...Prison life is mostly a continuous repetition of the same day, over and over again; finding a purpose and a meaning beyond punishment can be a struggle. Often people are not in prison long enough to discover anything worthwhile beyond a new set of criminal alliances. Or in other cases, people end up inside for so long that any good that might have been achieved along the way is weakened by bitterness and resentment. Prisons are the most shaming of all our public institutions, yet, the vast majority of our prisoners do not present a serious threat to life or limb. Their crimes are such that they can be more humanely, economically and effectively dealt with in the community. Nevertheless, many consider imprisonment to be the punishment of choice. They feel that when the offender is jailed, justice is served. The irony of imprisonment lies in society's expectations: the community wants retribution, as well as rehabilitation. Interestingly, for many, sending people to prison is not enough; they insist that offenders must suffer while they are in prison, but only somebody who has never been to prison would believe that jails are soft places. However, the truth is that the harsher a prisoner feels himself to have been treated, the less of an obligation he will feel to abide by society's rules, and the more likely new victims will be created after his release. Prison is designed for disempowerment. Everyone in jail is vulnerable to a greater or lesser extent. Prisoners live at the...
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...The Prison System January 23, 2010 There is much to discuss when it comes to our prison systems. The history, the evolution of the system, and the manner in which prisons are operated, both in the past and today, each are important topics in the discussion of the prison system. The fundamentals of the prison system have progressed greatly over the years as well as the influence of the prison system on America. The development of privately operated prisons has added a political aspect to the imminent solutions of the problems within the prison system. The birth of the prison system stemmed from the need to find more humane and effective means of punishment for wrongdoers, or those who chose not to follow society’s guidelines. Before prisons existed, the majority of serious crimes were dealt with by capital punishment. The British criminal code, which was emulated until the Revolution, depended greatly on capital punishment. Although less severe crimes, which did not sanction the death penalty, were punished with fines or “sanguinary” punishments. Non-capital punishments in the early days of criminal justice were designed to terrorize and subject offenders to derision in hope that they would change their behavior. Jails existed but they were mainly used to hold criminals during pretrial proceedings. The realization that cruel vengeance did little to limit or prevent criminal activity in the 1700s further promoted the invention of the prison. The first penitentiary...
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...force, fines, death and public humiliation. Corporal punishment was the main form of punishment due to the fact that it inflicted pain to the body and could be completed in public locations for the humiliation or “Scare tactic” effect. Whipping, beatings, branding and mutilations were different forms of corporal punishments used in the 1700’s with the most popular ones being public floggings or lashings. Criminal activities or events which led to these forms of punishments varied from stealing, assaults, the criminally insane and murders. Repeat offenses or numerous crimes were considered capital crimes and executions were made public. The death penalty was the final solution to compensate for all other defects of the criminal justice system at that time. A decree was issued by the Massachusetts Assembly in 1736 relating that a thief, on his/hers first conviction would be fined or whipped. If a second offense occurred, the offender would pay triple the fines and would sit on the gallows platform with a noose around their neck. They would then be lashed up to thirty times at a whipping post. If a third offense was committed, the offender was hanged publicly. Due to the rise in thievery and crimes, England took steps in 1557 to put a stop to it. The construction of correction houses or “work houses” began in Bridewell London. Personnel who failed to adhere to the laws established were sent to these facilities where they were flogged and forced to do hard labor...
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...Prison Assignment This assignment is a research and reflection paper on some aspect of the prison system. You have some choice of what focus you would like to take. You can do one of the following options: 1. If you enjoy history you can research a historical prison. 2. You can compare the prison system in Canada with the United States, or another country. 3. Lastly you can create your own perfect prison system. With this option you would consider such things as: * how big would the cells be and what would be included in them? * what activities would the inmates be allowed to do? * what rehabilitation programs would your prison have? * would you use solitary confinement and if so under what circumstances and for how long? * what would be the key purpose of putting people in prison and for what crimes would you use prison? This paper should be approximately 2 pages double spaced and organized with an introduction, conclusion and several body paragraphs. Be sure to cite your sources using the MLA (EasyBib can be used for websites). The paper will be evaluated based on the following criteria: Content – a thorough analysis of your topic with sources referenced /20 Communication – clearly written with proper grammar and spelling /10 Total /30 Some issues you may consider including: 1. The Ashley Smith case or how to deal with mentally ill inmates who are suicidal? 2. The use of prison...
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...The Prison System Robert B. Weight II CJS/200 January 19, 2011 Ronald Rucker Even though the system has worked for 220 years, the American prison system is in danger of complete failure on its current course of development because overcrowding, low budgets, and changes in public sentiment are quickly placing the penitentiary system in an inoperable state. The evolution of the current prison system in the United States has had many subtle changes that have lead to the current crisis, but the system has been set up to fail since the beginning. There have been supporters and opponents to the prison system. There have been social movements that have created major adaptations in society’s idea of how prisons and prisoners should be handled. In the end, society faces the issue of not being able to sustain current sentencing practices and maintain the prisons through the increasing prison populations. (Norman Johnston, 2010) In 1790 sweeping reform went through Pennsylvania to change the jail system. Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush led the effort to change the old and corrupt ways of the penal system (Norman Johnston, 2010). The first prison was built in 1790 as a wing of the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Gaines, 2006). This prison operated on the premise that crime was caused by idleness, so the best method of treatment for a criminal was silence and isolation to force reflection on the criminal’s wrong doings and work...
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...Prison Systems Linda Hester CJS 230 December 12, 2010 Hiram Porter Prison Systems Prison is just one of a number of sanctions available to the courts to deal with those who commit criminal offenses. The United States corrections systems have been in effect for many years. The idea of these systems came from England and the concentration was on punishment more than anything else. However, over the years, like everything else, state and federal prisons have changed. This includes the growth, different types of institutions, the security levels, and types of criminals. These changes however, come with two downfalls, the committing of more crimes and prisons have become overcrowded. Even though overcrowding in prisons is a problem, the state and federal prison systems are effective because they punish those who break the law and they keep the rest of society safe. The state prison systems have been around for more than 200 years, and there use is to confine inmates who will be serving time for more than one year. The jails in use were to confine inmates with no regard of their well being and they were dirty. However, all this changed with the first state prison opening in the late 1700s and it was the Walnut Street Prison in Philadelphia. The Walnut Street Prison design and the way it was run was to keep prisoners in solitude so they could reflect back on what they had done. Because this prison kept the inmates in solitude and did not offer work programs in the...
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...The Prison System CJS/200 October 24, 2010 Monty Mathis The Prison System History of the prison system Prisons back in the 16th and 17th centuries were used to punish people who could not pay their taxes, and rent among other things they were called Debtor’s prison these were a form of a work house. A public display of punishment for a convicted criminal such as stock’s even branding. In the 18th century this is when the public started opposing the death penalty except for serious crimes such as murder. From the mid 18th century to be imprisoned meant hard labor for those who committed petty crimes. By 1777 John Howard (namesake of the Howard League) chastises the prison system as being filthy, barbaric, and disorganized. (Howard League, 2006) The Great Penitentiary Rivalry involved the state of Pennsylvania and the state of New York. And, each state believed that the system they had in place was the best system to address the constant issue of overcrowding. Pennsylvania constructed two new prisons; the Western Penitentiary and the Eastern Penitentiary. Their system was based on the concept of silence as a virtue (Gaines & Miller, 2009). In Pennsylvania the inmates were kept separate from one another and the only contact they had was with clergyman and staff. New York’s Newgate Prison, built in 1791, was operated the same as those in Pennsylvania except they were able to eat together – in silence. Although there are different types of systems in place today, both...
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...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 guaranteeing the state of law while enforcing the judicial system. More than two decades ago, the United Sates and Great Britain began experimenting with privatization of their prison systems, outsourcing the management to private enterprises. Like most privatization issues, this topic has many supporters from the liberal economic philosophy, as well as many detractors that argue against profit seeking enterprises. The discussion promotes themes such as the ethical dilemma of the private sector “administering punishment”, selecting the correct metrics used to evaluate the performance of private sector versus public sector, disputes of what are “just and fair” services that the inmates are entitled to, among others. In the following essay we aim to bring...
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...History of State and Federal Prisons Kamiah Merchant CJS/230 6/21/2015 Both federal and state prisons are different in their own way. They also share some of the same values such as crowdiness in both prisons. Both prisons basically share the same purpose and that is to incarcerate those that have done wrong. Prisons confine felons serving sentences of longer than a year. They are operated primarily by state governments, although the Federal Bureau of Prisons confines federal offenders, three large cities operate their own prisons, county jails in several states now hold felons serving long sentences alongside pretrial defendants and sentenced misdemeanants, and private prisons hold contracts to house state and federal prisoners. Since they are both ran by the federal government they all are considered by one name and that is the Department of Corrections. It was established as an office within the federal Justice Department, where it remains today. Some time ago there were not too many federal crimes and very few criminals doing federal prison time. When the Civil War ended both offenses and offenders began to climb at a high. Once many crimes were starting to be committed, our prisons started to overcrowd rapidly. Not only the prisons took on the crowdiness but the local jails did as well. In the federal prison system there were many levels of security. These levels ranged from minimum to administrative security. Depending on the crime you would commit then this was...
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...word “education” would mean for one to be enlightened and obtain knowledge through learning. However, the kind of education received within the United States Prison Systems is actively doing the opposite. The oppressed inmate populations are ultimately being exploited for cheap labor in order to support a capitalist society that they do not benefit from. This paper will argue that the education being withheld from prison inmates is both cultural and educational imperialism. This paper will also argue that the Prison Industrial Complex is intentionally exploiting inmates to contribute to a capitalist labor market instead of receiving education they are entitled to in order to be rehabilitated, reduce recidivism, improve their lives and ultimately better benefit society. Incarceration in the United States is the main form of punishment, rehabilitation, or both as a consequence of felony and other criminal offenses. The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration with 2.2 million people currently in the nation's prisons or jails. This means a 500% increase over the past thirty years (The Sentencing Project.org). These trends have resulted in prison overcrowding, and billions of dollars being spent to house inmates, and supervise them on probation and parole after they are released, ultimately to return to prison as a repeat offender. Instead of an increased amount of funding and expansion of educational programs to keep up with the increase in inmate population, there...
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...Prison System Comparison The purpose of state prisons and federal prisons is to confine offenders who commit an illegal act (breaking the law) against society. State prisons are for offenders who commit a criminal act or acts within that particular state. The federal prisons are for offenders who commit white-collar crimes, for political criminals, illegal aliens, and such. Both the state prisons and the federal prisons have different levels of security, depending on the crime committed and the seriousness of the crime- causing physical harm to someone or self, murder, rape, drug trafficking, and so on. The state prisons and the federal prisons considers the institutional needs of each inmate, called the initial classification, a determination on the level of security an inmate needs. Classification “determines what prison he will be sent to, what security level he will be housed in, what his work assignment will be, and what programs he will be allowed to take part in,” (Foster, 2006, p. 160). State prisons hold the majority of inmates compared to that of the federal prisons, at various levels of security. These levels of security include open security facilities to super-maximum security prison, differing slightly between the state prisons and the federal prisons. Both the state and the federal prisons deal with overcrowdings and inmates and staff suffer with safety and health issues. Because of the “War on Drugs,” more, and more people are sent to prison serving...
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...guys earlier in the week. So without further ado let us just dive right in and get started. Professor: How does the prison environment influence security and custody in your prison? Me: Hello everyone and hello professor. Well the prison environment is unlike anything a person not affiliated with the correctional institute has experienced. You must always at all times be on guard and vigilante because you never know what a person will do who is in that type of situation. With that being said we have implemented security features to help us combat and prevent attacks both on other prisoners and guards. We have daily inspections, security cameras almost everywhere, security checkpoints at everywhere entrance to any part of the building both inside and out, armed guards in towers, and along the perimeter of the building, dogs on standby, SWAT like teams in case something happens that needs to be controlled, a minimum of two guards per person being moved anywhere as the prisoner will be in both hand chains and leg chains, as well as spit mask if necessary. It is a hostile environment and must be treated as such at all times. We are outnumbered in there and the prisoners know it. They live there day in and day out and they learn everything they can because they have nothing else to do. Professor: What methods of secure custody do you use in your prison? Me: As it stands right now our secure methods of custody are similar to what I stated in the previous question. We...
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...The article “Prison got me sober, but it didn’t get me anywhere.” by Nicholas Kristof is about the internal workings and the pitfalls of the women’s prison system in the United States. The problem of the prison system is one that is an apparent issue in America, and Kristof goes into detail and provides examples of how the system is self-destructive. However, not every point the article makes represents the idea that the prison system needs to be adjusted and the article trails off into information unrelated to the focus of the article. To the author’s credit, much of the article does an excellent job of describing exactly how the women’s prison system is not efficient nor is it serving its purpose. Towards the beginning of the article,...
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...punishment for breaking the law in the United States is incarceration. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reports that at the end of 2010, there were 2,266,800 adults incarcerated in the U.S. federal and state prisons, and county jails (Prisoner Statistics, 2012). When one adds the reported 493,100 corrections staff working inside the prison or jail, the total number of people interacting on a daily basis in this closed society creates conditions where corruption at some level is likely to occur (Bureau, 2012). Research suggests corruption of correction officers, also known as detention officers, or guards is a serious issue that should be continually addressed by facility management because it occurs for many reasons and takes on many forms that can pervert the justice system. This paper will explain some main forms of corruption, give outrageous examples of documented corruption, and spell out why, given the ethics expected of the profession, corruption must be continually addressed and prevented. The first step for criminals is finding the officer with a mindset that can be corrupted. Low to median pay scales for these officers and an increase in offenders affiliated with the gang element of society has increased the potential for corruption related manipulation of prison staff (Diaz, 2009). “Corrections and law enforcement work by its very nature involves the...potential for gradual deterioration of social-moral inhibitions and perceived sense of permissibility for deviant...
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...Francisco Lara CJR 240 March 1, 2011 History of the Prison System 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. During the 15th century in Europe, the penalties for crimes were some form of corporal punishment like whippings for less serious crimes and execution or enslavement for more serious offenses. In early 16th century England, vagrants and petty offenders were committed to correctional institutions known as workhouses. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the government transported convicted felons to the English colonies. The punishment was thought of as the hard labor to which the prisoners were consigned. It wasn't until the 17th century that the idea that persons convicted of crimes could be punished by confinement and released after a period of time. During the 17th century, England and other European countries like Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands began imprisoning debtors, delinquent juveniles, minor misdemeanant, and felons. Early jails were mostly dark, overcrowded, and filthy. Prisoners were herded together indiscriminately, with no separation of men and women, the ...
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