Running head ASSIGNMENT 4 DATA COLLECTION .docx

Running head: ASSIGNMENT 4: DATA COLLECTION
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ASSIGNMENT 4: DATA COLLECTION
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Assignment 4: Data Collection
CRJ 499: Undergraduate Capstone in Criminal Justice
August 11, 2019
Assignment 4: Data Collection
Overcrowding in prisons or correction centers is one of the
problems that have attracted the attention of many researchers.
Several researchers have tried to explore this particular issue in
detail. This paper, therefore, seeks to analyze the existing data
concerning this specific issue to be able to review the problem
after collecting reliable data.
The essential data that will aid my research is secondary data. I
have already collected several secondary data. These data
sources include charts and statistics. The statistics show that
there have been increased cases of overcrowding in many
prisons and correctional centers in the US. These data and
statistics indicate the large estimated number of prisoners and
offenders being held in US prisons over the past few years. The
reports from various agencies such as the Bureau of Justice
Statistics also concur with these findings. This indeed indicates
that there is a problem of overcrowding in most prisons and
correctional centers in the US.
The data sources, which include charts and statistics, are
relevant to the problem in that they show the extent of
overcrowding in the prisons and correctional centers. These data
also show the negative impacts of overcrowding on inmates.
The statistics are also relevant in that they show the trend of
increase in the number of inmates being held in prison over the

past few years.
Statistics indicate that the US has an approximate prison
population of 2.1 million. This is according to the Bureau of
Justice Statistics. This equates to approximately 481 people who
are incarcerated per 99,000 of the population. The problem of
overcrowding has become a serious issue in many U.S. prisons.
Over 17 states reported that they were operating at over 100
percent capacity at the end of 2013 and 2014.
The data below indicates that the US is ranked number 113th in
the world in terms of overcrowding in the prisons in the year
2018. The data also indicates that most of the US prisons were
operating at an average capacity of 103.9%. This is according to
statistics from Forbes.
The following charts are also useful in my research:
References
Gabriel, A. (2018). Nigeria and United States Prisons: A
comparative Analysis of Mass Overcrowding. J Foren Psy,
3(129), 2.
Robinson, M. (2018). A Case Study of Overcrowding in a
County Jail in the Southeast United States (Doctoral
dissertation, Walden University).
Running head: ASSIGNMENT 3: TECHNOLOGY
INFLUENCES 1
ASSIGNMENT 3: TECHNOLOGY INFLUENCES
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Assignment 3: Technology Influences
August 03, 2019
Assignment 3: Technology Influences
1. Discuss how technologies or information systems have
contributed to the problem.
The advancement and increased use of technology and
information systems have contributed to the problem of
overcrowding of prisons and correction centers in different
ways. First, technology has improved the security surveillance
systems which are used to gather evidence related to crime in
most urban centers. For example, the use of surveillance
systems and detectors has made it easier for investigators to
identify pieces of evidence which have been used to pass
judgment on offenders (Carlen, & Morgan, 2016). Besides this,
technology has also made it efficient for the police to capture
prisoners. It is now easier for someone to be imprisoned since
the investigation and arrest time is reduced, and evidence can
easily be retrieved.
Second, technology has contributed to an increase in the rate of
crime in different walks of life i.e., technology-based crime.
The introduction of technology has brought new avenues which
are used by criminals to commit criminal acts. For example, a
platform such as social media has led to crimes such as cyber-

terrorism and fraud, which are serious offenses (Bagaric,
Hunter, & Wolf, 2018). As such, the criminal justice system has
been forced to include laws and statutes which ensure that there
is a fair and just procedure to pass judgment on technology-
based criminals. Due to the seriousness of some of these crimes,
the criminal justice system is forced to sentence serious
offenders to imprisonment. The increase of technology-based
criminals has, therefore contributed to the overcrowding of
prisons and correctional centers.
Third, some of the technology and information systems are very
new to the United States population and the United States laws.
Without enough guidance, people have committed crimes
related to technology unconsciously. Besides this, people may
use technology without understanding the full impact of their
actions, which may be linked with expressly prohibited
activities. Due to this, many people end up in correctional
centers where they will be rehabilitated before they can be
allowed to join the civil public.
2. Discuss how you will propose technology be implemented
into the solution.
Even though technology has contributed to the challenge of
overcrowding in prisons and correctional centers, it can be
utilized to be part of the solution. One way technology can be
implemented to reducing overcrowding in prisons, and
correctional centers are by using it to improve the quality of
information about criminal behavior. Technology can make it
easier for police officers to study crime in order to formulate
better strategies to reduce it, thereby reducing the rate of
imprisonment. For example, analyzing the behaviors of
offenders such as the rate of re-offenders can help in devising
better rehabilitation programs for first-time offenders. Besides
this, technology can be used to improve the utilization of data
and information in reducing crime rates.
Another solution is that technology has improved the
rehabilitation of offenders by improving how options such as
probation and parole can be utilized to replace incarceration.

Through technology, officers and probation officials have found
a better method to monitor the behaviors of offenders in order
to ensure that they are on the right (Raphael, & Stoll, 2009).
For example, the probation can use global positioning system
(GPS) and radio frequency (RF) to ensure that convicts are
where they claim to be.
References
Bagaric, M., Hunter, D., & Wolf, G. (2018). Technological
incarceration and the end of the prison crisis. J. Crim. L. &
Criminology, 108, 73.
Carlen, P., & Morgan, R. (Eds.). (2016). Crime Unlimited?
Questions for the Twenty-First Century. Springer.
Raphael, S., & Stoll, M. (2009). Why Are So Many Americans
in Prison? In S. Raphael and M. Stoll (Eds.), Do Prisons Make
Us Safer? The Benefits and Costs of the Prison Boom (pp. 27-
72). New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Running Head: INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER
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INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS
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Internal and External Stakeholders
July 25, 2019
Internal and External Stakeholders
1. Identify the Internal and External Stakeholders.

Internal stakeholders in this issue are individuals within the
criminal justice system who directly contribute to this issue
(Baugh, 2015). They include police officers, correctional
officers, probation officers, parole officer, judges as well as
inmates. The external stakeholders include the government and
society in general. They are the individuals who do not make up
the criminal justice system but in one way or another effect it
(Baugh, 2015).
2. Discuss how internal or external stakeholders have
influenced the situation positively or negatively?
The influence of the external stakeholders on this issue is
mostly negative. The government, on the one hand, has
negatively influenced this issue by allowing it to go on for so
long and even to grow in two main ways. The first way is
through lack of proper policy formulation and implementation.
The government is in charge of running the prisons and the
overall criminal justice system. They have failed in terms of not
having good enough policies in place that can first and foremost
reduce the level of delinquency in our society and consequently
the number of offenders and also policies to help solve the issue
of overcrowding given the fact that this is an issue that has
persisted on for such a long time. Government efforts have not
been successful in bringing the number of offenders down and
also reducing the level of overcrowding, and this is a significant
reason why this problem has persisted on (Dandurand &
Griffiths, 2006). The government has also failed in terms of
funding since they have not been able to adequately fund the
prisons to meet the needs of the significant population of
inmates or build more prison facilities to accommodate the
growing numbers.
The society, on the other hand, has influenced this issue
negatively in the simple sense that offenders come from society.
The level of moral degradation in the society is the source of

this negative influence alongside the lack of proper values,
systems, and role models, among other social issues. This has
seen more and more individuals get into crime, and as a result,
there are large numbers of offenders being arrested who end up
overcrowding the prisons.
The influence of the internal stakeholders is both negative and
positive. Some internal stakeholders, such as parole officers and
probation officers, have contributed positively. This is because
there are a lot of efforts from the parole and probation
department to give alternative sentences for prisoners who have
shown positive changes by allowing them to serve in parole in
probation and consequently easing the population in the prisons
(Dandurand & Griffiths, 2006). Courts, however, have had a
negative influence because they sometimes give unreasonably
long sentences.
Correction officers in the prisons have further had a negative
influence in the sense that they have failed to effectively impart
positive behavior change among inmates whether it's their fault
or the fault of the system and therefore individuals persist being
prisons for long. Most inmates in the same sense go to prison
and start engaging in corrupt activities which keep them in
prison longer by denying them a chance to parole or probation.
Police officers finally influence this problem negatively by
engaging in unfair arrest acts, for example, against the minority
and hence filling up prisons with individuals who should not be
there in the first place.
3. How will you consider stakeholders in your solution to the
problem?
From the above discussion, this problem is obviously not the
doing of only one party. Each of the stakeholders mentioned
above influences this issue in one way or another. In making
consideration of the stakeholders in the solution to the problem,
it is necessary first to be aware of the role that each of these
stakeholders plays in bringing forth this problem. This is
important to help understand how each of these parties will

contribute to the solution. This is because the answer cannot be
holistic unless there is buy-in from each of these stakeholders.
The solution to this problem requires a collective effort. Beyond
even considering the role that each of these stakeholders, I will
also consider their input. To be able to develop a comprehensive
solution, it is essential to listen to the different perspectives
around the issue for one to fully understand the different factors
that come to play in regards to this issue. It is, therefore, vital
to consider the input of the stakeholders in the solution to avoid
bias in the solution that one develops.
4. How will you motivate individuals to buy into your
solution?
The first way to motivate individuals to buy into the solution is
finding a way to engage them in coming up with the solution.
Engaging individuals even in the smallest of ways in developing
the solution will help them develop a sense of ownership of the
solution and therefore making it a lot easier for them to buy into
it (Baugh, 2015). When they feel like they were part of
developing it, they will most likely also want to be part of
implementing it. The second way to motivate individuals to buy
into the solution is by showing them the value in the solution
(Freeman, 2014). The value in the solution, in this case, would
mean demonstrating to them how effective the solution will be
in solving the problem. Prison overcrowding is a problem whose
impact people already know and one which they already know
they need a solution. Bringing to the table a solution that gives
them hope that the problem can be resolved will lead them to
quickly buying into the solution.
References
Baugh, A. (2015). Stakeholder engagement: the game changer
for program management. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Dandurand, Y. & Griffiths, C. (2006). Handbook on restorative

justice programmes. New York Vienna: United Nations United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Freeman, R. (2014). Strategic management: a stakeholder
approach. Boston: Pitman.
Running Head: IDENTIFYING THE CHALLENGE
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IDENTIFYING THE CHALLENGE
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Identifying the Challenge
July 21, 2019Identifying the ChallengeIntroduction
The area chosen for this final project is prisons/corrections.
Inmates in prisons are in the receiving end of a lot of problems
and challenges. This paper, however, will focus on one of the
most common and popular problems in prisons, and that is the
overcrowding of prisons and correction centers.
Outline the context of the problem or challenge, including the
history and any policy decisions that have contributed to the
situation.
The prison system in the country is the most overpopulated in
the globe. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there

are about 2.2 million individuals behind bars in the United
States (Enns, 2018). To put this in a more understandable
context, it means that 655 individuals out of a group of every
100000 individuals are behind bars (Enns, 2018). The problem,
however, has not been the fact that too many people are
incarcerated but it is the fact that too many people are
incarcerated without enough resources and capacity to handle
the numbers. Most prisons in the country are forced to operate
way above 100% capacity.
This is a problem that arose in the 19th century. This is because
in the 18th-century jails only served the purpose of holding
individuals temporarily before they were taken to trial. During
this period, the punishment was in the form of corporal as well
as capital punishment (Morris & Rothman, 2008). However,
people started becoming uncomfortable with this form of
punishment and hence started seeking alternatives. This led to
the introduction of the prison system first in West Jersey and
Quakers. This problem did not arise as a result of policy but
rather as a result of the population boom that took place in the
19th century as the mortality rate of individuals lowered, and
immigration became high (Morris & Rothman, 2008). With four
decades the population of the country had doubled, and this
resulted in more strain on the resources, decency as well as
infrastructure in the prison system. This led to overcrowding
and ineffectiveness of the system ever since.
Why is it important that the problem is addressed?
The one main reason why this problem needs to be solved is to
help ease the financial strain that it is causing to our
government at to the taxpayers. Maintaining so many people in
the prisons is costing our government so much money, and the
problem is passed down to the taxpayers (Travis, Western &
Redburn, 2014). Easing this tension would be important as it
would also ensure that the money is put to more productive

uses. It is also important to address this problem because it
makes the correction system ineffective as it becomes hard for
it to serve its purpose and denies inmates of basic rights while
in prison.
Who is impacted internally and externally?
From the description above, it is easy to see the parties that are
impacted by this problem. Internally, this problem affects the
inmates in they lack the resources and infrastructure they need
and the result of this is high gang activities, violence, disease
spread rates, mental health problems and violence (Enns, 2018).
The problem also affects the prison staff by causing work stress
since they are understaffed. Externally this affects the society in
general since more burden is imposed on them as taxpayers and
the fact that the ineffective system does very little to enhance
safety and security. The government is also impacted since more
resources are demanded from it.
Why do you feel the problem hasn’t already been solved?
Over time a lot of effort has been to try and resolve this
problem, especially in the recent past. However, the reason why
the problem has not been solved yet is that this is a problem
that has built up over time, and therefore, it will also take a
long time to solve it completely. This is a problem that has
persisted over decades and centuries, and therefore, one would
not expect efforts put over a few years to correct the whole
issue.
References
Enns, P. (2016). Incarceration nation: how the United States
became the most punitive democracy in the world. New York
NY: Cambridge University Press.
Morris, N. & Rothman, D. (2008). The Oxford history of the
prison: the practice of punishment in western society. New
York: Oxford University Press.

Travis, J., Western, B. & Redburn, S. (2014). The growth of
incarceration in the United States: exploring causes and
consequences. Washington, District of Columbia: National
Academies Press.

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