Police Studies 2200 class discussions PDF

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Police Studies 2200 Discussion Week 1 There are two main types of incarceration in Canada. An inmate can serve a provincial term, which is any term of incarceration between one day and two years less one day, or a federal term, which is any term of incarceration that lasts two years or more. With two types of incarceration in Canada, there are also two types of penitentiaries. In Newfoundland and Labrador, there are four provincial, and one federal penitentiary. (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). Usually, inmates who are serving a federal term have employment opportunities within the penitentiary. In some federal penitentiaries, inmates can be hired to work in the kitchen, and will receive payment once their sentence has been completed. This is not usually the case in provincial penitentiaries because the term being served is much shorter. Federal penitentiaries will normally have more leisure activities than what is offered in provincial; some institutions even have a golf course (Whitten-Nagle & MUN 2012). The Correctional Services of Canada, or the CSC for short, is the Canadian federal government agency responsible for the incarceration and rehabilitation of convicted criminal offenders sentenced to two years or more. All federal inmates in Canada are under the authority of the CSC (Whitten-Nagle & MUN 2012). “The mission of the CSC is to contribute to public safety by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding citizens, while exercising reasonable, safe, secure and humane control” (“CSC Values Statement”, 2012).

CSC Values Statement. (2012, October 22). Retrieved January 13, 2018, from http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/about-us/006-0026-eng.shtml

Whitten-Nagle, C., & Memorial University of Newfoundland. (2012). Adult Corrections. Retrieved January 13, 2018, from https://online.mun.ca/d2l/le/content/266254/viewContent/2435223/View

Discussion Week 2 When the first penitentiary in Canada was introduced in the early 1800’s in Kingston, Ontario, the wellbeing of inmates was the last thing on a lot of people’s minds. The goals of the penitentiary in Kingston was to eliminate what they thought the underlying causes of crime were: intemperance, laziness, and lack of moral values. To help eliminate these underlying causes, there was a strong emphasis on hard labour, discipline, silence, and religion. The inmates were not allowed to speak, or make gestures to one another. Doing so could result in corporal punishment such as six lashes with a cat-o’-nine-tails, or a rawhide. (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2012, p. 25). Thirteen years after Kingston’s penitentiary opened (1848), the creation of a Royal Commissions, called the Brown Commission. They investigated charges of mismanagement, theft, and mistreatment of convicts, and had found that the warden in Kingston, Henry Smith, had mismanaged the institution and used corporal punishment excessively. Though corporal punishment was lessened in the penitentiary, the silent system and hard labour remained. (Griffiths & Murdoch, 2012, p. 26). Although these things remained, it was a step in the right direction towards prison reform. In today’s prisons, inmates are seen as people, and the goal is to rehabilitate them and make them well-functioning members of society. There are organizations such as the John Howard Society (JHS), who offer support for inmates, and advocate their rights making rehabilitation and reintegration more possible. Everyone has the right to live in a safe and peaceful society and a responsibility to respect the law (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). The John Howard Society started with a group of church workers who wanted to bring spiritual help to the prisoners in the local jail in 1867. The group grew and grew, helping to rehabilitate prisoners and advocate for their rights, and eventually turned into the JHS we know today (The John Howard Society of Canada, 2018). This is how the JHS came to be, and how it aided in prison reform. I think that organizations such as the JHS were beneficial to prison reform because they helped the public and the people who run the prisons realize that the inmates are people, and they should be treated as such. Just because a person makes bad choices, doesn’t mean that they can’t be rehabilitated and learn from what they did. Because of these organizations, inmates get a chance at being able to start fresh and lead a healthier life than they were before the were incarcerated. The JHS offers offender-based programs in the areas of substance abuse and sex offending, and offers assistance to inmates outside of the institution (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). Without this organization, inmates wouldn’t get a fair chance at starting a new life, and would probably become repeat offenders.

Griffiths, C. T., & Murdoch, D. J. (2014). Chapter 2: The Creation of the Canadian Penitentiary. In Canadian Corrections (4th ed., pp. 25-26). Toronto, Ontario: Nelson Education. The John Howard Society of Canada. (2018). The John Howard Society in Canada. Retrieved January 17, 2018, from http://johnhoward.ca/about-us/history/ Whitten-Nagle, C., & Memorial University of Newfoundland. (2012). John Howard Society. Retrieved January 17, 2018, from https://online.mun.ca/d2l/le/content/266254/viewContent/2435226/View

Discussion Week 3 Criminological theory is a very important part of criminology. It helps criminologists and others understand why some people commit the crimes that they do. It gives us and insight into circumstances that the accused was dealing with, so that they can be provided the help that they need to recuperate and rehabilitate to be a well-functioning member of society. Criminological theory also helps criminologists see the best solutions to help reduce the types and levels of crime (Briggs, n.d.). There are many different theories such as labelling theory, theory of differential association, social learning theory, and rational choice theory (Whitten, 2018). One very interesting criminological theory is the psychodynamic theory, which is one of the three main psychological theories of crime. This theory suggests that an individual’s personality is determined by events that happen in their early life and childhood (Psychological Theories of Crime, n.d.). If a person has a violent childhood, such as abusive parents or friends, then they will subconsciously be violent. A lot of times women who had abusive childhoods find themselves in violent intimate partner relationships, which can lead to their own criminality (Minh, Matheson, Daoud, Hamilton-Wright, Pedersen, Borenstein, & O’Campo, 2013

Discussion Weeks 4&5 Criminogenic risks are anything that influences criminal behaviour. There are eight main criminogenic risks that have been identified by Canadian criminologist, James Bonta. They are criminal history, alcohol and/or drug abuse, level of education or employment, family and/or marital status, what they do for leisure and recreation, their companions, if the have a procriminal attitude, and/or and anti-social pattern. If an offender presents any of these factors, they can help determine the root to why they committed the crime. This helps criminologists decide the best method for rehabilitation to decrease the chances of re-offending (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). There are two different types of criminogenic risk, static, and dynamic. A static risk is one that cannot be changed, such as someone’s criminal history. If someone has a lengthy criminal history, it cannot be changed because once they commit the crime, there’s no going back. On the other hand, a dynamic risk is one that can be changed. The seven remaining risks are all ones that can be changed through rehabilitation, counselling, or being referred to school (Whitten-Nagle & MUN 2012). These criminogenic risks relate to criminal activity in many ways. If someone only has a grade six education, in most cases they will not have the ability to get a well-paying job. This may lead to stealing money or other goods to sell to make money to increase their income. To deal with stress they may result to drug use. If they become incarcerated, they will be assessed using a test called the Level of Service / Case Management Inventory, developed by Don Andrews, James Bonta, and J. Stephen Wormith, to formally confirm these risks. Once they have been confirmed by this assessment, they will be referred to the proper rehabilitation. (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). In my example, the person would be referred to a school to higher their education, rehabilitation for drug use, and counselling to help cope with stress and better means of obtaining money. Whitten-Nagle, C., & MUN. (2012). Criminogenic Risks. Retrieved February 7, 2018, from https://online.mun.ca/d2l/le/content/266254/viewContent/2435231/View

Discussion Week 9 There is a widespread of violence inside Canadian penitentiaries, and for the most part this is caused by prison subcultures. Subcultures cause violent acts between inmates because they want to gain power or status or want to be respected among the inmate population. Sometimes there is violence in inmate populations because of things that are considered disrespectful in their subculture such as flushing your toilet after lockdown or reaching over an inmate’s tray during a meal. Something that is very much looked down upon, and in some cases not even permitted in these populations is stealing from another inmate; especially if the person they are stealing from is a higher social status than the person stealing. In an example found in Whitten-Nagle’s week seven notes on D2L, she talks about how an inmate was being murdered by another because he stole a bag of chips from him. Drug trades in prisons are another cause of violence for inmates, even more so if someone gets involved in a drug deal that they aren’t supposed to be involved in (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). The violence inside prisons impacts inmate life in various ways. Inmates feel forced to not report crimes that happen while incarcerated, or lie about it if questioned, because they fear being labeled a rat or a snitch (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). Negative labels like these in prison culture can lead to social isolation, and even more assaults. It is situations like these that cause stress for both inmates, and officers who were in penitentiaries, and makes the environment, an even more unpleasant place to be. Many inmates already must deal with the stress that comes with the guilt of crime, financial, family, and social issues. Dealing with the fear of being assaulted or even murdered is a stress they shouldn’t have to feel.

Whitten-Nagle, C., & Memorial University of Newfoundland. (2012). Violence Inside Prisons. Retrieved March 7, 2018, from https://online.mun.ca/d2l/le/content/266254/viewContent/2435241/View

Discussion Weeks 11&12 Some offenders are eligible for early release programs, or some other alternative to prison. Some alternatives to incarceration includes an offender being supervised or monitored by a probation officer, electronic monitoring also known as house arrest, and intermittent sentencing. An incarcerated inmate can apply for an early release program once they serve one sixth of their sentence if they’re in a provincial prison or apply for parole after one third of their sentence, or seven years, whichever is less, if they’re in a federal prison (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). Electronic monitoring is when an offender is required to wear a wrist or ankle bracelet that monitors their actions to make sure that they are following the law and rules set out for them. They are oftentimes only allowed to leave for things such as work or school, and to perform household duties such as shopping for groceries. Intermittent sentencing is when an offender is incarcerated for short periods at a time. An example of this could be they are required to be incarcerated on weekends, starting on Friday evening and being released again Monday morning, then doing the same thing the following weekend (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). Early release programs for inmates in provincial penitentiaries can apply for a temporary absence which allows them to serve their term in the community or a halfway house after they’ve completed one sixth of their sentence. The correctional staff will contact different community agencies such as the arresting police force, probation officer, victim services, and child youth and family services, and the inmate will usually be electronically monitored. For inmates in federal penitentiaries, they can apply for parole after they serve either one third, or seven years (whichever is less) of their sentence. Parole gives offenders the chance to serve the remainder of their sentence in the community (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). Advantages of early release programs and other alternatives to prison include, helping reduce the rapidly increasing prison population, and lowering the risk of re-offending (Whitten-Nagle & MUN, 2012). Prison population is growing very quickly, and overpopulated prisons causes for high stress, which can lead to re-offending. Keeping the low risk inmates out of prison and in rehabilitative programs and serving their sentence through prison alternatives helps reduce stress for the inmates and workers in the prison, and for the inmates who are serving their sentence outside of the prison. Early release programs give inmates a motive to be well behaved while incarcerated, because the thought of being released early will push them to do everything they’re supposed to, and so they can start leading a normal life.

Whitten-Nagle, C., & Memorial University of Newfoundland. (2012). Alternatives to Incarceration. Retrieved March 9, 2018, from https://online.mun.ca/d2l/le/content/266254/viewContent/2435246/View Whitten-Nagle, C., & Memorial University of Newfoundland. (2012). Provincial Inmates. Retrieved March 9, 2018, from https://online.mun.ca/d2l/le/content/266254/viewContent/2435247/View...