The Effects Of Incarceration On The Brain Essay - 1493 Words

It is common knowledge that the American prison system has grown exponentially in the last few decades. The prison population within the last forty years has risen by two million inmates. Multiple factors such as overcrowding and cost cutting have also decreased the quality of life within prisons by an order of magnitude. With this rising statistic, it becomes increasingly urgent to understand the effect of incarceration on our prisoners and whether the reformation process is actually doing more harm than good. Advances in Psychology offer us a greater lens to study the tangible effects of incarceration on the brain and whether there are long-term side effects that could persist well after release. It is crucial to understand these negatives as the repercussions of ignorance could result in a severe rise in recidivism as well as permanent damage to the psyche of those sentenced to incarceration. While dedicated research on the subject of psychological damage as a result of imprisonment is surprisingly sparse there are a few articles that touch on the subject. Prison is a ripe case study for many Psychology scholars due to its inherently insular nature and varied subcultures. Researchers have noticed frightening trends among inmates such as increased aggression, impairment of executive functions, and increased development of psychosomatic disorders. The purpose of this paper is to correlate the research from multiple sources over a period of time that have observed theShow MoreRelatedDrug Addiction Treatment Vs. Incarceration966 Words   |  4 PagesTreatment vs. Incarceration: Gaining Insight Regarding the Facts Drug addiction is most often defined as a chronic progressive relapsing cycle in which an individual experiences excessive compulsions in using a mood altering substance despite the consequences associated with the drug. 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