overcrowding
corrections
history, development, and definitions
sentencing and incarceration
concepts
crime and deviance
Prison overcrowding is a problem that has long been recognized, but during the past 20 years the overcrowding problem has greatly increased because all states and the federal government have been inundated with growing numbers of offenders sentenced to long prison terms. Currently, prisons in 30 states and the federal government operate above their capacity, meaning that they have more inmates than the prison was designed to accommodate. [Source: Encyclopedia of Community Corrections; Prison Overcrowding]
prison overcrowding