Prison System : Who Is Right?

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.

The offender must have some type of punishment for the action he or she chose. Deterrence is a type of sentencing that prevent future actions of crimes. There is a general deterrence and specific deterrence. Specific deterrence is punishment that prevents the criminal to commit additional crimes by enforcing fear. "Back in the day", depending on the crime, the criminals would get parts of their body removed. For example, rapist were castrated. General deterrence is when examples are shown to prevent someone, that is contemplating on committing crimes, to change their minds. Sometime's when a person is put in jail it does not change their criminal minds.

Throughout history into today, there have been many problems with our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, rape rates are off the charts, and we as Americans have no idea how to fix it. We need to have shorter sentences and try to rehabilitate prisoners back to where they can function in society. Many prisoners barely have a high school education and do not receive further education in jail. Guards need to pay more attention to the well being of the inmates and start to notice signs of abuse and address them. These are just a few of the many problems in our prison systems that need to be addressed.

The concept of the prison has existed for more than two thousand years. It probably goes back as far in time as practice of cannibalism, where victims had to wait for their turn in contributing to the chief course in the menu of their captors. Examples of prisons can even be found in the Old Testament when Joseph was incarcerated in Egypt. It was not until the 19th century that a clear shift occurred from corporal punishment to imprisonment. As societies prospered and the industrial revolution began, the formal prison system, as we know it today, developed. Throughout most of the world, the correctional system is administered by the state, and it is considered a key function that the government must fulfill: protect its citizens by

Crime rates are very high within America, and when you do the crime, you have to pay the crime. Many people are incarcerated due to the type of crimes they commit. When you’re incarcerated, you’re sent to prison. I always had somewhat of an idea how being imprisoned works but I wasn’t fully aware of how the routine worked, I just know the basic steps like committing a crime, getting caught, sent to jail, go to trial, then the judge sentenced you depending on how bad the crime was, I didn’t know anything else passed that. As a curious student of Kingsborough, I’ve pulled up a lot of researches that helped expand my knowledge of incarceration practices.

American prison system incarceration was not officially used as the main form of punishment in United States (U.S.) until around the 1800’s. Before that time criminals were mainly punished by public shaming, which involved punishments such as being whipped, or branded (HL, 2015). In fact, President Lincoln codified the prison incarceration system in the Emancipation Proclamation that indicated no slavery would take place in America unless a person was duly convicted of a crime (paraphrased) (White, 2015). In this era prisons were used more as a place where criminals could be detained until their trial date if afforded such an opportunity. However, one of the main problems with this idea was the fact that the prisons were badly maintained, which resulted in many people contracting fatal diseases. Yet, according to White (2015) unethical and immoral medical experiments were also conducted on inmates’ leading to health failures. Moreover, because everyone was detained in the same prisons, adolescent offenders would have to share the same living space with adult felons, which became another serious problem in that adolescent were less mature and could not protect themselves in such environments

The goal of general deterrence is a punishment that sets an example for other would-be criminals. Punishment must be tough enough to dissuade others from committing similar crimes. Incapacitation places offenders behind bars and removes the opportunity for continued criminal activity. Specific deterrence seeks to impose consequences that outweigh the profits if criminal activity. The goal of retribution is that the seriousness of the punishment is equal to the seriousness of the crime. This is referred to as just desert. Rehabilitation focuses on treatment programs and helping individuals with underlying problems that may have motivated them to commit crime. It assumes once the underlying issues are resolved the individuals will no longer be

Imprisonment wasn’t always commonly used, but rather Corporal punishment, forced labor and social rejection (ADPRS). Imprisonment started in Europe and used as a punishment by taking away one 's freedom and putting them in confinement (ADPRS). The prison system didn’t take place in America until the late 1700s to 1800s; at that time, people thought the crimes were beyond

The next goal of punishment is deterrence. The purpose of deterrence is to convince criminals and society to not commit future crimes (277; ch.9). Deterrence has two separate subcategories which are

The Unites States of America’s prison system is a flawed mess. To open the eyes of our government we must first take a stand against unlawful government decisions, and show support for the greater good of society. What are our own tax-dollars paying for, what are the flaws in the justice/prison system, why is overcrowding in prisons causing tension, and what are ways our society and government can rebuild the system that has been destroyed over the years? Most criminals in prisons are not a danger to our society because they commit crimes just to use jail as a shelter, causing the overcrowding of prisons and wasting away of what we really should be paying for.

     A prison is an institution for confining and punishing people who have been convicted of committing a crime. A prison is supposed to punish criminals by restricting their freedom of where they can go, what they can do, and with whom they may associate. In America, 1.1 million

In many cases we are forced to believe that the prison system is fair and equal to all, although that may not be the case. The prison system at first glance seems fair and equal but after looking closer you will find many times it’s not fair at all. For example, “an African American male could spend more time in jail for possession of crack than a white man with the same amount of powder cocaine” (Harmon 372). This is just one example of how society has been taken advantage of in the prison system. Some people are subject to years in prison although they should not be while others enjoy life even though they should be in prison. The injustice in the sentencing of prisoners is an ongoing problem in society, as some criminals get of easy for horrible crimes others criminals suffer unfairly all because of color of their skin.

[http://crime.about.com/od/death/a/mitigating.htm] Another aim of sentencing is a Deterrence. The courts mainly try to deter two types of offences, such are mobile phone theft and drug/alcohol related offences e.g. burglary. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 has introduced minimum sentences to stop people from re-offending. e.g. if offenders commit two offences, they will automatically be sentenced to life imprisonment. The city centres are using a CCTV's to deter people from offending crimes such as violence, criminal damage and shop lifting. The main goal of this aim is to deter an offender from committing a future crime by fear of the punishment. There are two different types of deterrence; individual and general deterrence. The individual deterrence is trying to deter an individual offender, those they have already committed crime from re-offending in the future, by a prison sentence, a suspended sentence or a heavy fine. This is usually a harsh sentence for not serious offenses e.g In the case of R v Whitton (1985), where a football hooligan was sentenced to life imprisonment. This should stop other hooligans from re-offend.or in the case R v Hussain (Mohammed) [2005] CA a deterrent sentence was set up in relation

(Allen & Latessa, 2013) Unlike the rehabilitation model, the offender is viewed as an enemy in society. (Allen & Latessa, 2013) Within this particular ideology, the explanation of punishment can essentially be placed in three categories; retribution (getting even), deterrence (preventing/controlling), and incapacitation (deprivation). From a philosophical perspective, retribution is simply getting even with the offender. There is an underlying assumption that the offenders willingly commit the criminal acts, therefore they are responsible for their actions. (Allen & Latessa, 2013) The intention of deterrence is to control crime by means of incapacitation, threatening punishment, and announcing potential

Prison is an institution for the confinement of persons convicted of criminal offenses. Throughout history, most societies have built places in which to hold persons accused of criminal acts pending some form of trial. The idea of confining persons after a trial as punishment for their crimes is relatively new.