17625. Prison Overcrowing. This paper provides an overview and analysis of the problem of overcrowding in American prisons. The paper explains the causes of prison overcrowding and discusses the problems that such overcrowding creates among prisoners and within society as a whole. It is demonstrated that there are various viable alternatives to imprisonment. It is argued that policymakers should give greater consideration to the use of these alternatives, because doing so will help to reduce the number of prisoners and hence, alleviate the problem of prison overcrowding. KEYWORDS: prison overcrowding prisoners overpopulation prison alternatives. APA Style. 13 pages, 47 footnotes, 12 bibliographic sources. 3,015 words.