Correctional Facility

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Correctional Facility

Correctional facility “is a term that may be used to refer to a jail, prison, or other place of incarceration by government officials” (http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/correctional-facility/). County jails, prisons, community corrections, half-way houses, and rehabilitation programs could all be considered correctional facilities. They may be classified as minimum, medium, or maximum security facilities based on the limitations of freedom the offender has. If offenders are allowed to leave the facility for work or education, then the facility would be considered minimum security. If offenders are confined to a cell 23 hours of the day with no privileges, then they would be housed in a maximum security facility.
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The functions of correctional agencies are to “carry out sentences imposed by the courts, provide safe and humane custody and supervision of offenders, protect the community, rehabilitate, reform, and reintegrate convicted offenders back into the community, and respect the legal and human rights of the convicted” (Schmalleger, 2015, pg. 14). Other sanctions imposed by the courts to assist in rehabilitation might be probation or parole. Probation is “a sentence of imprisonment that is suspended” (Schmalleger, 2015, pg. 385). The goal of probation “is to retain some control over criminal offenders while using community programs to help rehabilitate them” (Schmalleger, 2015, pg. 385). Parole is “the status of a convicted offender who has been conditionally released from prison by a paroling authority before the expiration of his or her sentence, is place under the supervision of a parole agency, and is required to observe the conditions of parole” (Schmalleger, 2015, pg.388). Paroles “primary purpose is to return offenders gradually to productive lives” (Schmalleger, 2015 pg.