The system of Criminal Justice is structure to put criminals away but sometimes they tend to put the wrong people away. Many innocent individuals are put in prison every day for a crime they did not commit. This shows the system is not structure and well organized as it should be because many people are in jail due to false imprisonment. In the movie “Shawshank Redemption” there were a lot of issues that man prison facilities attend to annoy if it did not benefit their needs. The main issues staff and the parole board try to ignore is the physical and sexual abuse that goes on in the prison by other inmates including staff as well. Shawshank Prison also did not focus on educating their inmates nor try to help rehabilitate and prepare offenders …show more content…
“Official Deviance is known as actions taken by officials which violate the and/ or the formal rules of the organization” (Stohr 2016 p.65). In other words, many officers abused and dictated their authorities by physically and mentally abusing inmates in prison. For example, excessive force was use a lot throughout the movie to prove a point to all inmates. Even in today’s facilities many people are abused in jail by officers for standing up for what is right and staff do not like when inmates try to dictate them. It is sad because in America today a lot of these abuse by staff or not reported or taken in consideration because a lot of offenders are frightened of what the staff can do to them. In the book “Correction the Essentials” many officer cover their selves by having other co-worker lie to get them out of facing charges of abusing inmates. In reality, it would not matter if inmates in prison try to report abuse or not because it would be their word over …show more content…
In other words, this prison know to discipline and rehabilitate offenders who was ready to be released. The practice was not enough because Ellis was once again denied multiples times by the parole board of possibility being released because they still felt he was a danger to society. I noticed in the movie that many inmates had nothing to lose because they were given life sentences and hated how corrupted the prison was. The prison culture was not all that great according to the movie it also drove some people crazy leading many individual to do suicide or even have thoughts of it. I learned the purpose of parole is supposed to help prepare those in prison, but looking at how the movie was structure they did not provide any educational programs for those who were willing to learned. I believe if it was not for Andy suggesting books for himself or others the board would have careless about educating the inmates. As for the course material I like how covered a lot of program that are offered in prison and outside as they prepare offenders to rehabilitate out in in society. For example, in the book they offered programs such as alcohol and drug treatment and even some for those who suffered mental illness
In the case study of whistle-blowing at Corcoran State Prison, two corrections officers were all but shunned for the actions they took to put an end to the mistreatment of prisoners. Officers Richard Caruso and Steve Rigg witnessed their fellow corrections officers abusing their power by placing rival gang members in a small recreation yard in the Security Housing Unit (SHU) to promote fighting. The officers would make bets on the inmates, treated the fighting like a sport and used unnecessary deadly force with a firearm at will (Dryburgh, 2009). Caruso and Rigg, both former marines, had superior comprehension of ethically handling a firearm; the actions of their co-workers became unacceptable so they took action (Dryburgh, 2009).
After reading the book I have gained a new understanding of what inmates think about in prison. Working in an institution, I have a certain cynical attitude at times with inmates and their requests. Working in a reception facility, this is a facility where inmates are brought in from the county jails to the state intake facility, we deal with a lot of requests and questions. At times, with the phone ringing off the hook from family members and inmates with their prison request forms, you get a little cynical and tired of answering the same questions over and over. As I read the book I begin to understand some of the reason for the questions. Inmate(s) now realize that the officers and administrative personnel are in control of their lives. They dictate with to get up in the morning, take showers, eat meals, go to classes, the need see people for different reason, when to exercise and when to go to bed. The lost of control over their lives is a new experience for some and they would like to be able to adjust to this new lost of freedom. Upon understanding this and in reading the book, I am not as cynical as I have been and try to be more patient in answering questions. So in a way I have changed some of my thinking and understanding more of prison life.
The correctional subculture is not described as extensively as the police subculture; however, many elements of misconduct and criminal activities are similar (Pollock, 2014). The parallelism of corruption between the police and correctional officer are as follows: (1) use of force; (2) acceptance of gratuities from inmates; (3) mistreatment/sexual coercion of inmates; and (4) abuse of authority for personal gains (Pollock, 2014). According to Pardue et al. (2011), there are two types of sexual coercion found within the prison subculture and they are as follows: (1) coercion between convicts; and (2) coercion between convicts and staff members (p. 289). The Department of Corrections is aware of staff sexual abuse and harassment of women prisoners, and they have been playing “catch up” to accommodate the challenges of this persisting problem (Clear et al., 2013, p.
When envisioning a prison, one often conceptualizes a grisly scene of hardened rapists and murderers wandering aimlessly down the darkened halls of Alcatraz, as opposed to a pleasant facility catering to the needs of troubled souls. Prisons have long been a source of punishment for inmates in America and the debate continues as to whether or not an overhaul of the US prison system should occur. Such an overhaul would readjust the focuses of prison to rehabilitation and incarceration of inmates instead of the current focuses of punishment and incarceration. Altering the goal of the entire state and federal prison system for the purpose of rehabilitation is an unrealistic objective, however. Rehabilitation should not be the main purpose of prison because there are outlying factors that negatively affect the success of rehabilitation programs and such programs would be too costly for prisons currently struggling to accommodate additional inmate needs.
The movie Shawshank Redemption depicts the story of Andy Dufresne, who is an innocent man that is sentenced to life in prison. At Shawshank, both Andy and the viewers, witness typical prison subculture.
In the essay "Prison "Reform" in America," Roger T. Pray points out the much attention that has been devoted to research to help prevent crimes. Showing criminals the errors of their ways not by brutal punishment, but by locking them up in the attempt to reform them. Robert Pray, who is a prison psychologist, is currently a researcher with the Utah Dept. of Corrections. He has seen what has become of our prison system and easily shows us that there is really no such thing as "Prison Reform"
It is said that prison should be used for more serious crimes such as rape, assault, homicide and robbery (David, 2006). Because the U.S. Prison is used heavily for punishment and prevention of crime, correctional systems in the U.S. tend to be overcrowded (David, 2006). Even though prisons in the U.S. Are used for privies on of crime it doesn 't work. In a 2002 federal study, 67% of inmates that
Throughout history into today, there have been many problems with our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, rape rates are off the charts, and we as Americans have no idea how to fix it. We need to have shorter sentences and try to rehabilitate prisoners back to where they can function in society. Many prisoners barely have a high school education and do not receive further education in jail. Guards need to pay more attention to the well being of the inmates and start to notice signs of abuse and address them. These are just a few of the many problems in our prison systems that need to be addressed.
One aspect of the documentary that relates to class material was the inmate’s description of being trapped in their cells like animals in a cage. This description of imprisonment can be associated to the article written by Sykes entitled, “The Pains of Imprisonment”. In this article, the author elaborates about how an inmate’s liberty is restricted to a specific building but then reduced further to a specific routine where they are told where to go and what to do. “In short, the prisoner’s loss of liberty is a double one — first, by confinement to the institution and second, by confinement within the institution.” (Sykes, 65). This is similar to how the prisoners in segregation are confined to the prison, and additionally to their cell. Another feature of the film that reflected class material was the campus style design of the prison. The inmates were allowed to roam around cell area and interact with other prisoners. Furthermore, different styles of adaptation to the segregation unit can be linked to class material. For instance, one member of the isolation unit is focused on completing his GED, an adaptation called gleaning. This is when an inmate takes advantage of offered programs because they do not want to return to prison. Prisoners who have served longer sentence times in isolation, for instance over a year, reflected a “doing time” adaption. They were simply focused on
America locks up five times more of its' population than any other nation in the world. Due to prison overcrowding, prisoners are currently sleeping on floors, in tents, in converted broom closets and gymnasiums, or even in double or triple bunks in cells, which were designed for one inmate. Why is this happening? The U.S. Judicial System has become so succumbed to the ideal that Imprisonment is the most visibly form of punishment. The current structure of this system is failing terribly. To take people, strip them of their possessions and privacy, expose them to violence on a daily basis, restrict their quality of life to a 5x7ft cell, and deprive them of any meaning to live. This scenario is a standard form of punishment for violent offenders, although not suitable for nonviolent offenders.
With the substantial increase in prison population and various changes that plague correctional institutions, government agencies are finding that what was once considered a difficult task to provide educational programs, inmate security and rehabilitation programs are now impossible to accomplish. From state to state each correctional organization is coupled with financial problems that have depleted the resources to assist in providing the quality of care in which the judicial system demands from these state and federal prisons. Judges, victims, and prosecuting attorneys entrust that once an offender is turned over to the correctional system, that the offender will receive the punishment in which was imposed by the court, be given services that aid in the rehabilitation to those offenders that one day will be released back into society, and to act as a deterrent to other criminals contemplating criminal acts that could result in their incarceration. Has our nations correctional system finally reached it’s critical collapse, and as a result placed or American citizens in harm’s way to what could result in a plethora of early releases of inmates to reduce the large prison populations in which independent facilities are no longer able to manage? Could these problems ultimately result in a drastic increase in person and property crimes in which even our own law enforcement be ineffective in controlling these colossal increases of crime against society?
The correctional system is based on helping offenders become part of society and not commit any crimes. Many prisons begin the correcting criminals since they are inside the jails, but many prisons do not. Prisons provide prisoners with jobs inside the prison where they get very little pay close to nothing and many have programs that will help them advance their education or get their high school diploma. There are various programs prisons provide to prisoners to help them get a job or have a skill when they are released from prison. In contrast, prisons that do not provide programs or help to prisoners rehabilitate and enter society again will be more likely to commit another crime and go back to jail. The Shawshank Redemption prison did not
All over America, crime is on the rise. Every day, every minute, and even every second someone will commit a crime. Now, I invite you to consider that a crime is taking place as you read this paper. "The fraction of the population in the State and Federal prison has increased in every single year for the last 34 years and the rate for imprisonment today is now five times higher than in 1972"(Russell, 2009). Considering that rate along crime is a serious act. These crimes range from robbery, rape, kidnapping, identity theft, abuse, trafficking, assault, and murder. Crime is a major social problem in the United States. While the correctional system was designed to protect society from offenders it also serves two specific functions. First it can serve as a tool for punishing the offender. This involves making the offender pay for his/her crime while serving time in a correctional facility. On the other hand it can serve as a place to rehabilitate the offender as preparation to be successful as they renter society. The U.S correctional system is a quite controversial subject that leads to questions such as how does our correctional system punish offenders? How does our correctional system rehabilitate offenders? Which method is more effective in reducing crime punishment or rehabilitation? Our correctional system has several ways to punish and rehabilitate offenders.
Prison was designed to house and isolate criminals away from the society in order for our society and the people within it to function without the fears of the outlaws. The purpose of prison is to deter and prevent people from committing a crime using the ideas of incarceration by taking away freedom and liberty from those individuals committed of crimes. Prisons in America are run either by the federal, states or even private contractors. There are many challenges and issues that our correctional system is facing today due to the nature of prisons being the place to house various types of criminals. In this paper, I will address and identify three major issues that I believe our correctional system is facing today using my own ideas along with the researches from three reputable outside academic sources.
The mass media uses prison life as the source for movies and television shows. Over the years there have been many movies written about prison but the most prominent in my mind is Frank Darabont’s, The Shawshank Redemption. Throughout the film there are many examples of the falsities of prison life. There are some elements of truth but they are out weighed by the misconceptions. Numerous prisoners are allowed to walk around the prison and the prison yard with no guards in sight. In actuality there are always guards around, especially on the inside. The prisoner’s movement through the prison is highly restricted.