Question

Prisons, Jails, and Prison Life

Special populations create challenges for the prison environment. Special populations can include mentally ill, drug addicted, elderly, juveniles, and AIDS.

What challenges are created by the inclusion of these populations in a prison environment?

Answer 1

One of the most challenging task in the Criminal Justice System is to keep special population such as mentally ill, drug addicted, elderly, juveniles, and AIDS in a prison environment. Most of them would be unpredictable and uncontrollable, especially people with mental illness and drug addicts. They would be the easy target to be provoked and they would also provoke others easily. They need more of a therapeutic treatment while they are in the prison. Elderly and juvenile population will not be able to tolerate the harsh prison conditions and juveniles might learn more crimes while in the prison through the contacts they develop with others. They shouldn’t be kept in prison instead in a controlled environment where they don’t miss anything with the help of experts. The elderly might need more medical assistance. People with communicable diseases such as AIDS may spread it to other inmates. In my opinion, special population should always be kept in a special environment where most part, rehabilitation effort should happen.

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