The Evolution Of The Correctional System

According to statistical data found in the Bureau for Justice Records, there are a number of problems that most prisons in the country face. The records indicate that the number of adult federal and state inmates increased from `139% in `1980 to 260% (Walker, 1999). As a natural default, the United States of America has the highest incarceration rate in the world. This in itself brings about one of the major problems that are faced in modern incarceration which is overcrowding in most prison facilities. The number of offenders in the country has increased rapidly over time while the country prison system has not really been able to cope with this rapid increase. Prisons intended for one or two inmates are now crowded with more than fifty individuals. Because of this most prisons are overcrowded and most of the facilities available are unable to cater for the needs of all the prisoners (Siegel, 2009).

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

The strictest of prison facilities is the high or maximum security institution. Within its walls are some of the most severe criminals who have committed some of the most heinous acts. This final type of institution is comprised of reinforced fences and walls. Prisoners are contained in solitary cells and their movements are controlled and monitored extremely closely. Because of the severity of the crimes committed by the convicted individuals that are incarcerated in these maximum security facilities, there is an extremely high ratio of staff to inmates (Prison Types General Information, 2012).

There are three models of prisons that have been prominent in American since the early 1940’s: custodial, rehabilitative, and reintegration. Each model is designed differently based on its overriding goal, and this affects the physical design, policies, and programs that are implemented within each of the models.

There are two types of institutions in the United States, that is private and government ran institutions. The privately ran institutions are paid for from the states government and commonly a lower cost to the state. The down side however, is that these facilities can choose who comes in as an inmate or employee. The state ran facilities are a little more expensive than privately run facilities.

Funding is another major issue facing prisons and prison administration currently and will continue into the future. The operational cost to house inmates must stay with the limits of an assigned budget. Currently a majority of prisons operate under state and federal governments, unlike the past when private prisons were more common. Private prisons were often more cost-efficient because of labor costs, competitive bidding, and less red tape involved with private prisons.

The History of prisons goes through many eras. Many of these eras have a major impact on today’s prison system. The different was that the system worked and didn’t work really showed what was possibly and what should not be tried again. Each era tried to do something new are recreate something that had already been done by making changes to the way that they treated the inmates all the way to how they were housed and how much contact they had with one another. The different eras gave the present day prison system many great things to think about. Such as large capacity housing so you can properly use all the space in the prison and hold it to capacity. There is also the parole system that gives inmates a chance to work get out early and spend the rest of their sentence on the outside. These many great traits that the prison system today has all come from the hundreds of years of trial and error that occurred throughout the world.

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

There is no typical jail. Many jails are part of multipurpose buildings that also serve as the county courthouse, the sheriff's office, or the police station. Others are larger and self-contained. Although it is often charged that most jails are antiquated, the majority of jails were opened between the 1950s and 1980s. Although most jails are small, rural or suburban facilities, almost half of all jailed prisoners are in large urban institutions, which tend to be chronically overcrowded. Many jails utilize double occupancy, perching two or more inmates into cells designed for one. Large numbers of inmates are also housed in dormitories. Many of these arrangements are a far cry from meeting the standards promulgated by the Commission on Accreditation

An offender who is charged and convicted of a federal crime, is then considered, a federal prisoner; those prisoners convicted of a federal offense and are housed in a federal penitentiary, including those who have committed crimes against a federal institution; and individuals who have been convicted of interstate crimes can also be detained in a federal prison (ABA, 2018). Federal prisoners are detained by the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), another law enforcement agency of the U. S. Department of Justice; the largest and most elaborate prison system in the nation (U. S. Department of Justice, 2016; FIRC, 2016; James, 2015). Federal prisons house around 200,00 offenders in 122 correctional institutions; 13 private prisons and

Jails depend on three main resources for operation which include the public, the local government, and the sheriff. Within the local power structure jails must compete for scarce resources with schools, hospitals, parks and other more popular facilities (Mays and Thompson, 1991). Prisons are maintained by the states or the federal government. Running a prison can be costly, so the logic behind prison fees is that

The minimum security is federal prison camps adjacent to other federal prisons near military bases. Male prisoners who need only minimum security are set up in camps and those who will be transitioned [Passive voice] back into society and served their sentence will be set-up in a halfway house.

Prison population. Prisons in the United States have changed throughout the years and became the standard for punishment. Here in America we jail on more offenses for longer periods of time than in any other country (Deady, 2014). Our prison population has increased to over 500% in the last forty years (The Sentencing Project, 2014). A lot of this is due to the crack down on crime and the war on drugs. With the influx of inmates in our prison system we must look at what our prison

Prison reform is a significant issue that the United States government should enforce. It would aid in creating a more organized system of incarceration. Prison reform is an attempt to improve, change, or eliminate certain conditions in prisons. It is believed that it should be enforced due to the cases of overcrowding, lack of proper education, and the lack of rehabilitation that could inform prisoners of societal values. Prison reform would increase the self-esteem that was diminished in the prisoner’s personal history. Prison reform is significantly important as it will heighten the amount of self-worth in the prisoner and cause a decrease in the population of prisoners who return to a life of crime. Recidivism, or chance of recommitting a crime, will therefore be reduced. Prisoner who are released will not have all the negative ideals or influence from the prison that is usually spread until their release. Prison reform will help society if the increase in education and decrease in overcrowding is ensued upon the prison system with this policy.

After reading deeper into the textbook, I found that officials follow “a basic rule of classification to send inmate to an institution as close to his home as possible (Cripe, pg.225)”. They also factor in facility that is appropriate for the inmate’s security level and include special features or programs that he or she needs (i.e. medical care, psychiatric care, educational).