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Prison Life in the 21st Century

At the end of 2008, there were some 7.3 million men and women under correctional supervision in the United States of which 70 percent (5.1 million) were supervised in the community via probation or parole and 30 percent (2.2 million) who were in prisons or jails (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2009). The correctional population increased by 0.5 percent during 2008 and while this was the smallest increase in prison and jail population since 2000, prison life in the United States has changed dramatically in recent decades. One of the major changes is that prisons are still overpopulated and have in many instances become the locus of gang activities which make these compounds dangerous enclaves in which the potential for violence is omnipresent (Vuolo & Kruttschnitt, 2008). Developing policies to address these issues as well as inmate needs is therefore an imperative.

Before considering specific changes in prison life, necessary policies at the state and federal level, and inmate needs, some discussion of criminological theory is needed. As noted by Lilly, Cullen, and Ball (2007), efforts to identify the reasons why a person becomes a criminal have been ongoing for centuries. Theories ranging from biological and genetic predispositions to social disadvantages, social strain and anomie, labeling, and conflict theory have all been offered. In essence, the most satisfying explanations of why individuals adopt deviant or criminal lifestyles are individualized reflecting the specific circumstances of the individual and his or her treatment by society, personal characteristics, community and family support systems, and capacity for achieving personal goals and objectives (Lilly, et al, 2007).

Prison life has changed in recent years in several ways. Vuolo and Kruttschnitt (2008) stated that during the twentieth century, inmate populations expanded, new prisons including high security facilities and private prisons were built ...

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Prison Life in the 21st Century. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 15:42, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/2001254.html