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The positives of prison alternatives
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The positives of prison alternatives
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Morris County Correctional Facility Over the course of the past two centuries, there have been significant changes in the physical plant(s), ideologies and ethics of Correctional Officers, Correctional Administrators and policy makers alike. The Morris County Jail of the past was constructed in the basement of the courthouse when it opened in 1826. The conditions were ominous to say the least as little light seeped in through tiny, barred windows that were high off the floor. Around the turn of the century, there was a push for a new jail; however freeholders in support of the idea were met with opposition resulting in their defeat at the polls. Nevertheless, as time passed, in 1914 the basement jail was remodeled creating a more modern …show more content…
Over the course of the next 50 years, Morris County saw an increase in inmate population forcing extension of the existing facility. In 1984 when expansion was completed, the larger jail was capable of holding 145 inmates. However, despite expansion efforts, inmate population continued to climb dramatically resulting in excess of 320 inmates by 1989. In light of severe overcrowding, there was a high priority placed on building a new correctional facility on an alternate site which was capable of accommodating a larger, more modernized facility. Following decades of formalities and planning, the Morris County Correctional Facility of today opened its doors on May 25, 2000. The facility is clean, climate controlled, full of natural and artificial light, and has all modern day security and surveillance equipment designed to keep staff and the public at large safe. Located in Morris Township, the six story structure boasts approximately 160,000 square feet of space which resides on over 16 acres of land, allowing for future expansion if …show more content…
The modern facility utilizes a direct supervision management philosophy which puts the Correction Officer at a work station directly inside the housing unit with inmates. With direct supervision, the officer is able to maintain incessant supervision of the inmates; including but not limited to cells, dayrooms, multipurpose rooms, and areas utilized for recreational activities. With this particular method of supervision, the officer has direct, personal interaction with inmates. This permits the officer to develop a professional relationship with the population, which in turn resolves problems and conflicts in a pro-active manner. In fact, most situations are able to be resolved before they become major issues due to the close proximity of the officer. Unlike its predecessors, the Morris County Correctional facility of today offers a wide variety of programs and services designed to educate and assist inmates with their rehabilitation needs. Some services that are provided include substance abuse counseling such as N/A, A/A as well as educational classes such as ABE, GED and ESL. The facility employs a full time Substance Abuse Counselor as well as a full time educator in order to provide these services. There is also a full time Chaplain on premises who provides multi-denominational counseling and related
Correctional program writing nowadays is at a level of efficiency that surpasses earlier outlooks. In territories all over the United States, there are several curriculums that use research-based curriculums to teach, instruct, and inspire inmates. Disappeared are the days of hit-or-miss execution of curriculums that seemed good, but over and over again just occupied time for the inmates. The previous evolution happened for several reasons (Corrections Today, 2010). The largest wake-up demands was the claim composed around thirty years ago. The statement made was not anything works in corrections systems, mainly rehabilitation. Even though this commonly revealed report was taken from its context, it did in detail carry some notice to the mystery that several penitentiaries were not operational as change
Unable to get official permission to interview and write about correctional officers, Ted Conover, author of the book Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, “got in" by applying for a correctional officer position. After training, he and his fellow rookies, known as "newjacks," were randomly assigned to Sing Sing, one of the country's most famous -- and infamous -- prisons. Sing Sing, a maximum-security male prison, was built in 1828 by prisoners themselves, kept at their task by frequent use of the whip. Today, the chaos, the backbiting, the rundown building and equipment, the disrespect and the relentless stress that Conover experienced in his year at Sing Sing show, quite well, how the increase of prisons in the U.S. brutalizes more than just the prisoners. Some of the individuals in Conover's entering "class" of corrections trainees had always wanted to work in law enforcement. Others were ex-military, looking for a civilian job that they thought would reward structure and discipline. But most came looking for a steady job with good benefits. To get it, they were desperate enough to commute hours each way, or even to live apart from their families during the work week. Their job consists of long days locking and unlocking cells, moving prisoners to and from various locations while the prisoners beg, hassle and abuse them. Sometimes, the prisoners' requests are simple, but against the rules: an extra shower, some contraband cigarettes. Other times, they are appropriate, but unbelievably complicated: it can take months to get information about property lost in the transfer from one prison to another. Meanwhile, the orders officers give are ignored. Discipline -- even among the officers themselves -- is non-existent. And with the money and benefits of this "good" job come nightmares and family stress, daily uncertainty about one's job and duties, and pent-up frustration that, every so often, explodes in violence -- instigated by staff as well as by prisoners.
...they want to be not only respected but also being able to survive in the prison environment. In prison, there are so many inmates and not two inmates are the same. The inmates will disrespect the officers by calling them names, giving officers difficult times, but it goes the other way around too. It is disturbing image after learning that sometimes it is the officer’s fault and not just the inmates’ wrongdoings. There will be times when officers and inmates will engage in a conspiracy crime and times when the female staff is engaged in sexual actions with an inmate. Conover wrote this book to allow the audience to see the prison society from many different point-of-views and give future officers an early insight to becoming a correctional officer.
In writing the book Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, Conover undergoes a transformation as a correctional officer in order to expose the problems within our prison systems. The reader learns a lot about what is taking place in prisons right now and what it is like to be a guard, but in sum what one must foremost take into account is that this is not how prisons how they have to be. There are social, political, and economic realities that have constructed this system and in order to dispel them it is more beneficial to understand these factors rather than one man’s experience in a place of power at one prison.
“Cook County furnishes two-thirds of the state’s prison inmates, sixteen thousand new ones a year (Bogira).” Cook County was built to help make the jail system easier by toting its large holding capacity. It is noted in the book that opening day of the courthouse, during prohibition, had processed 1,341 prisoners while the prison had a capacity for 1,302 prisoners (Bogira 54). A crime is an offense that can be prosecuted by the fullest extent of the law; County Board Secreta...
As a newly promoted Lieutenant in charge of jail operations in the Houston Police Department (HPD), there are several critical issues regarding the jail environment that require immediate attention such as, inadequate conditions of confinement, health care, security measures, and sexual misconduct between correctional officers and inmates. The aforementioned issues are a controversial topic all across the U.S. and it usually attracts media attention and creates negative publicity towards the Department of Corrections. A lieutenant of jail operations is responsible for his or he shift and oversees multiple areas of the jail facility. Responsibilities of a jail lieutenant includes but is not limited to the following: (1) coordinate shift activities;
The 1970s in the United States was a time of incredible change, doubt, as well as reform. The many issues happening throughout the country helped to lead to the discomfort in many prisoners that eventually lead to their e...
Lab, Steven P. “Institutional Corrections.” Criminal Justice: The Essentials. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.
Correctional officers spend a great amount of time with inmates behind prison walls, and work in close proximity with them as well. Correctional officers work in shifts and sometimes they pull a double to make some overtime money. Long hours spent in jail or prison facilities will create opportunities for some officers to make advances towards an inmate. Pollock (2014) states, “This familiarity with inmates sometimes tempts officers to engage in unethical behaviors such as sexual relationships (p. 194). It is up to correctional administrators to set the tone and exemplify good leadership and management skills that can instill good working ethics in the minds of young correction officers. Clear et al. (2013) believed in an innovative screening
“Prison Overcrowding: The Problem.” American Legislative Exchange Council. ALEC-American Legislative Exchange Council, 2013. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
The past two decades have engendered a very serious and historic shift in the utilization of confinement within the United States. In 1980, there were less than five hundred thousand people confined in the nation’s prisons and jails. Today we have approximately two million and the numbers are still elevating. We are spending over thirty five billion annually on corrections while many other regime accommodations for education, health
The career of a correctional officer has always captivated me in a way that is difficult to explain. Even as a child, I recall tuning into shows such as Lockup and Lockdown. In fact, my earliest, most vivid memories consist of me sitting in front of a TV screen with my eyes mesmerized by the hardened criminals visioned on the screen before me. It may seem peculiar, but I’ve always pictured myself inside the prison walls. What’s even more peculiar is that I’ve seldom visioned myself as a correctional officer; in fact, I’ve almost always visioned myself as a prisoner.
“The history of correctional thought and practice has been marked by enthusiasm for new approaches, disillusionment with these approaches, and then substitution of yet other tactics”(Clear 59). During the mid 1900s, many changes came about for the system of corrections in America. Once a new idea goes sour, a new one replaces it. Prisons shifted their focus from the punishment of offenders to the rehabilitation of offenders, then to the reentry into society, and back to incarceration. As times and the needs of the criminal justice system changed, new prison models were organized in hopes of lowering the crime rates in America. The three major models of prisons that were developed were the medical, model, the community model, and the crime control model.
Firstly, in order to gain a better understanding of the problems that plague or correctional system we must fully understand the enormous overcrowding problem that exist in the majority of or state and federal prisons. Since 1980 the prison population has quadrupled and only the numb...
Levitt, S. D. (1996). THE EFFECT OF PRISON POPULATION SIZE ON CRIME RATES: EVIDENCE FROM PRISON OVERCROWDING LITIGATION. Quarterly Journal Of Economics, 111(2), 319-351.