Department of Corrections - Case Study Example

? Department of Corrections Case Department of Corrections Case Introduction The Department of corrections is one of the essential parts of the government in relation to the justice system and the rehabilitation program that convicts are submitted to. For this reason, it is important to ensure that it is not left behind with regard to the technological advancements that are taking place in various sectors. The information systems segment in particular is one of the main areas that need to be concentrated on with regard to this fact. Objectives In order to go about upgrading the information systems one requirement is the identification of objectives of the department of corrections so as to determine what features will need to be included into the information system in order to achieve these objectives (Engdahl, 2010). There are a number of objectives held by this department, but the main one is the rehabilitation of convicted felons as well as the punishment of their crimes. Other objectives of the department include: • Creating a safer environment for the citizens of the country by incarcerating those who project a danger to society and trying to convince them to change their ways. • Providing a system that encourages the rehabilitation of the convicted felons through the inclusion of training and education programs that will provide them with skills and knowledge they can use to make a living after being released. • Providing a safe environment for the felons themselves that will give them an opportunity to transform their ways during their period of incarceration (Engdahl, 2010). There are a number of measurements of accountability that can be utilized to rate the success of the department of corrections at achieving these objectives. Accountability can be measured with regard to the main objective of punishment and rehabilitation through a study of the prison records to determine the rise or fall of the level of repeat offenders over the years (O'grady, 2011). A fall in the number of repeat offenders will mean that the department’s objective is being achieved as those who go through the system do not come back meaning they have their lesson. A rise in this level however will mean this objective is not being attained, and something will have to be done. The objective of creating a safer environment for members of the society and its success can be measured through studying the level of the crime rates in various regions of the country (Engdahl, 2010). A reduction in the crime rate will show that the department has managed to achieve this objective while an opposite direction will depict otherwise. The crime rate differs from region to region, but an overall perspective can also be used as a criterion of measurement. The measurement of the success of the department of corrections objective of providing a successful training and education program system can be done through follow up studies done on ex convicts who have been released (O'grady, 2011). The study can focus on whether the ex felon has been able to rebuild their life successfully and whether they used what they learned while serving their sentence. Though this may be potentially expensive to pull off, it is the most accurate way of determining the level of success of this particular objective and the department can use volunteers who report to researchers after a period of time to reduce costs. In regard to the provision of a safe environment for the felons while in incarceration, the level of success of this objective can be determined through the observation of the level of prison crimes (that is, crimes committed by convicts within the prison) that are committed (Engdahl, 2010). A reduction in prison crimes will mean that the objective has been able to be attained. Considerations that will have to be factored into the equation include environmental with regard to the number of prisons and tactical dealing with the level of training of the prison personnel as this will affect the department’s ability to achieve their objectives (O'grady, 2011). The number of prisons available has proven to be a problem shown by the emergence of private prisons into the market and proper training needs to be improved seen by the various cases that have emerged of mistreatment of prisoners by the guards in prisons. Current Situation There are a number of restraints as well that will have to be factored in as the may have an impact on the ability of the department to achieve these objectives (Engdahl, 2010). These include issues such as monetary funding, which if not adequate will make it difficult in terms of affording enough guards, equipment and personnel for the training programs and overall management of the prison (Bruton, 2004). Personnel problems may also prove to be a hindrance as the shortage of resources such as prison guards may prove to be a problem. There is also the fact that ex felons may not be willing to cooperate with the researchers who are trying to determine the whether the department has been able to achieve their objectives (O'grady, 2011). This is an existing problem seen by the fact that even prisoners who are required to report to law officials (parole officers) do not always do so in many cases. Population problems may also make it difficult as many prisons are operating under full capacity. The processes in place to achieve these objectives include the parole system where some ex convicts are required to report back to officials on a set certain regularity that has allowed the department to track the progress of ex felons once they are released. The inclusion of private prisons has been introduced which has reduced the overpopulation of public prisons (Engdahl, 2010). Voluntary programs have also been introduced into the prisons whereby individuals offer their training services free of charge to convicts in their free time. This has reduced the cost of running the training and education programs within the prisons (Bruton, 2004). The outcome of these processes includes a reduction in the overpopulation of the prisons and has decreased the level of congestion that was previously present. The training programs has allowed a number of ex felons to develop skills that they can rely to make a living once they are released and the parole system has ensured that they are encouraged to maintain a clean living (O'grady, 2011). This has resulted in a reduction of the number of individuals who go back to crime as a way of life after they are released. There are a number of failures however that have occurred within the processes such as the fact that the introduction of private prisons has meant that such organizations depend on the maintenance of a high crime rate in the country to stay in business which has a negative aura in terms of business inspiration (Engdahl, 2010). The training through volunteers also means that felons may not be able to be officially certified for the skills they have acquired making it hard to prove their qualification to others in the outside world (O'grady, 2011). The parole system has been difficult to uphold as many convicts do not always adhere to the rules stipulated to them upon their release and thus the justice loses track of their activities. Root Cause The root causes behind these failures can be identified as follows. With regard to private prisons, the amount of profit has been the main cause for their hope of a high crime rate to maintain their business (Engdahl, 2010). The volunteer training programs have proved a problem as many of those involved in the training are not qualified to certify their trainees and thus they can only pass on the knowledge that they know. The parole system lacks enough personnel to ensure efficient monitoring of all the felons released under this provision and thus they are not able to follow up on all the ex felons they should. Options There are a number of options that the department has with regard to improving this system and these include the inclusion of electronic surveillance systems that can take the place of parole officers for the less serious offenders (O'grady, 2011). Voluntary trainees can be registered as official certifiers of their trainees once an established mode of testing for qualification has been established, and private prisons can be transformed into parastatals to avoid the temptation by private companies to intervene in order to keep the crime rates up. Another available option is also to do nothing but this would not be the recommended course of action if change is needed. Optimal Selection When deciding the options, it is essential to choose those that will allow the department of corrections to continue running smoothly with no interruptions during the transition phase as well as one that is cost friendly to the government and within the stipulated budget. With regard to these necessities, the best options would be the introduction of an Information system that is able to provide an accommodation of the electronic surveillance as well trainer registration that will allow them to officially qualify their trainees (O'grady, 2011). The system can be designed and tested first before implementation to ensure it’s introduced once it is full functional and thus will not interrupt the operations of the department. Department officials can attend training sessions in turns to learn on how to use the information system to avoid any inconvenience and feedback can be collected via conducting interviews with those involved in the use of the new system. References Bruton, J. (2004). Big House: Life inside a Supermax Security Prison. Minnesota: Voyageur Press. Engdahl, S. (2010). Prisons. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press. O'grady, W. (2011). Crime in Canadian Context- Debates and Controversies. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press. Read More