...citations and references since WritePoint capability in this area is limited. Thank you for using WritePoint. Prison Environment A prison environment is a place where inmates are confined away from society. There are rules in prison that inmates must obey. Inmates are in a cell that has a sink and toilets about feet from were they sleep so in prison there is no privacy. The prison environment influences the institutional management and custody by the growing population and the gangs within the prisons walls which then escalate violence. Prison environment changes can be in the rational and economic view, in which material rewards controls are provided in the direction people are in need of it. The need of the environment needs to be addressed in prison. To maintain custody the procedures and management must protect the integrity and safety of the prison and inmates. Therefore the environment can be improve by given the inmates something to work towards [The preferred spelling is "toward"] like a hobby, education, or a work release program. Some secure custody methods include counting inmates to know were they are, having double gates to control the traffic into prison, the control of illegal imports, searches of inmates from...
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...Prison Work Release Does it help in recidivism? The reason I choose to write on this topic is to explain the work release program in prison for recidivism. In addition, while working in corrections I worked at a work release center. While these issues among the general public is somewhat complex, the program itself is fairly straightforward. Prison work release allows an inmate in custody with the Department of Corrections to live at a prison work release center and to go out in the community independently and find employment. The Department of Corrections does not find jobs for the inmates. The inmate must search for jobs and interview like anyone else looking for a job. Inmates walk, ride a bicycle, or use public transportation to look for a job. Once they obtain a job they use the same methods to get to their job. The Department of Corrections also does not pay for the use of public transportation. In order to find employment some centers require inmates to buy a bus pass that is valid for at least one month. However, since most inmates do not have any money to buy a bus pass they rely on family or anybody they can convince to send them money. The general public is somewhat leery about allowing inmates to be free to work with the general public. Sometimes when a person of the general public learns that an inmate is working at a restaurant they patronize they won’t return to the establishment. Some people might wonder what the purpose of it is. Will it prevent the offender...
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...Work Release Programs and Recidivism Veronica M. Chapa CRIJ 4308 Capstone in Criminal Justice Spring II 2015 Introduction In searching what the biggest problem is in the criminal justice system, so many problems arise. One of the biggest problems that stuck out was the fact that the work release programs and recidivism are still an issue. What can this nation do to improve the work release programs and reduce recidivism? If this nation had more opportunities for those who are being released from prison from an extensive stay and who have lost the ability to understand how it is to live in the “real world”, maybe they would not turn back to crime and rejoin their peers in prison. This is a problem because there is a big issue with the overcrowding of prisons, and if we can reduce recidivism, then there will not be an issue of overcrowded prisons and people would start to turn their lives around. ““In light of rapidly rising prison populations in a vast number of jurisdictions, on the one hand, and high corresponding recidivism rates, on the other, the need for renewed focus on reintegrating prisoners into the community has become urgent” (Cheliotis, 2008). The purpose of this study is to show how there is an issue with the lack of work release programs for prisoners who are being released and how with these programs, the nation can reduce recidivism. It is important to study this because with many ex-prisoners who are not use to living in the “real world”, turn back to...
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...Policy Development Prison crowding is becoming more and more of an issue in the United States. Every day the problem continues to grow as each person who is arrested, taken into to custody and ultimately convicted joins the prison population. Concerns have been raised when it comes to the topic of prison and its population by everyone from the public to law makers. Over the years, the growth of prison capacity has been slightly behind that of the inmate population always resulting in an overcrowding issue. “There has been no consistent evidence that crowding is associated with mortality, morbidity, recidivism, violence, or other pathological behaviors, but rather due to changes to both federal and state sentencing policies. These changes have increased the proportion of the individuals who are charged with felonies and sentence to lengthy jail and prison sentences” (Van Ness, 2008). In addressing any problem area, one first must define the terms or operational definitions. “The United States Supreme Court on November 30, 2010, heard oral argument in Schwarzenegger v. Plata about whether a federal court in California properly ordered the release of 40,000 prisoners to relieve the severe overcrowding in the state's prisons that has led to inadequate medical and mental health care for prisoners” (“U.S. Supreme Court Reviews Prison Overcrowding And Horrendous Conditions Of Confinement,” 2010). “America’s prisons now hold more than 2.3 million people, and many of the...
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...History of Prisons CJA/234 February 3, 2014 Robert Bennett This week’s readings reflected the history of prisons and the eras in which they have evolved. Within this document the evolution of today’s prison systems will be discussed, along with the complications of prison overcrowding. Finally the comparison of today’s prison to the prisons of the past. The penitentiary era changed using the Quaker’s system converting the Walnut Street jail into use instead of using the older method of stocks, flogging, and public humiliation. This was a more humane way to deal with the individuals who chose to break the laws set before them. The inmates were able to work on crafts to keep themselves occupied and their sanity level was maintainable. The mass prison era changed the ways of the jail to a prison in which there were more solitude and less rehabilitation. Inmates were not allowed to speak to make contact with each other, but vocational job training was introduced. Not until the reformatory era was the idea of education introduced into prisons to allow children and adults to become educated with incarcerated. Also the ability for early release for good behavior was introduced. The industrial era introduced prison work labor. Inmates within the prison system would create goods for the public for a minimal wage. The punitive era did away with the industrial aspect of prisons. The ability for education became a luxury, and maximum security prisons were built. As the restrictions...
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...or prison. Only inmates with a good record may obtain access to this type of service even though it is seen as a form of rehabilitation. These specialized programs provide offenders with employment, education, health and social services, including access to housing, work, health care, counseling and job training. Most successful reentry programs believe that Reentry preparation begins the first day of incarceration. The focus on release preparation intensifies about 12-18 months prior to release. A Release Preparation Program includes classes in areas such as résumé writing, how to look for a job, and job retention. (National Institute of Justice (n.d.) The prospect of having to search for meaningful work upon release from prison can be a daunting task, particularly for inmates who have been out of the labor market for a number of years When it come to the types of reentry programs that exists, there are two types of programs, a pre-release type of reentry program and a residential type of reentry program. A pre-release type of reentry program are basically mentoring programs that begins while the offender is still in prison. These programs mainly focus on skills that will allow an ex-offender to get a job, such as resume writing, coping skills, and budgeting classes. The success rates of these pre-release reentry programs have had positive results such as ex-offenders being able to find a jobs and were more effective in retaining that job after their release from prison when...
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...conditional release from prison before the completion of the sentence The parolee must comply with certain conditions of behavior. After year of living in a tightly structured environment, never making a choice about food or clothing or schedule, an inmate is suddenly faced with the chaos, confusion, and demands of a normal life. Every convict undergoes prisonization, essentially the acculturation into the foreign society of prison. It’s necessary for survival within the culture, but isolates an inmate from the real world to which he or she must eventually return. The values and mores that allow for success in prison are directly counter to the expectations in the community. Upon release the offender returns into society and must adapt to new behaviors as he or she determines their daily schedule, adapts to new technology and changes in the outside world, and a different social interaction styles with people in their home, workplace, and community. Prison Rehabilitation is when a ex prisoner is release from prison and they somehow retrieve and rethink to commit the same crime they did to get themselves in prison. Prison Rehabilitation affects the prison and the society because the prisoner committing the same crimes over and over again and they are not learning anything from the first time when they entered the prison. Once a prisoner reenters a prison the prisoners that are remain in the prison might think it is cool to be released and commit the same crime again. Prison Rehabilitation...
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...amongst other countries I would have to say would be that there is not enough room to hold all of our criminals. Over population of inmates in prisons is an issue that is hard to control as you cannot control people from not committing crimes. There are many different problem and issues that should be addressed within our correctional system. Its very difficult to only focus on one problem/issue to focus on. One main issue that seems to pop up where ever you research for the top issue within the American correctional system is how many inmates out prisons are holding. The population of prisoner is growing much faster than we are constructing prison. Criminals such as murders who are hardly serving their complete sentences are over crowding these prisons. These murderers are being release early from these prisons because of how over crowed they have become and they now need room for other inmates that are now coming into the prison. Many problems come from releasing criminals earlier than they were supposed to. Let me set up a scenario where this may make a citizen uneasy, lets say that a person tried to kill you and your spouse but they were only successful in murdering one of you and this inmate is let out early because of “good behavior” while he was incarcerated. Why should the citizens life now be at risk because of our prisons systems inability to house convicted killers in their facilities?! Our correctional system not being able to house the inmates for the time necessary...
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...Prison: Parole and Mandatory Release Name Class April 8, 2013 Teacher Checkpoint: What is parole? How does parole differ from mandatory release? Describe current parole and mandatory release policies. Is there a better solution to the process? Parole is a system of release for prisoners within the prison system and was “created as a reaction against the penitentiary and the determinate sentence” (Foster, 2006). There are three specific methods of release under the parole system – discretionary, mandatory, and medical. These parole methods provide early for inmates through parole board review (discretionary), good time credits (mandatory), or due to a severe medical condition (medical). Originally, the most common form of parole was discretionary parole which was conducted under individual inmate review conducted by a parole board. The decision for release was contingent upon board approval and was a conditional release in which a parolee must follow certain guidelines upon release or be returned to prison to serve his/her full term through parole revocation. This method was replaced by a system of mandatory release due to perceptions of bias by parole board members, ineffectual reformation through parole, and social outcry for early release based on discretion and not court mandate. Mandatory release requires that an inmate serves eighty-five percent of his/her sentence prior to release eligibility. The inmate earns ‘good time’ credits through...
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...the rich were usually able to pay fines instead. At the time the sentence for many other offences was death. Colonialists never considered the possibility of rehabilitation; their aim was to frighten the offender into law abiding behavior. Unlike today where prisons are viewed as instruments of punishment, this has not always been the case. The common jail dates back hundreds of years, but was used solely as a means of detention, a temporary place for the prisoner until acquitted, fined, or subjected to corporal punishment (Schamalleger, F. 2010). Pennsylvania was determined to be different from other colonies. Founder William Penn brought his Quaker values to the new colony, relying on imprisonment with hard labor and fines as the treatment for most crimes, while death remained the penalty only for murder. In 1790 Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Jail became the first prison by the Pennsylvania Quakers. In the Penitentiary Era, which lasted from 1790 to 1825, prisoners were housed in penitentiaries, where they were supposed to do penance and be rehabilitated into productive citizens (Schmalleger, F. 2010). The Quakers hoped to use religious and human principles to rehabilitate the inmates. The philosophy of the prison was to have prisoners accept responsibility for their actions and make amends to...
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...The key factors that are present in prisons are that there have been 9 different eras in which different systems were used to punish prisoners(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Since 1985 to present times the Just Desert Era was the last and final era and is still being used. Under this philosophy “offenders are punished because they deserve it”(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). Also, it is not concerned with inmate's rehabilitation, treatment, or reform(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). With the new changes dealing with issuing the punishments occurring has cause for the prison's population becoming overcrowded which push for supermax and no-frills prisons(Schmalleger & Smykla, 2015). The prisons today provide inmates with the opportunity of different kind...
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...Rehabilitation in prison is more like rehab for criminals who are serving time in prison. Every prisoners in prison are supposes to go through rehabilitation before they are release back into society. Sometime prison rehabilitation does not work and prisoners are release back into society without being rehab proper. In many case, prisoners return back to prison because they do not receive the proper rehab in prison the first time they were in. I believe that prison is not the best place for rehab because prisons seem more like a place where people have to do where they have to do to survive. Many prisoners do not think about rehabilitation in prisons because they are too busy thinking about how they are going to survive in a bad environment. I also think that many prisons destroy people before they rehab them. Many people who have serve time in prison normally go right back in when they get out of prison. I know many people who have serve time in prison and soon return because of what prison life have turn them into. I think that prison need to really think about rehabilitation a little more than just trying to keep prisoners lock up forever. Prisons seem more like a cage for animals than a place where criminals go to get rehab. Many prisoners do not get rehab and others become more of an animal than a person that is trying to do right in life. I am not saying that everybody in prison does not get rehab but, rarely not that many prisoners get the rehab they need while in prison. If prison...
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...act which allowed inmates to start their life over in a much better way as possible. When an inmate is incarcerated they go through various different phases. Which is an institutional phase, the step down phase, the community release phase. And the after care services which prepare offenders for their new future. The second chance act which was signed into the law on April 9, 2008. The act stemmed from the omnibus crime control and safe street act of 1968. The whole process considered of improving programs and resources for offender being released back into society. These programs consisted of employment assistance, housing, family programming, mentoring and also victims support. But before these programs are attended upon release, inmates goes through an institutional phase, the step down phase, community release phase. And the after care services which help them continue to stay on the right path while being into society. When an inmate is institutionalized it makes them a different person it changes there whole mind set. And when a person has become institutionalized for so long it means they cannot properly function outside of a prison. And while they are incarcerated some of them experience many psychological effects which stem from being in prison. Such as claustrophobia, delusional, deep depression and feeling like a failure of life. Which is why many of the inmates attempt suicide on a daily basis. Morton A Lieberman PH.D states “It is commonly believed that most institutions...
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...The Function of Parole in the United States When the subject of parole comes up many things come to mind, such as who make the decisions to release inmates from prison, who is on parole, who supervises them and how, who sends them back to prison, does it work, is it effective, is the community safe, and so on. To begin, lets define what parole is. Parole is a method of releasing offenders from prison prior to the expiration of their sentence (McCarthy and Leone, 121). Inmates are screened for the suitability for release based upon the risk they pose to the public (McCarthy and Leone, 121). If for some reason the parolee’s performance on parole is unsatisfactory, then they may have their parole revoked and be returned to prison. Some people think that parole is a waste of time and that offenders should just be left in prison to do their time and that is that. However, other people think that these offenders have a chance at being rehabilitated with parole and can help them become better people. I think if some of these offenders have been doing well in prison and can be released early under supervision of a parole agency, then they deserve a chance to try and make their lives better for themselves and even their loved ones. This kind of a program could really help some of these offenders get their lives back on track and get them stepping on the right path again. Parole, however, is not for every offender. Some offenders may get released on parole, but do not end up meeting...
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...History and Development of Prisons The historical account of jails in our country can be traced back to the Epic age. In Ramayana, when Bharata saw Rama at Chitrakut, the latter, while making detailed inquiry about the state of polity and welfare of people of Ayodhya, did not forget to elicit the situation in jail there. References of jail are also there in the Mahabharata. In those mythological period there were eighteen important state officials and one of them was the bead of the institution of jail (karagriha) designated as kamyadhyrrkrkcr". In Manusmriti it is stated that "(the King) should have all the prisons built on the royal highway, where the suffering and mutilated evil doers can be seen". Development of the prison system Until the late 18th century, prisons were used mainly for the confinement of debtors who could not meet their obligations, of accused persons waiting to be tried, and of convicts who were waiting for their sentences--either death or banishment--to be put into effect. But imprisonment gradually came to be accepted not only as a device for holding these persons but also as a means of punishing convicted criminals. During the 16th century a number of houses of correction were established in England and on the continent for the reform of minor offenders. The main emphasis was on strict discipline and hard labour. The unsanitary conditions and lack of provisions for the welfare of the inmates in these houses of correction soon produced widespread...
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