An Evaluation of the Effects of Prison on the Individual

Introduction

President Nixon’s “War on Drugs”, in which the US Federal Government launched a national campaign to eradicate illegal drug trade, is widely recognized as the catalyst for the excessive criminalization of drug offenses and introduction of lengthier sentences for minor crimes. Since its conception in 1972, “the number of people incarcerated has increased 5-fold without a comparable decrease in crime or drug use” (Moore). Coupled with the deinstitutionalization movement at the time, the role previously filled by mental health hospitals was placed upon the criminal justice system at an enormous scale. As of 2005, the Department of Justice reported “56% of State prisoners, 45% of Federal prisoners, and 64% of jail inmates” to have a mental health problem of some capacity. Additionally, the stigma that the increasing numbers of incarcerated persons face has implications after release. The “experience of incarceration” could affect “employment and earnings of offenders” on top of “public benefits” and “their families and communities” (Raphael).

In an unprecedented era of mass incarceration, it would be vital to consider the perpetuating effects of the incarceration sector on an individual level. Thus, this paper aims to explore the extent to which prison harms the incarcerated person by analyzing its…