Intro to Criminal Justice Chapter 11 PDF

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Intro to Criminal Justice Chapter 11 Prisons and Jails A Brief History of Prisons •

Early punishments frequently cruel and torturous

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Before prisons, British convicts often exiled to American colonies or Australia

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Workhouses used in Western Europe to house debtors, unemployed, vagrants

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Earliest records of incarceration date back to the middle ages

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The Penitentiary Era (1790)

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Pennsylvania system used solitary confinement, Bible study

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Philosophy of rehabilitation, deterrence

The Mass Prison Era (1825) •

Auburn system – congregate/silent system

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Philosophy of incapacitation, deterrence

The Reformatory Era (1876) •

Indeterminate sentencing, earned early release

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Elmira Reformatory

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Philosophy of rehabilitation

The Industrial Era (1890) •

Inmate labor, prison industries

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Ashurst-Sumners Act (1935)

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Philosophy of incapacitation, restoration

The Punitive Era (1935) •

Prisoners owed a debt to society, paid through rigorous period of confinement

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Emphasis on custody, institutional security

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Philosophy of retribution

The Treatment Era (1945) •

Medical model of corrections

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Philosophy on rehabilitation

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The Community-Based Era (1967) •

Move away from institutionalization, towards reformation in the community

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Philosophy of restoration, rehabilitation

The Warehousing Era (1980) •

Period of mass imprisonment

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Philosophy of incapacitation

The Just Deserts Era (1995) •

Emphasis on individual responsibility

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Get-tough initiatives

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Philosophy of retribution, incapacitation, deterrence

The Evidence-Based Era (2012) •

Philosophy of cost-effective solutions to correctional issues

Prisons Today •

Prison – A state or federal confinement facility that has custodial authority over adults sentenced to confinement

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Huge disparity between African Americans and Caucasians in prison – Incarceration rate for African American males was seven times greater than the figure for Caucasians.

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Prison – A state or federal confinement facility that has custodial authority over adults sentenced to confinement

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Incarceration rates high despite declining crime rates

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Use of imprisonment varies by state

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Typical state prison system – 1 high-security prison – 1 or more medium security institutions 1 institution for adult women – 1-2 institutions for young adults – 1-2 specialized mental hospital-type security prisons

– 1 or more open type institutions •

Most people sentenced to state prisons were convicted of violent crimes

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Most people sentenced to federal prison were convicted of drug law violations

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Huge disparity between blacks and whites in prison

Overcrowding •

The just deserts philosophy led to substantial and continued increases in the American prison population, even as crime rates were dropping.

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Beginning in 2011, the growth of prison populations began to decline in state prisons

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Overcrowding is still a problem in many state and federal prisons

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Prison capacity •

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Rated Capacity •

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The number of inmates a prison can effectively accommodate, based on management considerations

Design Capacity •

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The number of inmates a prison can handle, according to experts

Operational Capacity •

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The size of the correctional population an institution can effectively hold

The number of inmates a prison was intended to hold when it was built or modified

Overcrowding alone is not cruel and unusual punishment

Selective Incapacitation: A Strategy to Reduce Prison Populations •

Collective Incapacitation – Found in states that rely on predetermined, or fixed, sentences

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Selective Incapacitation – Seeks to identify the most dangerous criminals with the goal of removing them from society – Assessment of dangerousness is central to this strategy

Security Levels •

Minimum Security

– Generally housed in dormitory-like settings, free to walk the yard and visit most of the prison facility •

Medium Security – Inmates generally permitted more freedom to associate with one another – Less intense supervision.

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Maximum Security – High fences, thick walls, secure cells, gun towers, armed prison guards – Death-row inmates are all maximum-security prisoners.

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Typical American prison today is medium or minimum custody

Prison Classification Systems •

Classification System – Used to assign inmates to custody levels based on offense history, assessed dangerousness, and other factors

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Initial classification determines the institution an offender is placed in

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Internal classification determine program assignment within that institution

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Adult internal management system (AIMS) – Record of misconduct – Ability to follow staff directions – Level of aggression toward other inmates

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Classification criteria must be relevant to institution's legitimate security needs

The Federal Prison System •

Five security levels – Minimum security (FPCs) – Low security (FCIs) – Medium security (FCIs) – High security (USPs) – ADMAX (administrative maximum)

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Administrative facilities – metropolitan detention centers (jails) and medical centers

Recent Improvements

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ACA Commission on Accreditation – Developed a set of standards – correctional institutions meeting them can apply for accreditation

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National Academy of Corrections

Jails •

Jail – A confinement facility administered by an agency of local government typically a law enforcement agency, intended for adults but sometimes also containing juveniles. Jails hold people who are being detained pending adjudication or who were committed after adjudication, usually those sentenced to a year or less

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Jails hold 744,600 inmates – 60% are unconvicted

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3,283 jails operating in U.S. with about 234,000 jail employees

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Average housing cost is over $14,500 per year/per inmate

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Typical jail inmate – unmarried black male between 25-34 with some high school education

Purposes of Jails •

Receiving individuals pending arraignment, holding for trial, conviction, sentencing

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Readmitting probation, parole, and bail violators

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Detaining juveniles, mentally ill, others pending transfer

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Holding individuals for the military, protective custody, contempt of court

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Releasing inmates upon completion of sentence

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Transferring inmates to federal, state, other authorities

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Housing inmates for federal, state, or other authorities

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Operating community-based programs

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Holding inmates sentenced to short terms (under 1 year)

Women and Jail •

13% of jail population are women - largest growth group in jails nationwide

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Problems faced by jailed women – Lack of classification system for women

– Lack of facilities geared for female offenders – Education levels are low – Drug abuse – Pregnancy and child support •

Women working in corrections – 22% of correctional officers are women – Deployment of female personnel disproportionately skewed to lower rank jobs – Only 1 in 10 chief administers are female – Women do have equal footing with male staffers

The Growth of Jails •

Jails are called the "shame of the criminal justice system" – Many old, poorly funded, understaffed, employees underpaid, poorly trained – Low priority in local budgets

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Overcrowding still a problem

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Diversion to community-based programs can help contain jail population growth

New Generation Jails •

Direct supervision jails – Temporary confinement facilities that eliminate many of the traditional barriers between inmates and corrections staff – Have tendency to reduce inmate dissatisfaction, violence, likelihood of inmate victimization – Higher staff morale, lower stress – Fewer lawsuits brought by inmates

Jails and the Future •

Jails receive relatively little attention from the media.

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Have generally escaped public scrutiny

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National efforts are underway to improve the quality of jail life

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Jail industries •

Teach inmates marketable skills

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Regional Jails •

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Built and run using the combined resources of a variety of local jurisdictions

State jail standards •

Identify basic minimum conditions necessary for inmate health and safety

Private Prisons •

Privatization – The movement toward the wider use of private prisons

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Private Prison – Correctional institution operated by a private firm on behalf of a local or state government – Growth rate of private prison industry has been around 35% annually

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States use private prisons to reduce overcrowding, lower operating expenses, avoid lawsuits targeted at state officials and employees

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Some studies show private prisons may not bring anticipated cost savings

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Barriers to privatization – Old state laws that prohibit private involvement in correctional management – Strikes by correctional officers – The state's liability will not transfer to private corrections

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The use of private prisons by the federal system is being ended...