Essay on Corrections: Prison and High Security Institutions

Submitted By SD594619
Words: 1048
Pages: 5

Jails and Corrections

Juan Rojas

CJA / 234

8 April 2013
Russell Moore
Corrections
Since the inception of rules and regulations there has always been those that feel they need to break the law or just simply don’t want to follow the rules. For this reason corrections and jails is a booming business with not enough manpower to support the increasing number of inmates coming in and out of the criminal justice system. Due to the increasing number of offenders state agencies have been forced to subcontract detention facilities and private jails are an increasing business.
Jails and Corrections Prior to establishing jails public humiliation was used to punish criminals. According to University of Phoenix. (2011) “Quakers believed that honest labor was a more humane way to deal with unsocialized behavior.” By 1786 Pennsylvania convicts were one of the first to wear the hideous uniforms to be easily identified to identify quickly to in case they tried to run away. This is also when the familiar ball and chain was introduced. There are many types of prisons. The Bureau operates institutions at five different security levels in order to confine offenders in an appropriate manner. Security levels are based on such features as the presence of external patrols, towers, security barriers, or detection devices; the type of housing within the institution; internal security features; and the staff-to-inmate ratio. Each facility is designated as either: minimum, low, medium, high, or administrative. Institutions may undergo institution population changes to accommodate the agency’s bed space capacity, security level, and population management needs. Minimum and Low Security institutions also known as Federal Prison Camps and Federal Correction Institutions (FPCs and FCI’s), have dorms, a low staff-to-inmate ratio, and limited perimeter fencing. These institutions are work and program oriented. They also may be located adjacent to larger institutions or on military bases, where inmates help serve the labor needs of the larger institution or base. Medium and High security institutions, also known as United States Penitentiaries (USPs), have highly secured perimeters (featuring walls or reinforced fences), multiple- and single-occupant cell housing, the highest staff-to-inmate ratio, and close control of inmate movement. Administrative facilities are institutions with special missions, such as the detention of pretrial offenders; the treatment of inmates with serious or chronic medical problems; or the containment of extremely dangerous, violent, or escape-prone inmates. The one being closest to all of us in San Diego is the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) San Diego ("Prison Types & General Information", 2013)
The major differences between prison and jail is that jail you are generally serving over one year sentence and there are programs for reintegration such as mental, health and drug rehabilitation. Jails are usually run by sheriffs and/or local governments and are designed to hold individuals awaiting trial or a serving short sentences. Some of the factors that influence the growth in jails are an increasing rate of the poverty level and an ever-evolving criminal justice system so we are always creating new laws to combat new ways criminals are finding ways to break the law or finding loopholes in the system. For example we did not have to worry about cyber crimes 50 years ago but now it is one of the higher crimes being committed. Also the lack of funding to help rehabilitate inmates is also causing an influx of recidivism. If we cannot help the inmates with a drug or alcohol problem while they are incarcerated odds are they are going to come out worse then when they went in because we were not able to get them the help they need. Community Corrections is an integral component of the Bureau's correctional programs. The BOP contracts with residential reentry centers (RRCs), also known as halfway houses, to