A major criminal justice issue that has presented itself in St. Louis, Missouri is inhumane conditions for a medium security prison. These conditions that are brought to attention are infestations, wrongful medical treatment, degrading conditions, and unjust treatment of prisoners. These issues pose a major threat to the criminal justice system because they will bring scrutiny and lawsuits against those who are partaking in them. Also, they do provide unsafe working conditions for both inmates and correctional officers.
According to the 2018 January through March Crime Comparison report, crime rates have dropped. However, this is the overall rate. When broken down by section there are some crimes that have increased. Most commonly, larceny, car theft, and person crimes seem to be on an increase in
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These people may go through rigorous training, but they can decide that this type of career is too much for them or they do not like it. It also poses a threat to their health if they go into a prison system without really knowing what to expect as each system is different. It does pose a threat to those already working there because they have to watch out for the new hires and make sure they are doing their jobs properly and safely. Those new hires that choose to stay on within the corrections department are few. There is also the age factor of the staff. There are staff members who are reaching retirement age or want to move on to something different. This is also an issue because it takes those with experience out of service. If there are no people who want to work in the facility, other officers would have to step in. This leads to the issue of having the available work force, but no motivation or interest to actually do the proper work or care that is required. When they are focusing on new hires, it takes away from monitoring the inmates. Those inmates may use this lack of monitoring to cause harm to other inmates or
I whole heartedly believe we are too soft on offenders in the US. You know the old saying, I would never want to be in prison in Mexico, or any Latin country for that matter. Well, there is a reason for that. It is not a safe and pleasurable place to be. Per a poll on Gallup, when asked if our US criminal justice system was too soft, “a firm majority (65%) said that the criminal justice system is "not tough enough" on crime. 26% said the system is "about right," and just 6% said it is "too tough" (Kiefer, 2004).
Prisoners have a lot of free time on their hands, some of which is spent getting into confrontations with other inmates or making weapons, both of these activities can exacerbate their sentence. So by having them work we are keeping them out of trouble by giving then something positive to do while allowing them to learn skills that will aid them in getting a job after they are released. One of the main problems that we are facing is that a large percentage of former inmates return to prison. “Many prisoners want to work…inmates who work are less likely to commit crimes when they are released.” ...
When people think of reform movements, they often look for one key sign, and ask one key question of whether that the reform was a success. Did the reform create a lasting change in the way people view the institution that was reformed? All the great reformation movements, from Horace Mann and his education reforms, to Martin Luther, and the Protestant Reformation, to the civil rights movement, all created lasting change in the minds of the average person. One other reform, often overlooked historically is the Prison Reform movement. As the world shifted from 18th to 19th century ways of life, many key aspects of life underwent tremendous change. As the United States gained their independence from Britain and began to shape their own identity, the reforms and revolutions that occurred in this infantile stage of its history played an immeasurable impact on the future of the entire country, with the most notable and impact reform being the reformation of prisons from the 1820s until 1860.
The number of Americans that are in prison has elevated to levels that have never been seen before. Prisons in the US have always been crowded ever since the first prison was invented (Jacobs and Angelos 101). The first prison in the US was the Walnut Street Jail that was built in Philadelphia in 1773, and later closed in the 1830’s due to overcrowding and dirty conditions (Jacobs and Angelos 101). The prison system in modern US history has faced many downfalls due to prison overcrowding. Many private prison owners argue that the more inmates in a prison the more money they could make. In my opinion the argument of making more money from inmates in prisons is completely unconstitutional. If the private prisons are only interested in making
When we talk about the correctional system we are talking about it as a whole. This includes jails, prisons, the inmates, and employees. Whether we agree or disagree with our own personal thoughts most of us haven’t seen it at first hand like the interviewee I had interviewed. My interviewee, was the Lieutenant for the Jefferson Country detention center. Now this is different than a prison, in the sense of length of stay, but the similarities are endless. According to the textbook Corrections an Introduction “one way in which jails and prisons are extremely similar is the importance of professional staff.” (Seiter, 2005)
Table 1 of the Preliminary Semiannual Uniform Crime Report, January-June, 2015 demonstrates the percent change by population group. The population group is broken down into cities and counties according to population. According to table 1, the crimes with the highest arrest rates were murder, rape, and aggravated assault, followed by robbery and motor vehicle theft. Murder, rape, and aggravated assault fall under Violent Crime Index whereas robbery and motor vehicle theft
Helping people is also something I enjoy. To me, correctional officers not only take charge over the inmates, but also help them. Arranging counseling meetings, making sure they get where they need to be, and making sure that they have all of their necessities are just a few ways that the officers help make their stay as laid-back as possible. In movies and television shows, prison guards are portrayed as nasty and offensive to the inmates, but that is not permitted in reality. Correctional officers still respect and care for the inmates. Becoming a correctional treatment specialist also appealed to me. According to an article by Kristen Mallegg, “correctional treatment specialists who also may be known as case managers or correctional counselors, counsel offenders and develop rehabilitation plans for them to follow when they are no longer and prison or on parole.” (Mallegg 88) She adds, “They may evaluate inmates using questionnaires and psychological tests. They also work with inmates, probation officers, and staff of other agencies to develop parole and release plans.” (Mallegg 88) This kind of work interests me because I enjoy helping others develop plans of action and giving
Solitary confinement is a penal tactic used on inmates who pose a threat to themselves or other inmates. Solitary confinement is type of segregated prison in which prisoners are held in their cell for 22-24 hours every day. If they are allowed to leave their cell, they will silently walk shackled and in between two guards. They can only leave for showers or exercise. Their exercise and shower are always done alone and inside. They can exercise in fenced in yards surrounded by concrete. Solitary confinement is either used as a punishment for prison behaviors, a protection method for targeted inmates, or a place to keep prisoners who are a threat to the general prison population. Many prisoners are put in Administrative Segregation for their protection. Many prisoners in this type of segregation are teenagers, homosexuals, and mentally ill prisoners. Many mentally ill prisoners are sent to solitary confinement because there are not rehabilitation services available, and prison officials have run out of options (Shalev, 2008, p [1-2]). Solitary confinement is a convenient method for prison systems, but the detrimental effects on inmates make it an unsuitable option for inmate control.
In the 1970s and 1980s, a massive amount of inmates began fillin up the United States prison systems. This huge rate of growth in this short amount of time, has greatly contributed to the prison overcrowding that the United States faces today. In fact, the prisons are still filled to the seams. This enormous flood of inmates has made it practically impossible for prison officials to keep up with their facilities and supervise their inmates. One of the main reasons why many prisons have become overcrowded is because of states’ harsh criminal laws and parole practices (Cohen). “One in every 100 American adults is behind bars, the highest incarceration rate in the world” (Cohen). The amount of inmates in corrections systems, throughout the nation, sky-rocketed to 708 percent between 1972 and 2008. Today, there are about 145,000 inmates occupying areas only designed for 80,000 (Posner). Peter Mosko, “an assistant professor of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice” (Frazier) stated, “America, with 2.3 million people behind bars, has more prisoners than soldiers” (Frazier). There have been studies that have shown “there are more men and women in prison than ever before. The number of inmates grew by an average of 1,600 a week. The U. S. has the highest rate of crime in the world” (Clark). Because of this influx in inmates, many prisoners’ rights groups have filed lawsuits charging that “overcrowded prisons violate the Constitution’s 8th Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment” (Clark). It is clear that the United States corrections system needs to be reformed in order to eliminate this problem. Prison overcrowding is a serious issue in society due to the fact it affects prison ...
The prison system in the United States was not always like it is today. It took mistakes and changes in order to get it to the point it is at. Some people think that prisons should still be being changed while others feel that they are fine the way they are. It is hard to make an argument for one side or the other if one does not know about the history of prisons as well as the differences between prisons structures and differences in prison management. Knowledge of private prisons is also needed to make this difficult decision.
for youngsters who have a long history of convictions for less serious felonies for which the juvenile court disposition has not been effective” (qtd. in Katel).
Living in a prison for a long time becomes difficult for all inmates especially those who are mentally ill face stress when their environment suddenly becomes bars, harsh lights, and super maximum strict schedules. The inmates are forced to face the strict policies and conditions of custody in order to survive in the prison. These prolonged adaptations to the hardship and frustrations of life inside prison lead to certain psychological changes. Most of this inmates find it difficult to adjust in accordance with the prison rules. They get in trouble for destroying state property
While the positions within the correctional officers’ scope of responsibilities can range from working on a computer to interacting with inmates, physical strength is necessary. An officer has to be able to deal with potential physical interactions with inmates, whether that is restraining them, fighting them off until help comes, or subduing an inmate. Being a corrections officer is not for the faint of heart, maintaining physical health is a key reason why corrections officers have a high turnover. As officers age, it becomes harder to deal with the physical issues that they face on the job. Many inmates can outweigh a corrections officer, making it hard for one to fight with one inmate not to mention more than one. This is one of the reasons for eliminating rec equipment in the facilities in jails and prisons. The inmates were lifting weights all day and getting bigger and bigger creating a hazard for the corrections officers. Officers must have the physical strength to maintain their safety as well as those around them. Officers have to go through many tests prior to being hired. You must be able to “run 1.5 miles in under 17 minutes and 17 seconds, do 15 pushups and 11 sit-ups.” (Public Safety Testing, 2017) These are just the basic physical skills the officers need and as I have described prior, the mental skills and ability to cope with the job are
The Unrecorded Punishment on Prisoners Abuse of any kind, physical, sexual, mental, is known and condoned by nearly every American in the nation. If abuse has taken place through any form, the majority of the time the case is publicized by the media, and the story is mass circulated. But what about the minority of the cases that take place in a less media-monitored setting, such as prisons, jails, and juvenile detention centers? A high number of civilians do not realize how frequent abuse takes place in these environments, and the severity of the cases are usually underestimated. Reality is, nearly every form of abuse is bestowed upon inmates by their “guards” as they serve their sentence, and the abuse can cause detrimental and life-threatening
There are many different problems that plague the prison system today. The biggest issue today is overcrowding. This is a major problem that is effecting every prison system throughout the country. There are many people that say that the judges are the biggest reason for this. However, if people would not commit crimes, then the judges would not have as many people that need to be punished, and that would mean that there will be less people going to prison, and more people that are better citizens by staying out of trouble. If we could all learn to stay out of trouble, then the prison system, the judges, the law enforcement officers, the courts, and all the rest of the divisions inside the justice branch, will have less work to do, and will have less people that are needing to be punished. At the same time, the law makers need to figure out some way to make the punishments for the crimes different so that we can keep people from being repeat offenders. The people that are the issue here are those that are repeat offenders. What this means is that people that are getting out of prison have not