Critical Study of Strict Implementation of Parole in Kenya

The tension between rehabilitation and punishment has been increasing dramatically. This is because there have been sharp rises in the prison population and repeat offender rates. When one area is over emphasized in relation to the other, there is the possibility that imbalances will occur. Over the course of time, these issues can create challenges that will impact the criminal justice system and society at large. (Gadek, 2010) (Clear, 2011) (Gatotch, 2011)

A parole system was first developed in the 19th century when people believed in reformation instead of incarceration. This system allowed an offender who was already serving time, to be released into society, and promise to live as a law abiding citizen. Alexander Maconochie is the person credited to the development of this system. He believed that prisoners should be rewarded for their good behavior and was able to try his “mark system” at the Norfolk Island facility off the coast of Australia. Prisoners earned points if they completed their duties and if they accumulated enough marks, they were allowed to leave the prison with the promise that they would abide by society’s rules and laws. Walter Crofton, administrator of the Irish Prison System in 1854, followed Maconcohie’s system and added other requirements such as finding employment and reporting monthly of their

Restorative justice is an innovative approach to the criminal justice system that focuses on repairing the harm caused by crimes committed. The methods used in the conventional justice system may deter the offender from committing further crimes, but it does neither repair the harm caused, nor help them acknowledge their responsibility, instead it stigmatises them, worsening the situation instead of improving it (Johnstone 2003). “Stigmatisation is the kind of shaming that creates outcasts; it is disrespectful, humiliating” (p.85). It breaks the moral bonds between offender and community and can result in the creation of a destructive cycle that may result in fear and isolation. The shaming by stigmatisation creates a negative effect which

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.

Today we see five prevalent goals of corrections including retribution, incapacitation, deterrence, rehabilitation and restorative justice. Goals employed in corrections change over time depending on several factors including the trends of thought in society and issues within the prison system. Politics as well as prison overcrowding also factor into determining which goal dominates. Retribution has a long-standing history as the most culturally accepted goal because people fended for themselves prior to organized law enforcement (Bartollas, 2002, p. 71). Incapacitation, the dominant goal currently, eliminates the threat by placing the criminal outside society, typically through incarceration, and preventing the criminal from having the ability to commit additional crimes. Deterrence, like retribution, has continued as a goal throughout history. In an effort to reduce the risk of crime, law enforcement attempt to deter criminals from committing crimes. Rehabilitation gained enormous strength with an attempt at moral redemption of the offender. Reformists believed corrections needed a makeover as they worked towards rehabilitation. Rehabilitation places more focus on the individual rather than the act in an attempt to rehabilitate the person. America did not begin to look at the corrections system more substantially until the 1970s as the idea of rehabilitation fell (Bartollas, 2002, p. 75). Restorative justice promises to restore the victim as the offender

In our world, nobody is perfect. Some people have disorders; some people are not raised correctly; some people are in need of essentials. These conditions are usually the main causes of a crime. On the other hand, the good news is that most people can be rehabilitated. The only people who might not be able to be rehabilitated are people with major disorders. Even though some people can’t be rehabilitated, we still need to make a safe community, so we need to rehabilitate the people that can be rehabilitated. In order to do that “[w]e need to create prison conditions, both physical and psychological, that encourage cooperation on all sides and that support change as opposed to conflict and calcification of negative behavior” (Chura). The people that made mistakes that got them in prison need to know that what they did was wrong, and how to fix it. They also need to know to never do it again, and be aware of the differences between right and wrong. The people that can be identified as good candidates for rehabilitation need to go through reform programs in prison and learn how

In this paper we will discuss some descriptions of jail’s place in corrections and its role throughout history on most of these offenses come with a sentence of a year or less and anyone with over a year sentence is usually sent to a prison facility (Seiter, 2011). On the other hand, prisons have an ample amount of time to work with, rehabilitate, and reform offenders. Prisons do this with the hope that offenders can eventually be placed back into society and limit their recidivism back to crime. “The first jails were created in England and they were called goal” (Seiter, 2011,

    African Americans make up almost 15% of the population in the United States, yet they make up 40% of the population of incarcerated individuals. This is only one of several features that produces the corruption and failure of our system of punishment. According to a survey conducted in Grand Rapids, out of 25 people surveyed 20 of them knew someone who had been incarcerated (Poeder). One of the people surveyed that also was incarcerated themselves, replied that the system was “setup to fail” (Poeder). The United States has only about 5% of the population of the world yet we have a quarter of the world's ratio of people in cages. During this essay I will prove that our system of imprisonment is a disturbing, silent

The American prison finds its origin in Europe. Like most things American we have adopted and adapted many of our beliefs and customs from our mother land. The punishment of confinement was rare and unheard of in America before Eighteenth century. The English concept of prison and incarceration did not even take root until the late Eighteenth Century (Hirsch, 1992). Now, American’s cannot claim that they invented prisons or the concept of confining criminal offenders within facilities that keep them separate from society. However, they can accredit themselves with championing the concept of prison reformation. Much like its English counterpart the early American prison system, which would one day grow to be an integral part of the expansive American Criminal Justice System, had an ugly and brutal start. Confinement conditions for Prisoners were harsh and unrelenting. Most Facilities designed to house criminal offenders were over populated, under staffed, and lacked necessary resources to support their growing population of inmates (Clear & Cole, 2003). However, over the years, America has made many strives to correct the errors of their predecessors. This paper will detail the early American Prison System and its journey through reformation to become the modern Prison system that we know today.

Prisons are meant to securely hold convicts as well as those who are remanded. Such people are kept in custody for certain duration of time. The nature of crime defines the length of time that that person will serve in prison. For some crimes such as murder, an individual may be sentenced to death. As such, prisons serve as confinement zones for those who have been determined to be wrong doers or those who have been accused as such. This particular essay tends to investigate one thing that I would like to rectify in the United States correctional system based on its current situation.

With the population of the United States prisons growing every day we need to evaluate if they are doing any good. Personally, I believe that we need to keep our prison system, but we need to take steps in reforming them rather than abolish them altogether. The United States has the highest number of incarcerated people than any other country in the world. We must sit down and look at other countries and see what they are doing different than the United States. In this paper, we will first look at what the prison system in America is like and what we can do to improve upon our prison system. Then, we will also look at the Finland prison systems and see if we can learn anything from them, since they have one of the lowest incarceration and crime rate in the world. We will then look at reforming our prison system or abolishing it. Finally, we will investigate other punishment alternatives other than the prison system that we could use.

In chapter 4, it describes the evolution of parole. The existence of parole can date all the way back to the early seventeenth century. It began with a man named Alexander Maconochie. Maconochie “established a system of marks to be earned by each inmate based on good behavior” (Abadinsky, 2015, pg. 69). He believed that he can restructure these convicts by “punishing them for their past and training them for the future” (Abadinsky, 2015, pg. 69). Inspired by Maconochie, Walter Crofton created his own system which were very similar to those ran on Norfolk Island. The Irish system was based on four stages. Stage one included nine months of solitary confinement. In stage two, prisoners were assigned to work with other inmates in a unique prison.

It is important to acknowledge that the criminal justice system is just that – a system, involving many parts and many actors; like a machine of many cogs turned by various forces. The reform in this criminal justice system is basically criminal justice reform. A machine after a particular time frame needs repair, in the same way the criminal

(Encyclopedia, 1986) Under this type of sentencing, an offender received a specific amount of time to serve in prison for a specific crime. (Encyclopedia, 1986) This actually created a major problem when prisons became overcrowded. (Encyclopedia, 1986) The governors were forced to issue mass pardons or the prison wardens had to randomly release offenders to make space for new entering prisoners. (Encyclopedia, 1986) Then in 1840, Captain Alexander Maconochie was appointed governor of the notorious English penal colony at Norfolk Island off the coast of Australia. (Encyclopedia, 1986) Maconochie came up with a system that he issued “marks” to encourage more positive behavior and let inmates serve their sentences in stages, which each increasing in responsibility. The final stage was a ticket of leave. (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) The final stage of his system was a ticket of leave, the graduated release. (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) “Later, influenced by Maconochie, Sir Walter Crofton established the “Irish mark system” in which inmates could earn early release by positive behavior.” (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) The four stages of graduated release that he created were solitary confinement, special prison, open institution, and ticket of leave. (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) “The Irish system was well received, appeared to have low rates of recidivism, and penologists from the United States began to urge bringing these ideas of graduated release to the United States.” (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg. 254) But indeterminate sentence and the use of parole was not recognized and adopted across the U.S until 1944. (Siegal & Bartollas, 2010, pg.

How many inmates were isolated from their communities when they had committed a crime or when they got released from the prisons? And how many effective programs can be helpful for them?Many posts-release prisoners have experienced recidivism and social stigmas due to lack of programs. In fact, restorative justice for people in prison has played a big role in our correctional systems in many different ways.Restorative justice in prison shapes our prisoner 's morals and abilities by providing a suitable technique. Although punishment may play a part in restorative justice techniques, the central focus remains on relationships between the affected parties, and healing reached through a deliberative process guided by those affected parties.( Tsui,2014). For instance, many inmates have attended into reentry programs and educational orientations when they finished their time in prison. These programs cost less money for the government, and inmates can be reintegrated into societies easily. Many post-release prisoners have avoided recidivism after these effective programs taught them the value of lives. This study will examine the importance of restorative justice in prison, which is essential for our correctional facilities. Numerous studies have been done recently which focused on this restorative justice.For example, restorative justice answers the justice question in a different way.(Toews,p.5,2006).