In a case of a crime, the offender is either incarcerated, placed on probation or required to make restitution to the victim, usually in the form of monetary compensation. A significant part of all state and federal prisoners in the US are confined for nonviolent offenses, such as property crimes and drug-related crimes, which are the most common reasons for admission to jails and prisons (Surprenant, 2018). The following essay will examine the modern-day alternatives to imprisonment for nonviolent crimes, such as compulsory restitution, house arrest, and probation with institutional treatment, which might offer the solution to the problem of jail overcrowding.
According to Guia and Gomes (2019), alternative sentences are currently understood as “a tool in the neoliberal arsenal of control: measures ancillary or complementary to prison” (p. 168). The first alternative to imprisonment that might be considered is compulsory restitution, which involves mandatory payment of compensation to the victim. If the offender is unable to pay right away, he/she is required to seek employment from either the state or private companies that support the employment of convicts. Compulsory restitution is a potential solution to the problem of overcrowding in prisons since it serves as an effective mechanism of punishment and makes the offender suffer financial loss in proportion to the harm that he/she inflicted (Surprenant, 2018). Ankle monitors during the process of restitution might help to track the offender easily in case of recidivism and prevent criminal activity more effectively than a prison sentence.
The second correctional option is home confinement with electronic surveillance, or, in simple terms, house arrest. The primary function of incarceration is preventing criminals from committing crimes and inflicting harm against the general population. Thus, home confinement might be a potential solution to the overcrowding problem and a worthy alternative to prison as it performs the same function by restricting the movement of the offender by means of an ankle monitor, which sends a radio frequency signal containing the location of the convict to the police (Surprenant, 2018). The main benefit of house arrest is the lack of interaction and communication between the offender and other criminals, which prevents the exchange of criminal skills and contacts, therefore, lowering the risk of recidivism and future offenses.
The third alternative to incarceration would be probation with institutional treatment in community rehabilitation centers and psychiatric hospitals that has the advantage of preventing recidivism without putting a burden on the local or federal budget (Bondeson, 2017). The offenders charged with nonviolent crimes associated with drug or alcohol addiction would better respond to institutional treatment, while the prison system might be reserved for the most dangerous, violent criminals (Surprenant, 2018). Additionally, during institutional treatment, the offenders are not subjected to the loss of human dignity, cruelty, and abuse from prison officers or inmates, which is often the case in prisons. Therefore, institutional treatment might be considered a potential solution to the problem of overcrowding in jails and prisons.
Alternatives to imprisonment are important as they might prevent recidivism while saving state and local government finances from being spent on the costly prison system. Another advantage is the ability to prevent prison abuse since the prison system is not always able to protect convicts. Moreover, practices such as compulsory restitution are beneficial for crime victims who rarely receive any compensation if the offender is incarcerated. Finally, the alternative approaches to criminal punishment avoid placing criminals at the same place, therefore, averting the spread of criminal skills, values, and contacts, which might lead to future crimes. Overall, the alternatives to incarceration might be considered a humane and economically beneficial solution to the problem of overcrowding in jails and prisons.
References
Bondeson, U. V. (2017). Alternatives to imprisonment: Intentions and reality. New York, NY: Routledge.
Guia, M. J., & Gomes, S. (Eds.). (2019). Prisons, state and violence. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Surprenant, C. W. (Ed.). (2018). Rethinking punishment in the era of mass incarceration. New York, NY: Routledge.