...Evolution of Life in Prison November 11, 2013 Evolution of Life in Prison The purpose of this essay is to do an analysis on the evolution and perspective of prison life. This essay will explain how the evolution influenced the classification of male and female prisoners over time. Last, this essay will explain how the prison populations in jails compare to the population of prison at the state and federal levels. A person could describe prison life as living with thousands of other men and women, who also have criminal convictions by the judicial system. Prisoners will need to realize that his or her prison sentence is not a vacation; however, it is a punishment for his or her criminal mischief. Some people will not understand the true meaning of life in prison because they will not experience it themselves to pass judgment. As Stanley “Tookie” Williams did say in his Life in Prison book is no life in prison is hard for any individual who has to serve life in prison. Inmates will spend his or her time trying to figure out how he or she can win his or her freedom again (Becnel, 2008). The Evolution and Perspective of Prison Life A convicted felon prison life will change as the nature of the institution itself will change. The 1700s life in confinement is life in jail awaiting trial, sentencing, or punishment. Each prisoner will remain in the same jail together. Those prisoners will sleep in dirty and unhealthy jails. The prisons and jails have epidemics and malnutrition...
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...alternative when offered to non violent offenders who are usually addicts. By incarcerating people who are not a threat to others and have not committed a violent crime we are simply wasting space in prisons that could be better used to house violent offenders such as murderers and rapists. In addition to wasting space, every state that continues to jail non violent offenders is wasting money. They are wasting money not only for salaries of correctional facility employees but also on housing and feeding these inmates. The amount of money it takes to keep a person imprisoned for one year is unbelievable. The average cost to house an inmate in California over one year is $47,102. (Brown, 2009) In Wisconsin that number is $31,806, much closer to the national average. (National institute of corrections, 2008) Think of all the money that could be saved by referring non violent offenders to rehabilitation instead of putting them in jail. Even with all the spending done each year on inmates, they are just as likely to commit a crime when they get out. According to a bureau of justice statistics report “Within 3 years of their release from prison, about 7 in 10 nonviolent releasees were rearrested for a new crime, nearly half were reconvicted, and more than a quarter were returned to prison.” (Renaud, 2002) Case after case has proven that jail time is not a sufficient deterrent for many offenders, especially...
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...seems fair for him to spend time in prison. Should he see probation after the jail time? How much? This scenario helps introduce the dilemma we have today as a society about institutional vs. community corrections. Punishment for crime has always been an issue for debate. With the growth of the American colonies, the colonists needed a system of punishment for lawbreakers. Many methods developed in Europe meant to bring shame to those offenders were adopted. Around this time, the world saw a change in punishment ideology; some began to stress that humans are not perfect and make mistakes. Thus, there should be more reform as well as punish. In 1682, William Penn made a push for change. He limited the death penalty to cases of murder only and called for fines and imprisonment for most offenses. This is widely considered the beginnings of the prison system in the U.S. He also helped start the creation of jails, like the High Street Jail. The first federal prisons were established in 1891. Before this date, prisons were organized by states and territories. The establishment of parole and probation, or community corrections, began in the 1870s. There has always been and most likely always will be a huge social dilemma on what types and to what extent punishment should be laid out. Both institutional and community corrections have their pros and cons. One thing is for certain, however, that we do need a mixture of both. The current prison system...
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...and costs. The data provide detailed information on individual characteristics, criminal and correctional histories, judge-assigned restrictiveness levels, and home zip codes—allowing us to control for the non-random assignment of individuals to facilities far better than any previous study. Relative to all other management types, for-profit management leads to a statistically significant increase in recidivism, but, relative to nonprofit and state-operated facilities, for-profit facilities operate at a lower cost to the government per comparable individual released. Cost- benefit analysis implies that the short-run savings offered by for-profit over nonprofit management are negated in the long run due to increased recidivism rates, even if one measures the benefits of reducing criminal activity as only the avoided costs of additional confinement. Since its beginnings in the mid-1980s, prison privatization in the United States has provoked several rounds of congressional hearings and hundreds of articles discussing its philosophical, organizational, economic, and legal implications. At year-end 2001, privately operated facilities held over 6.5 percent of America’s total adult correctional facility population, representing more than 90,000 adult offenders. And in late 1999, privately operated facilities held almost 30 percent of all juveniles in residential placement, representing more than...
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...The Alternative Sentencing Policies and Solutions This comprehensive analysis describes the different possible alternative solutions for women, and juvenile offenders. The Bureau of Justice Grant programs developed incentives for other programs to decrease the overcrowded conditions for most state and federal prisons. These grant programs provided the information and incentives for state governments to expand, build, and adapt closed military bases as extension of the federal penal prison system. This initiative encouraged local and state courts to implement truth-in-sentencing and alternative sentencing concepts to lessen the burden of overcrowded prison systems. The grants divided in half for building prisons to increase the bed space for violent offenders, and the other half for alternative solutions to incarceration. The incentive funds used for more alternative solutions; prison islands, or barges, or closed military bases. Sentencing Drug Statistics The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported four to one ratio of prisoners showed under the influence of drugs, or alcohol while committing the current crime, or at the time of the violation (Langan, P, & Levin, D, 2002). The BJS showed detailed statistics report of 400; 000 people arrested for drugs, or drug-related offenses; 70% sent to state prisons, 40% drug-related offenses, 32% alcohol-related offenses, and 20% other violent crimes. The survey researched by the Department of Justice (DOJ) along with the (BJS) report...
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...The Alternative Sentencing Policies and Solutions This comprehensive analysis describes the different possible alternative solutions for women, and juvenile offenders. The Bureau of Justice Grant programs developed incentives for other programs to decrease the overcrowded conditions for most state and federal prisons. These grant programs provided the information and incentives for state governments to expand, build, and adapt closed military bases as extension of the federal penal prison system. This initiative encouraged local and state courts to implement truth-in-sentencing and alternative sentencing concepts to lessen the burden of overcrowded prison systems. The grants divided in half for building prisons to increase the bed space for violent offenders, and the other half for alternative solutions to incarceration. The incentive funds used for more alternative solutions; prison islands, or barges, or closed military bases. Sentencing Drug Statistics The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reported four to one ratio of prisoners showed under the influence of drugs, or alcohol while committing the current crime, or at the time of the violation (Langan, P, & Levin, D, 2002). The BJS showed detailed statistics report of 400; 000 people arrested for drugs, or drug-related offenses; 70% sent to state prisons, 40% drug-related offenses, 32% alcohol-related offenses, and 20% other violent crimes. The survey researched by the Department of Justice (DOJ) along with the (BJS) report...
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...Do Prisons Work? Can Individuals be Reformed or Rehabilitated through Incarceration and Treatment Programs. Critically examine the Current Treatment Programs offered and Subsequent Impact on Recidivism upon Individuals being released globally and WA specifically. This study will examine the effectiveness of current prison treatment programs in Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, United States of America in rehabilitating or reforming an individual and coinciding recidivism rates upon a prisoners release. Prison based treatment programs for sex offenders in Western Australia, New South Wales and New Zealand are examined and recidivism rates compared. Treatment programs for offenders with drug and alcohol issues and the various strategies within the criminal justice system such as diversion, education and drug court programs are examined and differences explained. Rehabilitation programs such as education, life skills, employment and cognitive behavioural treatment are explained and research discussed. Conclusions will be drawn outlining programs with the highest level of recidivism both in Western Australia and globally. The “nothing works” mantra (Martinson) 1974, is seen to be refuted and treatment is seen to be successful when it is matched to the criminogenic needs of the offender (MacKenzie, 2006). Future recommendations are made in regards to the need for correctional staff to assess each offender as an individual with different needs, and to therefore...
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...The American Criminal Justice System: The Social and Cultural Considerations Introduction The American criminal justice system, the largest in the world, with 2.3M people incarcerated (Prison Policy Initiative 2016) has a significant impact on many aspects of American society when viewed through the social and cultural lens including the psychological impact of incarceration, varying treatment based on race, and post-incarceration results. Based on the analysis of various positions of experts in the field, it is clear that certain policy reforms in the existing system would be beneficial for the incarcerated and the broader society. When comparing the scale of incarceration and other related metrics in the United States...
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...Mentally Ill in Prison PSCH/610 Mentally Ill in Prison Abstract The increase in incarcerated individuals with mental illness in the preceding decades has made the prison system a prevalent mental health provider even though they are not prepared or equipped for such task. Prison life is tough on an individual’s mental health; overcapacity, lack of privacy, violent behavior, lack of activity, inadequate health services, seclusion from family and friends, and the insecurity of what life holds after prison contribute to the inmate’s mental health. Inmates whose judgment is altered or impaired by depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other severe mental illnesses are impacted more severely by the tribulations of prison life. Inadequate mental health services is also something mentally ill inmates face, this absconds them undertreated or mistreated. Numerous prisoners do not receive proper psychotropic medication due to the lack of mental health services and care, further impairing their capability to function. The security mission of prisons tends to overlook mental health considerations. Prison rules and codes of demeanor teach staff about security, safety, supremacy, and power. Coordinating the needs of the mentally ill with prison regulations and goals is almost impractical. Factors of the sources and effects of the concern between prison and mental illness will be observed in this research proposal. Reforms will be provided to improve mental health...
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...Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume 10, Issue 2, 2012 (ISSN1948-352X) Beyond Dehumanization: A Post-Humanist Critique of Solitary Confinement Lisa Guenther Abstract What does it mean to be treated like a nonhuman animal? In this paper, I analyze the discourse of “dehumanization” in Madrid v Gomez, a 1995 Eighth Amendment case concerning the treatment of prisoners at California’s Pelican Bay Supermax Penitentiary. I argue that the language of dehumanization fails to describe the harm of solitary confinement because it remains complicit with a hierarchical opposition between human and nonhuman animal that rebounds against prisoners, especially those who have been racialized and/or sexualized as less than human. Humanist discourse neglects the sense in which both human and nonhuman animals are affective, corporeal beings who rely upon the support of others for their own capacity to orient themselves within a mutually-perceived world. Drawing on the testimony of inmates in solitary confinement, and situating this testimony in relation to the political and scientific history of US incarceration practices, I develop a post-humanist critique of solitary confinement. Keywords: Solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, intercorporeal Malebranche would not have beaten a stone as he beat his dog, saying that the dog didn’t suffer. Merleau-Ponty, Nature, 166 Certain carceral practices are often condemned – both by prisoners and by their legal or political advocates –...
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...For this research and analysis paper we were assigned Section VII and VIII in the Corrections textbook by Stohr et al. Section VII (seven) covers parole and the reentry of prisoners. Section VIII (eight) elaborates on the experiences of the correctional staff members. I found these two equally important yet interestingly contradictory ideas to cover together. Both sections are full of information and relates well with the extra research on the specific topics. Summary and Analysis: The introductory information contain in Section VII was relating origin and history of parole. What was interesting that I did not know previously is that we adopted the term parole from the French, and it means “word of honor”. This was quite an icebreaker from the authors introducing what parole truly should be. I hadn’t truly thought about the fact that parole is still a somewhat new concept just 170 years old. I state that the parole concept still is somewhat new, because the correctional concepts in previous chapters that we have read about reach farther back into history than parole does. Parole was concept that was just introduced into correctional community around the 1840’s...
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...LAT1 - Serial Killers Abstract This paper that was written explores how a person is born innocent, and evolves into a monstrous and calculated serial killer. It will mention several different specific serial killers and their histories to support the facts. Another area that is explored is the difference between mass murderers and serial killers. Many times theses terms are used simultaneously; however the fact is that they are different. Reviewing the classifications, behaviors, motives, childhood neglect, sanity, and how profiling and other methods will assist in catching a serial killer. Understanding and studying serial killers can help in preventing them to start killing, or in catching them before they continue killing. Research shows that the problem of serial killing can be addressed by understanding its causes, identifying common behaviors and motivations of serial killers, and using this information to develop tools for law enforcement to prevent initial or repeated killings If a person commits a murder, it doesn’t constitute to be tagged a serial killing. I will be including material in order to define what serial killer is, and why we are so obsessed with understanding them. To fully discuss and understand serial killers, we must first distinguish the differences between them and mass murderers. The term mass murderer is often used interchangeably; however, the two terms are technically different. Mass murder occurs when a large number of people...
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...|[pic] | |[pic] | |[pic] | |CORRECTIONAL FACILITY PLANNING AND DESIGN | | | | | | | | ...
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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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...Jail and Prisons Comparison Adis Hodzic CJA/234 Introduction to Corrections Professor Anthony J. Pekich March 6th, 2014 In considering the jails, as well as state and federal prisons, and in modern America, one must understand the historical contexts in which the three institutions were conceptualized and put into practice. Then a discussion of the reasons behind the drastic recent growth off these three ancient institutions must be had. Finally, a review of the security classifications which enable these facilities to carry out the business of incarceration and rehabilitation in a secure and safe manner should be conducted to round out our consideration of these ancient institutions. The role of jails and prisons is a complicated one, made more complicated by an increase in demands upon these facilities, both in terms of higher populations, and an increase in rehabilitative functions expected from them, as well as political pressures and general changes of policies over the years. By understanding the reason jails and prisons came into such wide use and the historical changes to those institutions, it can be more fully examined whether these institutions, have been successful in the missions they have been tasked with. These modern jails, in America, trace their predecessors back to England, where the very first jail, or gaol, as it was called in 1166, was built by King Henry II. Originally these buildings were designed to house offenders awaiting trial...
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