The Learning Based Correctional Facility

As incarceration rates rise, health-related outcomes do as well. From 1970 to 2014, the U.S. prison population has risen 700% (Vera Institute of Justice) and by 2001, one in three Black men are sent to prison during their lifetime (Bonczar 5). Before disregarding prison health, it is important to first consider the implications on all of society. If we took better care of our prisoners, the entire U.S. population would be healthier. According to epidemiological studies conducted by the Population Studies Center, if the rate of U.S. incarceration in 1973 remained the same, there would be a 7.8% reduction in infant mortality by 2003 (Wildeman 2). 50% of all prisoners suffer from diagnosable mental illnesses (James and Glaze 1). Some of the most

     “It is not a surprise to see that prisoners all have a low education level. I guess a more educated person has enough sense not to be involved with crime…the relationship between crime and education is easy to see when viewing these facts” (Cordes 1). This is the view of most people when asked why people are in prison. People simply say that criminals were ill educated. As hard as we may try, we cannot do a lot about what happens before they enter prison, but there are many programs inside prisons to help rehabilitate them for when they leave the prison.

The incarceration rate in America is high. In fact, the highest in the world (Zuckerman, 2014). But should it be? According to Bibas (2015), “Though America is home to only about one-twentieth of the world’s population, we house almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners.” (para. 1). America, it seems, in its ‘War on Drugs’, has been incarcerating criminals, even non-violent drug offenders, at a high rate. As more offenders are being incarcerated, more stories are being written, including horror stories about what goes on behind prison walls. Considering the nature of some of the crimes committed by inmates, and being mixed in with the violent criminals, non-violent offenders have no place in this hell. Because of overcrowding, abuse of the inmates, and the lack

The article "The Impact of Career and Technical Education Programs on Adult Offenders: Learning Behind Bars" by Howard Gordon and Bracie Weldon (2003) studies of how prisoners receiving educations in prison reduces the recidivism rate. Gordon and Weldon studied the inmates who were participating in the educational programs at the Huttonsville Correctional Center in West Virginia and claimed that inmates who participated in the educational programs were less likely to recidivate once released back into the population as compared to inmates who did not participate in these programs (Gordon & Weldon, 2003). This study provides valuable information as to the effectiveness of educational programs in prison and how they affect prisoner's lives

Can words change person’s thoughts from desperation, violence, to peace and normality within a dehumanizing prison? Some prisoners spending short to long term sentenced, sometimes lose themselves in a world of violence and become worse off when coming into the prison system, than how they used to be before prison life. Trying to hold on to any bit of sanity or respect for humanity becomes an everyday struggle. Sometimes the smallest thing can help prevent the feeling, of going over that edge of no return from a dreadfulness act of death.

New Life Prison is a private prison located in an unincorporated area of Brentwood, CA New Life prison is a dormitory setting and a minimum security prison for level one and two male inmate population of 500. New Life Prison is too focused on lowering the recidivism rate in CA. New Life prison is a new private prison and receives funding from grants and donations. New Life mission is to focus on the level one and two inmate’s within the state prison system. New Life mission is to help these individuals move on passed the crime they have committed and began to live their life again. In 2004 Folsom state prison was able to move their level one and two inmates to a minimum security facility (Department of Correction 2015). Most of these inmates

The United States has the highest rate of adult incarceration among the developed countries, with 2.2 million in jails and prisons. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Justice found that more than half of all prisons and jail inmates have a mental health problem compared to 11 percent of the general population, yet only one of three prison inmates and one in six jail inmates receive any form of mental health treatment. Those with mental disorders have been increasingly incarcerated during the past three decades. The treatment of severally mentally ill offenders has become an increasingly important and urgent issue because

Today I had my first speaking engagement. The experience was emotionally draining but certainly worth it. You had to see their faces. They were tuned in and eager to ask questions. Some were teary-eyed yet hopeful. All I could see was a room full of fear and pain. My job was to instill hope, spread love and light, and show them there's a better way to survive in this fierce cold world. Their faces have left a lasting impression on my heart and I refuse to give up on our youth. Here are some alarming stats as it pertains to our youth detained in the adult criminal justice system, without mentioning the racial and ethnic disparities, which is even more

Attica Correctional Facility. Attica NY. “By John J. Lennon, April 4, 2015.” He talks New York Times newspaper about “Prisoners take College Courses”

Your absolute separation from your loved ones and society can be worth up to $18,000 per year. At least, that’s how much it’s worth to the Management and Training Corporation (MTC), who is one of the three leading private prison management companies in the United States. Companies such as the MTC, the GEO Group, inc., and the Correction Corporations of America (CCA) make billions of dollars by keeping criminals locked up. The idea of making profit from prisoners doesn’t sound too inhumane of a notion until you obtain a further understanding of the system and how it operates. Private prison management strategists understand that the massive amounts revenue being shoveled into their corporate bank accounts shares a correlation to the amount of prisoners incarcerated in their prisons. It is for this reason that companies like the CCA force the contractual obligation of minimal occupancy guarantees upon states correction departments. These minimal occupancy guarantees make it so that if a certain states does not incarcerate enough prisoners to occupy a set percentage (typically the high 90% range) of a facility, that state would have to pay fees to the companies which own the “underpopulated” facilities for their empty beds. This can easily cause states to feel pressured to fulfill quotas by prosecuting substantial amounts of civilians. It is for this reason, and many others, that the American prison system is a broken, unprincipled network of captivity which takes its victims and leaves many of them in a state of mental and financial despair. Prisoners in private prisons are subject to harsh living conditions, and debilitating mental torture. They are used as pawns in a wicked game for financial wealth, all at the expense of prisoners’ well being, and taxpayers’ wallets.

Dallas County Jail houses inmates that are currently awaiting trial for cases that they have be charged or alleged to have committed. Many of the inmates of the Dallas County jail are eligible for a bond that is previously set by Magistrates/ Judges upon the inmate’s arrest for the alleged offense. The inmates often face the possibility of losing employment and housing as well as possible family crisis as a result of current incarceration. Many of the inmates face the task of finding adequate childcare while they are incarcerated. The inmate often faces the difficult decision of having access to monetary amounts to afford the down payment for the scheduled bond amount set by the Magistrates/Judges.

While the current prison system has flaws that must be changed, there are still methods in which a human experience can be achieved within the prison walls. And one of the most critical of these is in providing education to the prisoners. The current system that is put in place has acknowledged the importance of education and as a result, 91 percent of state prisons have some form of educational program (Roder, 2009). However, only 26 percent of state prisons offered some sort of college level coursework and only 10 percent of all state prison inmates participated in those lessons (Roder, 2009). While basic adult and GED level education is important and has been demonstrated to have positive effects on reducing recidivism rates, the lack of higher level education is startling. The higher education experience is one of free thinking that allows the student to come into their own as an independent, critical thinker who can formulate ideas and opinions of their own. But, by providing so few of these educational opportunities to prisoners, it only serves as a detriment to those who are incarcerated and wish to better themselves through education.

Correctional programs are effective and cost-efficient reducing criminal behavior, but financially receive a small percentage of the total budget. It is critical to take into consideration that correctional facilities should not help inmates, who did not want to help themselves. With correctional punishment, offenders have time on their hands to address their drug addiction. Inmates in prison are highly recommended to attend counseling. One-on-one counseling explores the idea of self-awareness; thus, inmates understand why he has the desire to be violent. “We all have certain people and circumstances that trigger predictable thoughts, feelings and behaviors in us” (Casarjian, 1995, p. 99). In most cases, inmates are furious toward their parent.

After reading this article on prisoner education for women it's easy for me to say that this an ideology and political outlook. Prisons are a social and political institution that is not just shaped by cultural and political forces but in turn, shape the political and social lives of those who are incarcerated. Secondly, there are and have been numerous studies and research on how politics shape incarceration policies. Imprisonment is fundamentally an exercise of power which is influenced by political forces, policy choices, public sentiment, and media interpretations which drive the political actors in our society.

The jails were filled with hardcore criminals, drug addicts, drug dealers, thieves, child molesters, child murderers, innocent people, physical disabled, and mental disabled people. It was extremely hard to not become bias, bitter, hard, sensitive, or hard to not