Jails and Prisons - Research Paper Example

Correctional Facilities: In Need Of Human Approach of the of the Jail Jail is a correctional facility where individuals are housed for short period of time, ranging from few hours to few months, as these individuals are booked under less serious crimes (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.20). People who commit less serious crimes like domestic violence, substance abuse, DUI etc., are housed in jail (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.20). These individuals are not considered a major threat to the safety of other people and hence, they remain in jail for short term sentence.

There are over 3,300 jails in the U.S. (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.20). Out of 2.3 million individuals entering the local, state and federal correctional facilities, only 750,000 remain in jail (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.20). However, jail is one of the most important parts of the justice system as during one calendar year, 10 to 15 million individuals pass through jail which makes the population 10 times more than the prison population (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.20). However, as the nature of crime of jail inmates are less serious, there are no major rehabilitation programs in jail.

Moreover, the fear that providing long term intervention programs in jail will attract people addicted to drugs and alcohol, and make them stay in jail for long time, has led the authorities to avoid implementing intervention and rehabilitative measures in jails (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.24). They fear the increase in cost if inmates stay in jail for longer time just to avail the facility of intervention and treatments (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.22). Prison Prison is the correctional facility which houses those individuals who are clear and eminent threat to the society and people (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.20). Individuals, who commit serious crimes like murder, child abuse, rape, serial killing etc.

, are moved to prison (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.20). Individuals who are put in prison have to serve long period of time in confinement as their crimes are predatory in nature and they are likely to commit more crimes if set free. Hence, their sentences are long and harsh. According to Sabol et al. (2007), there are more than 1.6 million individuals, both male and female, in the state and federal prison, which shows that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people incarcerated in last 30 years (Phelps, 2011, p.1). Hence, many programs designed to rehabilitate the inmates are implemented in prisons.

The programs like social adjustment programs, psychological counseling, drug treatment, alcohol treatment etc., are implemented in prison with the aim of rehabilitating people who are serving a sentence (Phelps, 2011, p.8). It has been observed that many changes have taken place in the nature of the programs that are run in the prison. From 1970’s to early 2000, the programs have changed their focus from theoretical based programs to more ‘practical use’ programs (Phelps, 2011, p.9). There was a considerable decline in the attendance of the inmates to the vocational and educational programs which were held in prison (Phelps, 2011, p.9). However, the attendance to the programs, which were designed with the aim of transforming and modifying the behavior, psychological and social pattern of prisoners, remained consistent throughout the years (Phelps, 2011, p.9). This showed that the programs which help the inmates to change their personality patterns and adjust with people outside the prison, once they are released, are well accepted by them and are followed sincerely (Phelps, 2011, p.9). Hence, the rehabilitation programs are one of the major parts of the prisons in the United States.

However, the restricted outlook towards individuals who commit serious crimes has led to a notion that rehabilitation is not possible with these individuals and hence, they should not be released in the society (Phelps, 2011, p.1). According to Garland (2001), this outlook has resulted in prisons becoming a ‘hopeless’ facility with major decline in implementing ‘rehabilitative’ measures in prisons (Phelps, 2011, p.1). This has also given rise to infamous prison facilities which encourage inhuman and degrading treatment of the individuals serving their sentence in prison.

Supermax Facility The supermax facility is the maximum security prison where most violent inmates and disruptive gang members are housed with the aim of keeping them away from causing harm to other people, and weakening the strength of gangs in prison (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.358). In the supermax facility, the inmate is housed in isolated cell and is not allowed to interact with other inmates (Wallenstein & Kerle, 2008, p.358). The conditions of the supermax facilities are extremely inhuman.

The inmates are confined to their one-person windowless cells measuring eight by ten in sizes (Gaines & Miller, 2010, p. 320). Moreover, the inmate is not allowed to decorate his wall in any way (Gaines & Miller, 2010, p. 320). The restrictive environmental and social conditions have potential to cause psychological problems to inmate which makes him incapable of interacting socially after some time (Gaines & Miller, 2010, p. 320). Moreover, the harsh conditions of solitary confinement and an unrestrained authority to the prison officials regarding who should be confined to solitary conditions, has made this facility vulnerable to abuse and torture of the inmates (Gaines & Miller, 2010, p. 321). Hence, the supermax facility is one of the most infamous and inhuman facilities in the correctional system.

References Gaines, L.K. & Miller, R.L. (2010). Criminal Justice in Action: The Core (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Phelps, M.S. (2011). Rehabilitation in the Punitive Era: The Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality in U.S. Prison Programs. Law and Society Review, 45 (1). Wallenstein, A., & Kerle, K. (2008). American Jails. In P.M. Carlson& J.S. Garrett (Eds.), Prison and Jail Administration: Practice and Theory (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.