Sentencing And Correctional Policies During The United States Essay

In the essay "Prison "Reform" in America," Roger T. Pray points out the much attention that has been devoted to research to help prevent crimes. Showing criminals the errors of their ways not by brutal punishment, but by locking them up in the attempt to reform them. Robert Pray, who is a prison psychologist, is currently a researcher with the Utah Dept. of Corrections. He has seen what has become of our prison system and easily shows us that there is really no such thing as "Prison Reform"

The US Correctional System has many different types of punishments, which are based upon the type of crime the offender commits. Murder, Rape and Identity theft are all crimes, crimes that carry different types of punishments. Some crimes such as murder for example have different levels that are based on it nature, first, second, and third degree murder are all three types of murder but carry a different punishment. There are some crimes though that does not carry a large jail or prison sentence such as driving under the influence (DUI). This type of crime is most like going to sentence the offender to alcohol awareness (AA) classes as a form of punishment, in hopes of rehabilitating the offender to give up

There are many people who are critical of the US‘s prison sysetm; the idea of locking up those who commit crimes against a society simply to keep them from doing harm. Many say that more rehabilatation is necessary to improve these individuals and, therefore, society as a whole. What are some ways of doing this? Do you agree/disagree with this view and why? Is the prison system currently in place the best option for society? 2 pages, double spaced, 12pt. font.

There are five state prison systems in which exist in today's penitentiary systems and they are maximum-security prisons, close-high security prisons, medium-security prisons, and open security facilities. Variations between these five systems are common and uncommon because in a

“The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences” by Jeremy Travis,

When people think of reform movements, they often look for one key sign, and ask one key question of whether that the reform was a success. Did the reform create a lasting change in the way people view the institution that was reformed? All the great reformation movements, from Horace Mann and his education reforms, to Martin Luther, and the Protestant Reformation, to the civil rights movement, all created lasting change in the minds of the average person. One other reform, often overlooked historically is the Prison Reform movement. As the world shifted from 18th to 19th century ways of life, many key aspects of life underwent tremendous change. As the United States gained their independence from Britain and began to shape their own

The United States prison system struggles eminently with keeping offenders out of prison after being released. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than third of all prisoners who were arrested within five years of released were arrested within six months after release, with more than half arrested by the end of the year (Hughes, Wilson, & Beck, 2001). Among prisoners released in 2005 in 23 states with available data on inmates returned to prison, about half (55 percent) had either a parole or probation violation or an arrest for a new offense within three years that led to imprisonment (Durose, Cooper, & Snyder, 2014). Why are there many ex-offenders going back to prison within the first five years of release? Are there not enough resources to help offenders before or/and after being released from prison.

When we get into how society and people look at crime, it happens in every city, every neighborhood, people are victims every day, businesses, and even property. Crime dates back since colonization and the rates have varied over time, believe it or not, crime has decreased over the years. As a matter of fact, the United States has been on a decline. The crime rate for the year 2000 was a total of 11,608,072 a declining year in 2015 with a total of 9,225,197. (U.S. Department of Justice)

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.

Before the 1960’s during the postwar era, there was little crime and the United States crime rate was fairly low. During the early 1960’s, the crime rate accelerated tremendously. During the 1970’s the crime rate remained high, and was constant. Finally during the 1990’s, the United States finally seen a decline in the crime rate until the early 2000’s. With the constant increases and slight decreases in the crime rate, I believe that the crime rate will upsurge within the next decade. During this research paper I will also be discussing some of the underlying problems of the crime rate in the United States. Some problems that predict our crime rate are Drugs, guns, gang affiliations, rapes, murders, things of that nature.

The FBI reports there were almost 1.2 million violent crimes in 2015, with non-negligent manslaughter and murder increasing by approximately 11 percent, according to their estimates. Rape increased by 6.3 percent, with aggravated assaults occurring 4.6 percent more often. Robberies also increased, yet larceny-thefts and burglaries decreased. The report issued by the agency also stated roughly 10.8 million arrests were made during the calendar

In chapter 4 the chapter considers a variety of possible explanations for the significant drop in crime and crime rates that occurred in the 1990s. Based on articles that appeared in the country’s largest newspapers, the authors compile a list of the leading, commonly offered explanations. The next step is to systematically examine each explanation and consider whether available data support the explanation. What the authors, in fact, demonstrate is that in all but three cases–increased reliance on prisons, increased number of police, and changes in illegal drug markets–correlation was erroneously interpreted as causation and in some cases, the correlation wasn’t even that strong.

This translates to a prison population rate of 79 per 100,000 of national population. This is close to only 10% of the American rate. The prison occupancy level based on official capacity in Germany was determined to be 83.3%. This information helps determine the two nations’ “punitivity ratios” ("Comparisons of Crime in OECD Countries", 2012) which are determined by the number and length of prison sentences given in relation to the offenders who have been found guilty. Out of 34 countries, the United States ranks number 1 with a punitivity ratio of 1.471, while Germany can be found on rank number 22 with a punitivity ratio of 0.069. An article in The Economist describes that an average of “43% of American offenders are returned to state prison within three years of their release” (2011), with rates being significantly higher in large cities. The BMJ in Germany reports that only 33.7% of offenders experienced recidivism (2011). This data is alarming from an American point of view. The question has to be raised what it is that makes the German penal system so different and presumably so much more effective than the American equivalent. The most significant factors that need to be considered are the general focus on prevention and alternate sentencing versus a maximum number and length of prison sentences, the conditions and programs offered for those offenders that do receive incarceration sentences, and the aid offenders with alternate

On April 3, 2016, 60 Minutes Bill Whitaker with multiple inmates in Germany, convicted felons who serve jail time in jail. He explains that Germany pays less for jails but still gets better results than those jails in the U.S. Specifically he claimed that many of Germany’s top criminals get treatment instead of revenge by the German government. As the interviewee said, “The incarceration, the imprisonment itself is punishment. The loss of freedom, that’s it.” Although some people believe they should be punished for the crimes they committed and the lives they took, Jesse insists that the German prisoners are human beings to and can be fixed. Both for the sake of their family’s and Germany in spending less money on the criminal justice system.

Be sure to address the four types of sentencing models and the issues surrounding them (equity, truth-in-sentencing and proportionality).