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Prisons
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What is Prisons?

Prisons are a central institution in the study of government, criminal justice, and social policy. Students encounter this topic across courses in political science, criminology, sociology, and public administration, where it raises questions about state power, punishment, and the relationship between incarceration and society. The subject is academically compelling because it sits at the intersection of law, ethics, budgetary policy, and social theory. Concepts such as Merton's anomie and social strain theory appear as frameworks for understanding why individuals commit crimes and how correctional systems respond, while ideas like the prison as a "total institution" invite deeper analysis of how incarceration reshapes identity and behavior.

Student papers on this topic take a wide range of approaches. Historical essays trace the development of state and federal prison systems across the twentieth century and into the present, sometimes drawing comparisons with systems in other countries, such as modern Turkey. Comparative papers frequently distinguish between jails and prisons, examining their different populations, purposes, and administrative structures. Policy-focused work addresses pressing issues like prison overcrowding and its impact on the criminal justice system, early parole as a budget strategy, and the regulation of prison health care. Other papers explore social dimensions, including masculinity and criminal behavior, the social control of girls, and training practices within corrections.

A strong essay on prisons begins with a focused, arguable thesis rather than a broad survey of the entire correctional system. Evidence drawn from policy data, legal frameworks, and sociological theory tends to carry the most weight. Writers should connect their chosen angle — whether historical, comparative, or policy-driven — directly to concrete outcomes for inmates, offenders, or communities. The most common pitfall is treating incarceration as a single uniform system; acknowledging distinctions between institution types, populations, and jurisdictions significantly strengthens analytical credibility.

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Research Paper Doctorate

Growth of imprisonment in the United States from 2002 to 2003

The statistics about imprisoned Americans in jails of local, state, and federal prisons and juvenile detention centers reveals a growth from 1,319,000 numbers in 2002 to 2,166,260 in 2002.

Paper Undergraduate

Governor Paul LePage's Maine budget cuts and mental health services

Mental illness and services for people with mental illness and their families have been the focus of considerable debate for decades. Despite the overwhelming evidence that mental illness and substance abuse are the leading causes of illness and disability in the U.S. they are rarely mentioned within the context of healthcare reform and frequently mentioned when cutting is proposed. This paper looks at the current budget proposal in the state of Maine and its effect on metal health services.

Paper Doctorate

Core competencies for correctional facility leadership and management

Issues in Correction Institutions Administration and Leadership Maintaining order and control in correctional facilities – while also presiding over well-managed facilities from a fiscal and ethical perspective – is the goal of every conscientious administrator. The Center for Innovative Public Policies (CIPP) published a list of "core competencies" for leadership in correctional facilities. Among the skills most vital to a competent prison leader are: a) to be able to "anticipate, analyze, and resolve organizational challenges"; b) to build and "maintain positive relationships with external stakeholders"; c) to "communicate effectively" and to "comprehend, obtain, and manage fiscal resources"; d) to create a diverse organizational that "promotes respect"; e) to be visionary and to engage in "strategic planning" and develop a vision for the mission of the institution; f) to enhance "self-awareness and maintain proactive professional commitment; g) to "establish organizational authority" and design roles and responsibilities; h) to make sound decisions, manage change, manage labor, manage time and manage "power and influence" in the prison; i) to "leverage the role of the jail in the criminal justice system"; and j) to be competent in the overseeing of the facility, of the inmates, of the physical plant and to "reduce jail-related liability risks" (CIPP).

Research Paper Undergraduate

Prison overcrowding in the United States criminal justice system

¶ … prison overcrowding and its effect on the criminal justice system. Prison overcrowding has skyrocketed in the United States in the last three decades, leading to a multitude of problems in the criminal justice system.

Paper Undergraduate

Dracula and Twilight: Gothic tradition versus modern consumer culture

Dracula is a far more traditional Gothic novel in the classic sense than the four books of the Twilight series, in which Bella Swan and her vampire lover Edward Cullen never even fully consummate their relationship until they are married in the third book Eclipse, and Bella does not finally get her wish to become a vampire until the fourth and final book Breaking Dawn. Far from being Edward's victim, or used as a pawn and discarded, she is eager to leave her dull, empty middle class life behind and become part of the Cullen vampire family

Research Paper Doctorate

Human rights violations and political conflict in the Arab world

As stated by the "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" in the United Nations, Human rights has almost become one of the most important factors that decided the development of a country.

Research Paper Doctorate

Reparations owed to descendants of African slaves in America

¶ … Rogerian style arguing for the stand that reparation should be paid, or is owed by the United States Government for the African-Americans, the descendants of the African slaves. It has 5 sources.

Thesis Undergraduate

State budget deficits and fiscal crisis during the recession

¶ … spring of 2010 by Rasmussen Reports showed that 55% of New Yorkers blamed the state's budget crisis solely on the state's politicians. The telephone survey showed that the then $9 billion budget deficit was…

Paper Doctorate

Diverting mental health crisis from the criminal justice system

The criminalization of the mentally ill is one of law enforcement's greatest challenges and tragedies. As Stephey points out, prisons have become the de facto mental health provider in the United States.

Research Paper Masters

Peter McPhee's analysis of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror

This paper answered the following questions: How did a revolution that began by seeking liberty and equality turn into one that by 1794 had resorted to a policy of terror? Included in the answer are the response to the following questions: 1) What brought about the revolution in 1789? 2) What reforms the first revolution sought and why it didn't survive (why it wasn't the end of the revolution)? 3) What reforms did the second revolution seek and which did they achieve? 4) Why did the revolutionary government resort to a policy of terror in 1793-94?

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