• An explanation of factors influencing growth in jails, state prisons, and federal prisons

Ever since the first prison opened in the United States in 1790, incarceration has been the center of the nations criminal justice system. Over this 200 year period many creative alternatives to incarceration have been tried, and many at a much lower cost than imprisonment. It wasn’t until the late 1980’s when our criminal justice systems across the country began experiencing a problem with overcrowding of facilities. This problem forced lawmakers to develop new options for sentencing criminal offenders.

Throughout the years, the use of imprisonment has varied, along with its influences of society. It is thought that although prisons have been around since the thirteenth century, prisons as we know them now to be have only been around for the last three centuries. The first uses of prisons were not seen as a form of punishment instead they were used as a way of making people do something. People would be held in prison until they paid their debts, or awaiting trial and then leading up to their sentence. McGowen (1995) suggests that from the early 1700s ‘bridewells’ a house of correction have existed, however at that time being used merely for vagrants and drunks. At the end of the sixteenth century there was a shift in punishment to imprisonment, along with this came a new, more humane idea of reform. Criminals would spend their days of prison carrying out hard labour. However after the American Revolution, imprisonment took a step back and there was another change. There was mass overcrowding within the prison service and although the death penalty was still being used it was a symbol of the power of the state. Therefore, an everyday way of dealing with offenders would be transportation to the colonies, being either Australia or America.

We can date the United States criminal justice policies all the way back to the 17th Century. Although it is nothing compared to what we have today, there have been improvements along the way. One of the major reform needed in our corrections system are the war on drugs and overcrowded prison. The history of corrections in the U.S. has been seen through four major eras known as the Penitentiary, Reformatory, Reintegration, and Retributive Era. Each era has tried to explore the best way to deal with people who have broken the law. Based on the ideas of each era, we’ll explore which reform needs to be implemented.

As a country, we should care about all of our citizens and work toward bettering them, because we are only as strong as our weakest link. When it concerns the issue of corrections it should not be a discussion of punishment or rehabilitation. Instead, it should be a balance of both that puts the spotlight on rehabilitating offenders that are capable and willing to change their lives for the better. Through rehabilitation a number of issues in the corrections field can be solved from mental health to overcrowding. More importantly, it allows offenders the chance to do and be better once released from prison. This paper analyzes what both rehabilitation and punishment are as well as how they play a part in corrections. It also discusses the current reasons that punishment as the dominant model of corrections is not as effective as rehabilitation. After explaining rehabilitation and punishment, then breaking down the issues with punishment, I will recommend a plan for balance. A plan that will lower incarceration rates and give offenders a second chance.

Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means

In prisons today, rehabilitation, deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution are all elements that provide a justice to society. Prisons effectively do their part in seeing that one if not more of these elements are met and successfully done. If it were not for these elements, than what would a prison be good for? It is highly debated upon whether or not these elements are done properly. It is a fact that these are and a fact that throughout the remainder of time these will be a successful part of prison life.

Within this paper, you will find a comprehensive review of the United States prison system, and why it needs to analyzed to better support and reform the people of this country. I plan to persuade the other side (politicians and society) into seeing that the way the prison system is now, is not ethical nor economical and it must change. We have one of the world’s largest prison population, but also a very high rate of recidivism. Recidivism is when the prisoners continuously return to prison without being reformed. They return for the same things that they were doing before. So, this leads us to ask what exactly are we doing wrong? When this happens, we as a nation must continuously pay to house and feed these inmates. The purpose of a prison needs to be examined so we can decide if we really are reforming our inmates, or just continuing a vicious cycle. What is the true purpose of prison besides just holding them in a cell? There must be more we can do for these hopeless members of society.

Prisons and jails hold some similar characteristics but are completely different models in which they serve in the criminal justice system. Some of the types of crimes that America faces today are: violent crimes, property, white collar or organized crime, and public order crimes (Worrall, 2008). The criminal justice system sets the regulations and policies of how an offender will be held accountable for their inappropriate actions. The criminal justice system is a process that takes time and money from society. The following information will briefly discuss the main purposes for the jail and prison systems, which will focus on the length of sentencing, funding sources, and private sector ownership. Let’s begin by explaining the length of

The correctional systems in America are facilities that deal with people who have been convicted of crimes. It is argued that the main purpose of correctional system is the separation of criminals from the rest of the society. The correctional system is part of the criminal-justice system that provides housing and other programs for those convicted for crimes that deems it necessary for the offender to loose freedom. This paper will look at the purpose of prisons and if this system has been effective in achieving this goal.

It wasn't until the 1960's however that the transformations that took place at the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries seriously became under attack (Cohen 1985, p.30). The notion of these attacks were that the prison system was failing (Tomasic and Dobinson 1979, p.15). Prisons were seen as brutal (Vinson 1982, p.14), inhumane, and instead of achieving their rehabilitative goals, studies have shown that the further into the system a deviant is processed, the harder it is for him or her to return to a normal life (Cohen 1985, p.33). An increasing crime rate and number of those imprisoned led to the demand for action to be taken, but at the lowest possible cost to society (Tomasic and Dobinson 1979, p.16). The failure of repeated efforts to better the penal system produced "consensus in favour of reversing the directions taken by the system in the late eighteenth century (Cohen 1985, p.31) and a recognition that perhaps instead of upgrading prisons, the focus should be on emptying

However, before we can dive into the dilemmas that the prison industrial complex created we must first define what they are and how did they originate within our country. First, the private prison system is not a new phenomenon. Although the first appearances of these facilities are not the ones we think of today, the private sector’s involvement in incarcerating people emerged in the early eighteenth century. These privately operated facilities, in part, gained popularity because they used the prisoners as laborers, artisans, and other needed occupations in the community. By the mid-nineteenth century, providers constructed the ‘modern’ private

In this essay I will attempt to explain and discuss probation and how it compares to other forms of sentencing, the types of prison, the origins of rehabilitation in prisons, parole and how it differs from mandatory release and finally options of community corrections. Ending the essay will be a critique on the current rehabilitation options. The history of probation in the United States started in Boston in 1841.

Jail time is an extremely serious discipline. JS Mill compared it to being entrusted to a living tomb. Any general public that utilizes it ought to do as such with consideration and restriction. Yet we don 't. Halfway in light of the fact that we imagine that jail is an altruistic discipline, it is definitely over-utilized as a part of numerous nations, to the point of remorselessness. Besides coming up short in humankind; jail does not even perform well at the particular capacities by and large asked of a criminal equity framework, to be specific, prevention, retaliation, security, and recovery. We have to rethink our over-dependence on jail, and whether different sorts of discipline even corporal and the death penalty might some of the time be more successful and accommodating.

Prisons have been around since the thirteenth century, however prisons as we know them now, have only really been around for the last three centuries. The first uses of prisons were not seen as a form of punishment instead as a way of simply controlling offenders. Individuals were held in prison while awaiting trial, until their debts were paid off, and, or leading up until their sentence (McGowen, 1995). At the end of the sixteenth century there was a shift in punishment to imprisonment, and along with this came a new more humane idea of reform. However, after the American Revolution imprisonment took a step back and there was another change. There was mass overcrowding within the prison system. Therefore, dealing with offenders on an everyday basis included the transportation of convicted criminals to penal colonies in the British Empire (McGowen,

“The history of correctional thought and practice has been marked by enthusiasm for new approaches, disillusionment with these approaches, and then substitution of yet other tactics”(Clear 59). During the mid 1900s, many changes came about for the system of corrections in America. Once a new idea goes sour, a new one replaces it. Prisons shifted their focus from the punishment of offenders to the rehabilitation of offenders, then to the reentry into society, and back to incarceration. As times and the needs of the criminal justice system changed, new prison models were organized in hopes of lowering the crime rates in America. The three major models of prisons that were developed were the medical, model, the community model, and the crime