...The State and Federal Prison System Axia College Both state and federal prison systems have a long history in the United States as well as a significant presence in modern times as the prison populations for both state and federal prisons continue to grow. State and federal prisons each have their own types of institutions and security levels and house different types of criminals due to their differing jurisdictions over state versus federal prisoners. This paper will discuss the state and federal prison systems and their respective histories, recent growth in prisoner populations, different types of facilities, security levels, and types of criminals. American state prisons were originally used as workhouses where prisoners could work off what they owed to the state for their crimes through hard labor, but the purposes for state and federal prisons eventually shifted towards using prisons with the intention of punishment and incapacitating the criminal by removing them from society. Not surprisingly, many of the ideas for the development of the first prisons in the United States came from England. The history of the American prison system began with the Walnut Street Jail in Philadelphia, which served as the first prototype for the Pennsylvania model for prisons where prisoners worked at tasks in solitary confinement in order to pay off their debt to society and theoretically reflect upon what they had done (Johnston, 2010). The Pennsylvania...
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...Jail and Prison Nicole Jones CJA234 July 30, 2012 Mitch Jessip Jail and Prison Jails hold only about one-tenth of all offenders under correctional supervision, yet admit approximately four times as many offenders each year as all other correctional components combined. Jails are often misunderstood, as the general public regularly confuses prisons and jails. We have all heard someone say something like, “For that crime, I hope the criminal spends years in jail,” although jails are not used to hold sentenced offenders for long terms of confinement. (Seiter, R. 2011). Jails are the watershed of the correctional system. The U.S. jail is the oldest of the correctional components, initiated well before prisons, probation, parole, or halfway houses. Yet the jail still has a diverse and difficult mission and role. Few offenders won’t pass through a jail as they enter the correctional system. Jails hold a variety of offenders (those who have been arrested, have been detained pending trial, have been sentenced to short terms of confinement for minor crimes, are awaiting transfer to another facility, and are being held administratively for a criminal justice agency). (Seiter, R. 2011). They may hold offenders arrested for public drunkenness or for multiple murders. Some jail systems are larger than all but a few state prison systems, and some are extremely small (four or five beds). Jails face unique issues, such as dealing with unknown offenders, managing detoxification and...
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...No Man Should be an Island: A Literature Review on the Effects of Prisoners in Long-term Solitary Confinement Mary Blanchard Argosy University Abstract This literature review examines the effects of short and long-term solitary confinement on individuals, especially those segregated in prisons and so-called "Supermax" facilities. The hypothesis is that while short-term confinement does not appear to cause serious harm, long-term confinement is detrimental to prisoners, particularly to those who are mentally ill. The evidence concludes there is a correlation between long-term isolation and psychological and physiological problems. The articles cover the history of solitary confinement, the wax, and wane of the practice, life in Special Housing Units, the constitutionality, and recidivism. Additionally, there are suggestions for improving confinement when it is necessary, as well as reducing the use as much as possible by limiting it to the "worst-of-the-worst" offenders. keywords: solitary confinement, "Supermax", Special Housing Units, mentally ill, recidivism, "worst-of-the-worst" No Man Should be an Island: A Literature Review on the Effects of Prisoners in Long-term Solitary Confinement Inroduction From the Iron Maiden and the Rack to Waterboarding and Sensory Deprivation, thoughts of these practices can make the most stoic person shudder. What many do not imagine is that the most harmful form of torture is also the simplest to apply. This "corrective...
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...Plan to Improve Correctional Facilities Patricia Saylor Dexter Levin Corrections November 10, 2013 In general, rehabilitation programs have been effective in reducing recidivism among prison convicts since they are mostly focused on treating the criminal causing behavior of prisoners by eliminating completely the factors or circumstances that drive them to commit criminal acts. Criminologists such as Martinson who conducted research on the effectiveness of rehabilitative programs such as educational, community based and transcendental programs noted that rehabilitative programs had a higher efficacy when they were oriented towards providing treatment to prison convicts so as to reduce recidivism. Martinson noted that both the educational and transcendental rehabilitative programs were designed to provide prisoners with life skills that they could use to manage their criminal causing behavior as well as equip them with technical skills that would improve the quality of their lives (Prison conditions, 2013). Rehabilitative programs that are focused on the principles of effective intervention are able to target the known factors of recidivism thereby necessitating change and also enabling the incorporation of cognitive or behavioral treatments to reinforce the behavior of the criminal offender by eliminating criminal thinking patterns. Principles of effective intervention ensure that rehabilitative programs are able to take into account the various characteristics of offenders...
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...Jail and Prisons Comparison Paper Marcus Alexander CJA/234 Introduction to Corrections June 23, 2014 Sherri Webster Jail and Prisons Comparison In the U.S. criminal justice system, when a person is arrested, the first place they are usually taken to is jail. From there, they see a judge and go through a court process. If further incarceration is needed, the individual is sentenced to serve time in either a county jail, state prison or federal prison. This paper will help discuss the history behind the jails and their use in addition to the history of state and federal prisons. While understanding the history of these three correctional facilities it will help to compare the different levels of security and how they work differently in each facility. A major problem in the United States, regarding the corrections system, is overcrowding. The effects of overcrowding are visible throughout the criminal justice system and there are different factors that influence the growth of jail/prison incarceration. The jails of the modern era can be traced back to the 1100’s in England. The first jail created was ordered built by King Henry II in 1166, and the English term gaol was used in place of the word jail (Seiter, 2011). Jails then were also used, as they are now, for the purpose of housing offenders that were waiting for trial, but also took in individuals who were homeless, poor or suffered from mental disabilities. Individuals that are incarcerated in...
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...A1) Identify the link between imprisonment and suicide [10] Imprisonment very often has negative effects on offenders, in some cases they turn into victims of abuse themselves. Prison causes psychological distress, through overcrowding and bullying. This can lead to offenders self-harming and in many cases it can lead to suicide, which is more common in prison than the general population. Deaths in prison can be given various rulings by the coroner such as suicide (the prisoner had the intention to kill themselves), death by misadventure (accidental death) which in some instances can be self-harm gone wrong, and open verdicts. Dooley et al wanted to examine the unnatural deaths that occurred in prisons in England and Wales from 1972 and 1987. This research was in the form of a content analysis of prison department personal papers of prisoners’ records. Dooley compared verdicts of suicide with verdicts of unnatural causes or death by misadventure rulings. The research found that 300 suicides occurred in the time frame, 52 of which were due to self-inflicted harm gone wrong. There was little difference between the suicide group and the group that had self-harmed. However there were some real differences. For example, it was found that the prisoners who committed suicide were more likely to do so at night (this is so there is a less likely chance of them being caught in the act) and that the self-harm gone wrong group were more likely to be found during the daytime (this...
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...Federal Prison Comparison Matrix Angel Kennedy CJS/255 March 7, 2016 Richard Gilbert Jail vs Prison Is there a difference between jail and prison, and if so, what factors separate the two? The belief each place is practically the same is a common misconception, however; there is one fundamental component in which governs the temporary or permanent placement of an offender. A jail’s and prison’s quality of food, facility resources, and availability of rehabilitative programs are all different, but; “the fundamental difference between jail and prison is the length of stay for inmates” (HG.org, 1995-2016) Jail and Its Place in Corrections The correctional mission of jails today is to use the combination of incarceration and rehabilitative methods to deter criminals from recommitting. Once officers have detained an offender, he or she is escorted to a local jail. Upon arrival, the criminal is taken into the "booking area" where he or she will undergo a process in which will determine placement: finger printing, photographing, stripping of personal property, examination, and bathing. If the criminal cannot make bond due to lack of funds or a bond was not given, the criminal will remain in custody until a trial is set, usually within the first twenty-four hours. According to BI, the average jail stay is twenty-three days, a sixty-four percent increase from fourteen days (2015). Rehabilitative programs are offered to those who have been sentenced to a year or more. The majority...
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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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...In today's society, the prisons of America appear to cause more problems than assistance. The country penal system is expensive, overcrowded, and some argue that it is ineffective as well as inefficient. The cost to build, staff, and support these facilities increases dramatically each year. Prisons, which were created to be humane correctional facilities, are currently filled with violence, hostility, and a communal fear. These institutions are meant to control crime by deterrence, incapacitating criminals. This may protect society from potentially dangerous individuals, but these institutions' level of accomplishment is askew. The financial burden attached to the building, maintaining, and staffing of prisons constantly plagues the penal system. During the late 1960s, New York built prisons at a price of $2 million each. Since then, prices have risen dramatically. In 1990, each prisoner required $15,496 to support (“Bureau of Justice Statistics”). A prison containing 2,000 inmates amounts to over $31 million to operate on an annual basis. The United States spends an estimated $60 billion each year on corrections (Prisons in the United States). The operation price is synonymous with the level of security, ranging from the supermax, containing serial killers, to the minimum security, containing drug offenders. Violence is not confined to outside prison walls. In 2005 alone, federal and state prisons reported 885 incidents of sexual violence. Of the aforementioned...
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