Jordan Coronado May 7, 2014.Cor 201Health Care in Jails and Prisons: Mental Health, Privatization, Costs. Introductory Paragraph Jails and prisons are an important part of the United States criminal justice system and is constantly growing at a very rapid rate compared to other countries. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the 1970s we had 200,000 inmates in our prison system and by 2011 the number had increased to 2,240,600 and had decreased slightly by the end of 2013. Drugs are a major reason why this sudden increase of people are incarcerated. Bureau of Justice statistics revealed that 1 in 4 inmates in 2002 were incarcerated due to drug offenses, which increased significantly compared to previous years. In 1983 that figure was much lower, 1 in 10 prisoners was in prison due to drug crimes. Literature Review This substantial increase in inmates that has occurred over the past 30 years has led to many overcrowding of jails and prisons throughout the United States and this can be a problem because the Constitution guarantees inmates the right to health care and protects them from cruel and unusual punishment in prisons, arising directly from the Eighth Amendment. Overcrowding can be a major problem when it comes to health care because many inmates live in inhumane and cruel conditions that violate their Eighth Amendment rights. However this is not the only issue I will be writing about, I will be focusing on the mental health of prisoners when placed in solitary confinement or being in a maximum security prison which results in solitary confinement for much of the day with no interaction with other people. I will also be informed... midway through the paper... that overcrowding in prisons has many negative effects, some of which violate the constitutional rights of these inmates. Overcrowding is reached in a prison when it exceeds more than 80% of its intended capacity (Pitts, 2014). Solutions to Prison Overcrowding While researchers have offered many solutions to this critical problem, there are three easily categorized ones. The first and simplest of all would be to increase prison capacity and it would simply make sense because if there is not enough space for all the inmates in a specific prison, then why not simply increase prison capacity. The second category would use various diversion programs that “divert offenders” from prison. Last but not least would be, as we have discussed previously, a backdoor approach that allows inmates for early release in order to free up the prison population in these prisons (Pitts, 2014).