Prison Conditions
Research paper English III 13 March 03 Environment in the Slammer In the movies prisons are depicted two ways. They are either grossly overcrowded, or a clean utopia where criminals go for a break or vacation. Although the public does not want prison to be a pleasant experience, they also do not want it to be agonizing torture. Amnesty International has launched a worldwide campaign against the United States. They accuse America's prison system of "persistent and widespread patterns of human rights violations" (CNN.com). Amnesty International (AI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preservation of human rights. AI investigates human rights violations all over the world and brings their findings to the public. Of the twenty-five human rights violations in AI's report, they cited ten dealing with infractions in America's prison system (Beaudoin 14).
America's prisons are in a downward spiral. They were once a place for rehabilitation, a place where inmates were strongly encouraged to continue their education. But now due to the increased population and a stronger emphasis on punishment rather than rehabilitation, abuse of prisoners and a filthy living environment is beginning to be the norm (Bender 92).
In 1998 the United States sent a greater proportion of their population to prison than any other country except for Russia and Rwanda. That is approximately 1 out of every 117 people (Hrw.org). The overcrowding, the fact that most prisons are out of date, unsafe, rodent infested, and have poor ventilation are all considered to be factors in the latest tuberculosis outbreak that is beginning to run ramped through out U.S. prisons. Little is being done about the tuberculosis epidemic. Experts say that the outbreak could be confined if prisoners would receive better medical care, but...
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