Prisons are designed to punish, correct,and rehabilitate lawbreakers.
Imprisonment is a form of punishment for crimes. Various issues arise in the prison system, and these issues run the spectrum from how effective rehabilitation is to prisoner health welfare and prison safety issues. Furthermore, women's prisons have unique issues. These issues are discussed at length by corrections professionals who try to find solutions to complicated problems.
Women's Issues
The United States Department of Justice commissioned a report in 1996 on the unique issues of incarcerated women. Problems described in the report include the inequality of rehabilitation issues and the average length of incarceration issues. Other areas of concern include inequalities in job training programs between male and female inmates and issues relating to the children of inmates.
Prisoner Rights Issues
A prisoner has the right to sue prison guards for unnecessary brutality and for violation of Eighth Amendment rights, the amendment that guarantees freedom from cruel and unusual punishment. Other issues include access to proper medical care and freedom from harm from other inmates.
Elderly Prisoner Issues
With elderly inmates, the aging of the prison population becomes an issue. The elderly have special medical and sociopsychological needs, and these issues must be addressed. The issues of Alzheimer's disease, self-harm and victimization by other inmates becomes prevalent. Because the elderly prison population is growing, there is an opportunity for public health care providers to render much-needed services.
Guard Issues
Prisons are not just high stress environments for prisoners. Guards can suffer abnormally high rates of heart attacks, divorce rates, ulcers and alcoholism. Prison work is a high-stress job, and this is reflected in the maladies of guards. While no easy solution exists, guards must do everything in their power to reduce stress at work.
Tags: freedom from, other inmates, prison population, these issues, unique issues
