Peace and Conflict Resolution in Prisons

It’s also of great importance to create peace resolution awareness thus informing people on the need for peace. Prisons are more often places of fear, violence, and conflicts. They are built majorly as correctional facilities. Crimes are committed on a daily basis and thus the law has to be implemented. Through courts, criminals are apprehended and imprisoned. According to Prison of Peace, the US imprisons more individuals per capita than any other state globally. Its rate is 756 per 100 000 people. Currently, more than 2 million people are held in cell and jails. While they lock up many people, there is less tackling of causes of antisocial behavior or at least help them to overcome fear and conflicts. The rate of incarceration in the US has increased by 500% over the last three decades.

There are a lot of dirty and unfavorable conditions where prisoners are exposed to the danger of being sick which may lead to death. Also, the prisoners who are not ready to change will end up committing crimes while in confinement like killing their inmates. Thus it’s not safe even when imprisoned as inmates will ace the danger of being hurt or killed. Prisons are isolated and overcrowded places. Understaffed facilities also make it a region with endless violence and disputes. As many studies go, the psychological damage is worse than physical damage. Being a victim of the crime or a witness can bring a long-lasting adverse effect on mental health and behavior. Physical separation of inmates prevents crime but does not teach them how to act peacefully in various situations.

When inmates are not offered superior and quality strategies for solving crimes, it is most evitable that will resort to violence, and they are faced with severe disputes. Thus for this aspect, there is a need to create strategies and implement them to successfully achieve peace and conflict resolution, let the inmates understand why there is a need for peace and guide them towards resolving conflicts. As crime is increasing, there is less regarding redirecting non-violent offender to the non-custodial sentence. Information is powerful and gaining insight can have a positive impact on public disclosure. Media has been playing a fundamental in exposing assaults that take place in prisons. In case of a conflict, the media attract public attention as the public will be highly influenced to listen and watch any criminal acts and prison conditions as reported according to Autesserre (2014).

News broadcasting by using televisions and radios assists in reaching individuals in different regions even with different languages efficiently. It is a form of giving solutions to problems or conflicts faced. Mediation is where a dispute is resolved through a neutral mediator to assist the involving parties to resolve conflict positively according to Walters (2017). Mediators help the parties to understand one another, listen to and possibly come into a mutually satisfying agreement. Peace building thus is a sure way of gaining heritage towards humanity and enables avoidance of criminal activities. According to Mediation, “The Forgotten Peace” mediators do not take sides about a solution to be implemented instead they help the two parties come up with a resolution of their own.

Second, inmate understands values and culture in prisons. This idea can aid in coming up with satisfactory conflict resolution to the dispute. Nobody was born knowing how to solve the conflict. The skills are picked through observation from family members, friends and many more. Unfortunately, prisoners come from abusive, neglected and violence backgrounds. This is a solution towards limiting the rate of crimes in prison. The prisons should be checked and cleaned up for any sharp objects, and this will reduce deaths. The violent and aggressive prisoners will need to be detained alone in closed rooms thus resisting the attempt of harming other inmates. Afterward, they can be offered some counseling if need be and if they are willing to listen.