until conditions improve. In the U.S., the Supreme Court has affirmed that allowing unsafe, inhumane conditions to persist violates prisoners’ Eighth Amendment rights. Crowding often leads to lawsuits from inmates and court interventions.
Strategies for Prison Population Management
With limited ability to increase budgets and construct new facilities, prison managers have difficult choices for addressing overcrowding:
Increasing Design Capacity
Building new prisons and expanding existing facilities provides more beds and space for programs. But construction takes years, and new buildings require hiring additional staff long-term. Due to high costs, most governments are reluctant or unable to adequately increase capacity. Building alone won’t solve overcrowding.
Double Bunking
One quick fix is to house two inmates per cell rather than one. Double bunking doubles the capacity of a facility without adding new infrastructure. However, it also decreases available services and space for each prisoner. Each added inmate strains resources further. Triple bunking or converting common areas into makeshift dorms are also possibilities. But higher densities worsen deprivations and volatility.
Contracting With Private Prisons
Private for-profit prison companies can provide bed space more quickly and on shorter contracts than public facilities. However, the private model based on cutting costs doesn’t necessarily provide decent conditions for inmates. Perverse incentives to maximize occupancy and limit expenses can lead to negligence and abuse. Yet desperation for space often leads public officials to rely on privatized incarceration.
Alternative Housing Arrangements
Lower-risk minimum security prisoners can be transferred to restrictive community housing like halfway houses, work release, or house arrest with GPS monitoring. This eases populations and transition for those nearing release. But these programs still require funding and community acceptance. Most sentences mandate imprisonment, limiting who qualifies for alternatives.
Reforming Sentencing Laws
Reducing average sentence lengths through legislative reforms would have the greatest impact on overcrowding by lowering inmate populations. Options include repealing mandatory minimums, expanding parole eligibility, and instituting capped sentences. But these changes require challenging policy shifts, given public opinions on sentencing.
Early Release Policies
Making older or sick prisoners eligible for early medical parole can relieve overcrowding. Compassionate release for the terminally ill is another possibility. Good behavior credits can incrementally reduce sentences for those following prison rules. However, releasing inmates before their sentences end is unpopular and difficult to enact.
Decriminalizing Minor Offenses
Eliminating incarceration for certain misdemeanors and strictly regulating minimum sentences for drug possession or nonviolent thefts could also reduce populations. Focusing prison space on dangerous and incorrigible criminals should be the goal. But again, lawmakers and the public tend to resist reductions in criminal penalties.
Conclusion
Managing correctional populations is one of the toughest challenges facing prison administrators today. With limited staff, budgets, and facilities, they are tasked with running safe, orderly institutions. But soaring prisoner populations driven by inflexible sentencing policies are making this nearly impossible. Severe overcrowding leads to violence, poor conditions, and inadequate services within prisons. It also drives up taxpayer costs without meaningfully improving public safety or rehabilitation. While politically difficult, legislative reforms offer the best hope for reversing overcrowding and creating a more sustainable and humane prison system. Prison managers require more discretion and options to control populations effectively. Without reducing the flow of prisoners into the system, dangerous overcrowding in prisons will persist.