Corrections Paper
CJA/484
April 21, 2014
Stephen Rubino
Corrections Paper
The criminal justice system is responsible for enforcing the laws created at each level of government. A major part of enforcing the laws is detaining the people who break them. The way that an offender is punished for a crime can be different depending on age or the type of crime committed. Depending on the age of the offender they could go through the juvenile or adult corrections system. Each system has levels like parole and probation built in to help rehabilitate the offender. Another form of corrections that is used is community corrections. This form allows citizens to help with the corrections process while giving offenders a second
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With jails and prisons facing an increasing overpopulation problem, with less staff, and budget cuts more and more probation, parole, and community corrections are becoming a solution (manhattan-institute.org, 2000). Parole and probation function through their operation programs such as their case classification system (Burrell, 2003). This system allows the parole board to classify which cases should be considered for early release and which ones should not. Once a case is determined to be eligible for parole, then probation uses the case classification system to decide if the case is high risk or low risk (manhattan-institute.org, 2000). Community corrections becomes a part of the parole and probation services once the inmate is released into the community by “operating residential and secure custodial facilities and provide free labor to local organizations through community service programs, probation and parole are best known for their role in the supervision of offenders in the community” (Burrell, 2003, p. 1). The administration in jails, prisons, parole, probation, and community corrections have many different
Community corrections are programs which oversea offenders outside of jail or prison. Community corrections include probation and parole. Probation is supervision within the community instead of jail or prison. Parole is a dated time where parolees are supervised upon release from prison. Some offenders are not dangerous to society. Their crimes do not warrant incarceration. The crimes are petty offences and will not be placed in a general population in prison. If they are placed in a prison they might be subject to gang raped, bullying, which will cost them to retaliate and possibly lock them into a life of crime. Community corrections is cost effective. It is best to keep them in the community and have them supervise by trained court officers
The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine.
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.
The United States criminal justice system has three main components: law enforcement, courts (both civil and criminal) and corrections. The law enforcement component is made up of agencies whose task it is to prevent, detect and investigate crimes. The job of the courts is to hear cases and decide whether the defendant is guilty or innocent and to give out proper punishments. The corrections system (or penal system) refers to agencies such as prisons and probation that enforce the courts punishments.
Based on the information gathered from different materials, proceeding with jails, prisons, probation, parole, juvenile, and community corrections may range from many perspectives. Jails and prisons are different from a few perspectives, but it may also vary on the length of time to serve for punishment. Parole and probation are reservation options to help educate criminals about ethical knowledge. Community corrections are also provided to help keep the environment safe from harm. After evaluating the past, present, and future trends of community-based corrections, the program has helped develop other alternatives for offenders. This will help the criminals
Corrections have existed throughout society for many years and continued to change and evolve in the United States reflecting society’s values and ideals throughout the centuries. In the criminal justice system, corrections exist in more than one form. Not only do corrections refer to jails and prison systems but they also pertain to community-based programs, such as probation, parole, halfway houses, and treatment facilities. Past, present, and future trends in regard to the development and operation of institutional and community-based corrections vary between states but corrections have grown immensely since the early 1800s and have continued to expand
Corrections as a term in criminology involve the treatment, incapacitation, and punishment of criminal wrongdoers who have admitted to the court. The criminal court convicts and condemns those perpetrators who are found guilty of crimes. Upon sentencing, the corrections component of the criminal justice system begins to function. In the United States there are several correctional agencies including; residential facilities, juvenile and adult probation and parole agencies, and so much more. These agencies are established to correct, treat and control post-adjudicatory care to
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
There are three components for the criminal justice system is the police, the courts and then corrections. The police enforce the law by apprehending offenders, investigating crimes and also trying to prevent crimes among other things. The courts conduct fair and impartial trials; they determine criminal cases and decide if an offender is guilty or innocent along with many other things. Corrections carry out sentences that have been decided by the courts, they protect the public, and they rehabilitate; reform and reintegrate convicted offenders back into society (2011 CJi Interactive)..
The penal system is the collective term for the processes and agencies involved in overseeing jurisdictions prisons and community-based programs such as probation and parole. The main aims of such a system is to promote social control and deter deviant and criminal behaviour.
This essay explains sentencing in the United States Criminal Justice system. The objectives of punishment in the United States corrections is to help deter crime and to ensure reoffenders don’t reoffend. Sentencing impacts the corrections system and society in a positive manor by eliminating offenders out of the community. Sentencing may include one of the following: probation, fines, prison, community service, probation and so forth depending on the state you reside and the type of offense you commit. Each crime committed doesn’t have a set sentence, therefore they are determined on a case to case basis. The main goal of the criminal justice system is to defend the community and serve justice. Sentencing plays a vital role in the Criminal Justice system.
Incarceration of offenders has been the typical and most commonly used form of sentencing in corrections. Punishment is often the first choice when an offender breaks the law, which is understandable, because criminals should be held accountable for their crimes. Corrections is a system of checks and balances that holds individuals responsible for their actions. We must ask
include a period of incarceration; it is served in the community rather than jail (Corbett, 2014).
Community corrections is continually changing and has been for the past one hundred years. From the early to mid-twentieth century onward it has used three major models, the medical model, community model, and the crime control model. The major turning point for the American community corrections system that led to corrections as we know it today was in 1974 when What Works? - Questions and Answers About Prison Reform by Martinson was published. The system changed practically overnight across the nation. The notion of rehabilitating offenders was dismissed and a more punitive “lock them up and throw away the key” mentality took over. Presently the corrections system is still working in the crime control model, but professionals are trying to restructure how we deal with criminal offenders during and after incarceration. The difficulty in the restructuring is finding the balance between punishing criminal offenders proportionate to their crime, but also rehabilitating them to be productive members of society once they are released so that they do not recidivate.
In the 1970s and 1980s, a massive amount of inmates began fillin up the United States prison systems. This huge rate of growth in this short amount of time, has greatly contributed to the prison overcrowding that the United States faces today. In fact, the prisons are still filled to the seams. This enormous flood of inmates has made it practically impossible for prison officials to keep up with their facilities and supervise their inmates. One of the main reasons why many prisons have become overcrowded is because of states’ harsh criminal laws and parole practices (Cohen). “One in every 100 American adults is behind bars, the highest incarceration rate in the world” (Cohen). The amount of inmates in corrections systems, throughout the