Prison Life Assignment 2022

Running Head: PRISON LIFE
PRISON LIFE
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Institution
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PRISON LIFE 2
Introduction
There are an increasing number of prisoners who are mentally ill or suffering from
substance abuse in the federal prisons. There are prisoners who suffer from injuries, mentally ill,
juvenile offender or older inmates are all considered as special offenders when they enter the
correctional facilities (Crewe, Warr, Bennett, & Smith, 2014). The inmates require a close
supervision and monitored care, special treatment plans which at times may be outside the
administration or which the prison cannot provide. In most case, the prisoners suffer from
various illnesses including HIV/AIDS, Diabetes, and post-traumatic stress disorder and chest
complications among others (Western, Braga, Davis, & Sirois, 2015).
The primary reason why these offenders are incarcerated in longer durations is that they
do not keenly follow the rules in the jails system. In the prisons, the jail inmates who are
mentally ill or substance abusers are more likely to be charged with facility rule defilements
(Drake & Harvey, 2014). The prisoners who have these challenges also face longer
imprisonments than any other prisoners in most states since they require a competency of
restoration to qualify for a trial. Research in 2015 showed that 80% of the 50 retorting states
were waiting list inmates for the sanatorium services (Western, 2018).
As a result of the incapability of these prisoners, there is an increased form of behavioral
management problems. The latter has been a backing factor to their over-representation in courts
(Colantonio, Kim , Allen, & Asbridge, 2014). Failure to attend the matters affecting the prisoners
who are disabled, mentally ill, or drug and substance abusers will lead to increased deaths in
correctional facilities (Colantonio, Kim , Allen, & Asbridge, 2014). Research shows that 50% of
all inmate suicides are committed by people who are mentally challenged, drug abusers, or
people who are physically challenged.

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Adaptation to prison life is at all times problematic, and in most cases, it causes
psychological and physical effects. Most prisons are treacherous dwellings whereby there is no
exit or seepage (Morris & Worrall, 2014). The prisoners, therefore, study to be hyper-vigilant,
and they ever alert for signs of individual risk. There are interpersonal suspicion and distrust
since there are people in the immediate milieu who are poised to this weakness. Research shows
that fear has been labeled as primary in shaping the lifestyles of most prisoners. The latter has led
to 40% of the prisoners to avoid risky areas in the custodial grounds (Celinska & Sung, 2014).
Research also shows that detainees with mental illness are overrepresented in the courts. The
prisoners that have special needs affect the federal laws in different perspectives. The prisoners
require special care and also have special needs. The latter requires the states to incur an
additional burden of providing the prisoners with special facilities, and this adds to the increased
expenditure (Morris & Worrall, 2014). If for instance, a client is suffering from mental health,
the prisoner requires specialized facilities and particular medication that will help in controlling
the mental status of the prisoner.
Program
The special offenders in the correctional facilities are hard to maintain since they utilize a lot
of cash to treat. The latter also need increased inmate staff ration for monitoring and also
increased special needs populace. Suitable to care is vital for the prisoners who are mentally
challenged or who have been abusing drugs for a long time (McConville, 2015). The latter would
be useful in making sure that the prisoners adapt to the typical environments so that they can face
no difficulties once they are released from the cells. If the prisoners are not well taken care of,

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they might in the long run face exclusion from their family members and the entire community
(Colantonio, Kim , Allen, & Asbridge, 2014).
The USA department of prisons possesses a drug abuse program for substance abuse that
has been in existence for more than two decades. The program aims at treating inmates who have
been adversely affected by drug and substance abuse and hence improve their life, the life of
their families and the general community (Colantonio, Kim , Allen, & Asbridge, 2014). The
program is known to lead to the reduction in relapse, the level of criminality, reduced vision,
reduced misbehavior, increase in the level of the stake of the offender in the societal customs,
increase in the level of employment and contribution to the society after release and
improvement in the health and relationships (Colantonio, Kim , Allen, & Asbridge, 2014).
The program offers education related to drug and also assists the wrongdoers with particular
needs by showing them to know the causes and effects of drug abuse. The training is also
essential since it helps the inmates in identifying the prisoners who have special needs and those
who need special attention (Colantonio, Kim , Allen, & Asbridge, 2014). The nonresident drug
abuse is provided to the prisoners who serve short jail sentences. In most cases, the latter does
not meet the criteria for the residential drug abuse program (RDAP). The program addresses
criminal conduct and lifestyle, skills and also assists in building skills that are helpful in critical
thinking and community adjustment (Colantonio, Kim , Allen, & Asbridge, 2014). Resident drug
treatment program is an intense nine-month schedule and is whereby inmates are separately kept
far from the general population. The inmates live in unique rooms and are exposed to half work,
school, and half handling days. The network program, on the other hand, is made up of social

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workers, counselors, sex offenders, and medical doctors, among others (Crewe, Warr, Bennett, &
Smith, 2014).
Conclusion
There has been increasing cases of special needs and mental illness in most prisons. The
number of prisoners who have special needs and mentally challenged has led to an increased
burden for the federal government to improve the care for these prisoners. The UA government
formed different programs to take care of the needs of the prisoners who have these challenges.
The results of these efforts have been good since most of these prisoners have been productive in
society.

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References
Celinska, K., & Sung, H. E. (2014). Gender differences in the determinants of prison rule
violations. The Prison Journal, 94(2), 220-241.
Colantonio, A., Kim , H., Allen, S., & Asbridge, M. (2014). Traumatic brain injury and early life
experiences among men and women in a prison population. Journal of correctional
health care, 20(4), 271-279.
Crewe, B., Warr, J., Bennett, P., & Smith, A. (2014). The emotional geography of prison life.
Theoretical Criminology, 56-74, 56-74.
Drake, D. H., & Harvey, J. (2014). Performing the role of ethnographer: Processing and
managing the emotional dimensions of prison research. International Journal of Social
Research Methodology, 117(5), 489-501.
McConville, S. (2015). A history of English prison administration. London: Routledge.
Morris, R. G., & Worrall, J. L. (2014). Prison architecture and inmate misconduct: A multilevel
assessment. Crime & Delinquency, 60(7), 1083-1109.
Western, B. (2018). Homeward: Life in the year after prison. London: Russell Sage Foundation.
Western, B., Braga, A. A., Davis, J., & Sirois, C. (2015). Stress and hardship after prison.
American Journal of Sociology, 120(5), 1512-1547.