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U.S. Imprisons More People Than Any Other
Nation
Providing Treatment Vital to Decreasing
Recidivism
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U.S. Imprisons More People Than Any Other
Nation
At the end of last year, the U.S. had 2.2 million people in jail, more than any other nation. One in every 32 American adults was in jail, on probation or on parole.
A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail.
According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King's College in London, more people are behind bars in the United States than in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000.
The U.S. incarceration rate of 737 per 100,000 people in the highest, followed by 611 in Russia and 547 for St. Kitts and Nevis. In contrast, the incarceration rates in many Western industrial nations range around 100 per 100,000 people.
Groups advocating reform of U.S. sentencing laws seized on the latest U.S. prison population figures showing admissions of inmates have been rising even faster than the numbers of prisoners who have been released.
"The United States has 5 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of the world's incarcerated population. We rank first in the world in locking up our fellow citizens," said Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance, which supports alternatives in the war on drugs.
"We now imprison more people for drug law violations than all of western Europe, with a much larger population, incarcerates for all offenses."
Ryan King, a policy analyst at The Sentencing Project, a group advocating sentencing reform, said the United States has a more punitive criminal justice system than other countries.
"We send more people to prison, for more different offenses, for longer periods of time than anybody else," he said.
Drug offenders account for about 2 million of the 7 million in prison, on probation or parole, King said, adding that other countries often stress treatment instead of incarceration.
Commenting on what the prison figures show about U.S. society, King said various social programs, including those dealing with education, poverty, urban development, health care and child care, have failed.
"There are a number of social programs we have failed to deliver. There are systemic failures going on," he said. "A lot of these people then end up in the criminal justice system."
Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in California, said the high prison numbers represented a proper response to the crime problem in the United States. Locking up more criminals has contributed to lower crime rates, he said.
"The hand-wringing over the incarceration rate is missing the mark," he said.
Scheidegger said the high prison population reflected cultural differences, with the United States having far higher crimes rates than European nations or Japan. "We have more crime. More crime gets you more prisoners."
Julie Stewart, president of the group Families Against Mandatory Minimums, cited the Justice Department report and said drug offenders are clogging the U.S. justice system.
"Why are so many people in prison? Blame mandatory sentencing laws
and the record number of nonviolent drug offenders subject to them,"
she said.
Source: articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/us-imprisons-more-people-than-any-other/20061209111509990004?ncid=NWS00010000000001
Providing
Treatment Vital to Decreasing Recidivism
Newswise reported March 13 that a researcher who spoke with 20 released prisoners who reoffended and were jailed again found that all of the interviewees said they had relapsed on alcohol or other drugs, and 15 blamed drugs for landing them back behind bars. The prisoners also identified drugs as the most significant barrier they faced to successful reintegration into society.
"Treatment for substance abuse is vital to reduce the recidivism rate," said study leader Lindsay A. Phillips of Albright College in Reading, Pa.
All of the prisoners were enrolled in prison treatment programs and said the programs were helpful, but said they felt disconnected from post-release treatment services. Two of the prisoners relapsed within hours of being released from prison, Phillips found, nine relapsed before ever looking for a job, and four blamed frustration over their lack of job prospects for their relapse.
"This research clearly supports aftercare and the need for increased coordination between treatment and criminal justice systems, because there was a sense of disconnection from other people and the community that emerged as a theme for participants," said Phillips.
"If reentry programs focus solely on case management and job
attainment they will miss the vital role of substance abuse treatment
and referral. This research not only identifies substance abuse
treatment as imperative to successful reentry, but actually places
the priority of this treatment above other commonly used strategies
within the criminal-justice system."
Source: www.jointogether.org/news/research/summaries/2008/providing-treatment.html
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