In still other studies, prison overcrowding is associ-
ated with a noticeable decline in future aggressive and
nonaggressive disciplinary problems.
There are several possible explanations for these
inconclusive and sometimes anomalous findings.
First, because younger individuals often have trouble
avoiding getting disciplinary reports in prison, it is
possible that changes in the age structure of the prison
or the practice of housing older and younger prisoners
in separate facilities could influence the results of
overcrowding research. Second, most of these studies
overlook the positive or ameliorative effects that may
reduce the negative impact of prison overcrowding.
When researchers examine the effect of educational,
occupational, and psychological programming on
prison-based aggression, they frequently find that
these positive pursuits can have a calming effect. Both
these factors, age and positive influences, suggest that
a systems approach should guide research on prison
overcrowding.
Aggression and disciplinary problems may be the
principal outcome measures used in research on prison
overcrowding, but they are not the only possible con-
sequences of overcrowding. Additional consequences
of prison overcrowding include reduced recreation
time for prisoners, decreased access to health and men-
tal health care, poor staff morale, increased facility
maintenance costs, diminished institution security,
and fewer opportunities for inmates to learn trades and
attend school. These consequences, as well as the pos-
sibility of a rise in future aggression, illustrate the
importance of finding a solution to the problem of
overcrowding. A solution may not be immediately
forthcoming, but by paying close attention to the sys-
temic nature of prison overcrowding a solution, or
combination of solutions, may well be found.Solutions
Potential solutions to the problem of prison overcrowd-
ing can be divided into three general categories: admin-
istrative responses, front-end strategies, and back-end
strategies. The most common administrative response
is to build more prisons, although this is an expensive
proposition that may fail to produce its desired effect.
Prison construction will have little impact on prison
overcrowding if the problem resides with the jail and its
inability to manage pretrial and short-sentence inmates.
Other administrative responses that could potentially
offer a solution to the overcrowding problem includeconverting existing prison and nonprison facilities into
inmate housing units, double and triple bunking, trans-
ferring inmates to private or contract facilities, and
achieving greater multiagency communication and
cooperation.
Front-end strategies are designed to manage prison
overcrowding by reducing the number of new inmates
entering the prison system. One of the most obvious
front-end strategies is to prevent crime before it
occurs. Even when crime does occur, incarceration
may not always be the best option. Diversion pro-
grams that call on the individual to perform commu-
nity service and the use of special drug and mental
health courts can relieve overcrowding by diverting
individuals who commit nuisance and petty crimes
away from the prison system and into programs tai-
lored to their individual needs. House arrest, intensive
probation supervision, and drug surveillance in lieu of
incarceration are additional ways to manage first-time
offenders convicted of nonviolent crimes without
resorting to incarceration and adding to the already
burgeoning correctional rolls.
Back-end strategies help reduce prison overcrowd-
ing by releasing individuals from prison months
or even years before their statutory release dates.
Releasing inmates to halfway houses 6 to 12 months
before their scheduled release can help ease prison
overcrowding while maintaining some modicum of
supervision over the inmate. If an individual does well
in the halfway house, then the next logical step would
be home confinement with monitoring provided by an
electronic bracelet or similar surveillance device.
Early release through parole is another back-end strat-
egy capable of alleviating prison overcrowding.
Allowing incarcerated offenders to earn good-time
credit every month for good behavior, which would
then move the offender’s release date up, is another
example of how prison overcrowding can be reduced
with a back-end strategy.Future Research
Prison overcrowding research, practice, and policy
could benefit from a number of alterations in how the
field is conceptualized and studied. First, several
researchers have recommended a systems approach to
research on prison overcrowding. A systems approach
would show that new prison construction may not
always be the solution to prison overcrowding. Not
only is new prison construction expensive, but it also620 ———Prison OvercrowdingP-Cutler (Encyc)-45463.qxd 11/18/2007 12:43 PM Page 620