Corrections in the United States

Criminal Justice - Corrections

The Function of Corrections in the United States

Corrections refer to the supervision of persons arrested for, convicted of, or sentenced for criminal offenses. Correctional populations are divided into two general categories: institutional corrections and community corrections. Corrections cover both adults and youth in the juvenile system (Corrections, 2010). The function of prisons or correctional systems is to make society a safer place. Prisons are founded on the idea that some people are so inherently evil that they must be cut off from the rest of society and closely watched. During most of the twentieth century, the dominant philosophies have been incapacitation, deterrence, and retribution (Alighieri, 2009).

The area of corrections is thought by many experts to be the most challenging and frustrating component of the criminal justice system. The challenges include managing the inmates daily as well as the frustrations of inevitable mismanagement at attempting to accomplish multiple goals. New challenges present themselves every day. Employees in a correctional system are thought to be doing time the same as the inmates. The easy part is conducting a trial and sentencing somebody and the difficult part comes in what to do with them after they're sentenced (Prevention History of Corrections -- Punishment or Rehabilitation - Justice Model, 2010).

Community corrections refer to the supervision of criminal offenders in the resident population, as opposed to confining them in secure correctional facilities. The two main kinds of community corrections supervision are probation and parole. Correctional facilities are classified as community-based if at least 50% of the residents are regularly permitted to leave to work or study in the community. Community services include entities such as halfway houses, residential treatment centers, restitution centers, and prerelease centers (Corrections, 2010).

As crime increased during the 1980s, and the community corrections model was thought to be not working, pressure began mounting against rehabilitation, indeterminate sentencing, and probation, parole, and treatment programs. Some penologists supported putting criminals behind bars for a determinate amount of time, noting that offenders should be kept off the streets so that they cannot commit more crimes. The federal government along with several states introduced mandatory sentencing and life terms for habitual criminals often called three strikes laws, meaning that after three convictions you're out. They also restricted the use of probation, parole, and time off for good behavior (Prevention History of Corrections -- Punishment or Rehabilitation - Justice Model, 2010).

The rapid increase in the 1990s in the number of people confined in prisons and jails was thought to correspond with falling crime rates. Experts though could not agree as to why this decrease in crime occurred. Some thought that imprisoning more criminals naturally led to less crime in society, while others believed that new policing strategies and tactics such as community policing and zero-tolerance reduced crime. The growing number of offenders on parole and in prisons and jails has put a real burden on the system. Facilities have become overcrowded and states have had problems getting large enough budgets to build new prisons and jails or to supply the treatment and educational programs that are needed (Prevention History of Corrections -- Punishment or Rehabilitation - Justice Model, 2010).