NCJ Number
131133
Journal
California Law Review Volume: 77 Issue: 5 Dated: (October 1989) Pages: 1125-1180
Date Published
1989
Length
56 pages
Annotation
Prison overcrowding is not a precise, absolute condition, since perceptions of it vary by definitions. The concept of prison crowding may be used to explain adverse prison conditions due to other causes.
Abstract
The standards used to define prison crowding are fluid and often unrelated to prison conditions attributed to crowding, i.e., increasing violence, health problems, and administrative chaos. Courts themselves may be partially responsible for the "increase" in crowding, because they have crafted definitions of crowding that are not directly related to prison conditions perceived by the courts as caused by crowding. Although all prison policymakers have an interest in relieving crowded conditions, they also rely on the underlying perception of crowding to achieve their institutional goals. Even as prison populations decrease, the perception of prison crowding may remain or become exaggerated. Moreover, because the debate now focuses on crowding, the term may be used to include or mask other serious defects in the prison system. Prison managers may be misdiagnosing or intentionally misrepresenting the sources of current prison problems because of the convenience of attributing difficulties to crowding. Thus, many of the programs being funded by legislatures to combat prison crowding may not have their intended effect on prison conditions as the causes may be unrelated to crowding. 306 footnotes