riots

Jail and prison riots are very much real and a huge issue when comes to the safety of the inmates and the staff. However, they are not as common of an occurrence as they once were. In earlier times and up until the 1980’s jail and prison riots happened frequently and lasted days at a time, taking a large number of lives (Burkenstien, 1). There were a few major riots that took the lives of a lot of people, one in New Mexico killed 33, one in New York killed 43, and the last major riot in West Virginia took 3 peoples lives’, which was in 1986. Since then, the amount of riots a year has gone down significantly. In 2003 alone there were less than 3 riots that occurred that year. The assaults on staff members also dropped during the same time period. That is quite impressive being that the incarceration rates have increased since then.

               One of the few reasons there has been a decline in riots or violence within correctional facilities is that the number inmates in there due to violent crimes has gone down. Those who are in there because of a violent crime, tend to be in some form of higher security facility. The management of these facilities has improved, there has also implementation of security squads. The squads are called Correctional Emergency Response Teams, and they have been incredibly beneficial when it comes to violence among the inmates (Birkenstein, 1). These teams have really impacted the severity of riots that have occurred since their inception, because they stop the riots before too much harm is done. However, riots still occur even though they are less frequent.

               There are many reason as to why inmates become violent. Racial issues are one of the major reasons that there is violence in correction facilities. Different races correlate with different gangs, and if a member of a certain gang so much as talks to a member of a different gang, said member will be punished. Therefore, not only is there violence within each gang but also between the different gangs. The main way to get by in jails and prisons is to stick with your own race and always be willing and able to defend them or help them when need be. For example, when a riot does occur each member of the gang must get involved to help their fellow members (Lichten, 1). If a person from the gang that is being a part of the riot does not help, they risk the chance of getting beat after the fact.

               The main ways to try and prevent riots or prevent them from getting out of hand, is staff. Having a decent number of staff on hand to be able to keep the inmates in check is crucial to maintaining order. If there is not enough staff then correction facilities have high chances of getting overthrown by the inmates, even if just for a few days. When guards are able to patrol, and keep a constant watch on all sections of the facilities, inmates become too intimidated to attempt to revolt. Therefore, the more staff is around, they are able to detect tensions between the inmates. Less staff means less opportunity for catching any kind of tension or potential threats to the facility.

There have been many huge jail and prison riots in the United States but, there have only been a few notoriously bad ones.  One of them being the one at Alcatraz in 1946, where an inmate and few others were able to disarm the guards and tried to escape, but accidently jammed the door and were stopped before anything too bad could happen. Another one was in Montana in 1959, two inmates were able to disarm all the guards and release all the inmates. They killed the Deputy warden, but no one else’s life was taken. One of the culprits ended up surrendering by killing his partner and himself. There have been many terrible riots in the United States, and even more gruesome ones in other countries where many more people lost their lives.

Fortunately, now riots in the United States have gone down significantly. This is due to various reason, one of the major ones being that staff is now more prepared to handle these kinds of situations, and they have team dedicated to diffuse possible riots. However, they are still very possible and can get really horrible if not managed properly.

Sources:

http://listverse.com/2014/08/06/10-bloody-prison-riots/

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/12/have-a-safe-riot/354671/

http://www.policeandjailprocedures.com/live/jail-and-prison-riots.html

rehabilitative justice

Rehabilitative Justice, in my opinion, is the most important of the justice purposes. Many believe that the best way to help offenders is by being able to alter their state of mind. By altering their state of mind, it in turn alters their behavior. Thus, helping the offenders gain better behavior and cope with tough situations. Rehabilitative justice critics believe that this form of punishment does not provide enough justice for the victims and their families. However, now in today’s society the idea of revenge or retribution is considered barbaric. In many instances this is true, it is more important to attempt and make the individual at fault understand that their behavior was wrong then to punish them by making them pay for what they did.

            When do we as humans draw the line? What makes it okay do wrong to others as was done to us? Now, it does not mean that punishment is not necessary. It most certainly is, however the form of punishments that have been put in place so far have done little to lower the rate of recidivism. For instance, even though crime rate has gone down since 2008, it is still happening far too often. Jails and prisons have remained incredibly overcrowded, and the amount of money being used to keep these facilities running is very high. A lot of people argue that rehabilitative justice, say that it will cost more to get rehabilitative programs up and running. In the long run, it will more cost efficient because people will be less likely to go back into jail.   

            Most people who are against rehabilitative justice are people who do not view the offender as a human. They do not take into consideration that everyone makes mistakes, and everyone has different ways of reacting to certain situations. People have different brains, therefore think differently, and behave differently. Some people think it is okay to lie if it keeps somebody from getting hurt, and others feel that it is never okay to lie. Some crimes are too serious and this analogy may not apply, but is it not our divine right to be there and help one another.        

            It is hard to justify crimes like rape, murder, child molestation, etc. As a matter of fact, there is no justification for those types of crimes. The place where rehabilitation programs are more effective would be in jails. Most times jails hold people who are in there for less serious crimes such as, drug related crimes, robbery, stealing, just to name a few. These are the offenders who have a chance and learning behavior that will prevent them from committing the same crimes. Those who have committed heinous crimes are usually suffer from some sort of psychological disorder ranging from, psychopathy, sociopathy, and a many more. Many of these criminals are unable to benefit from any kind of rehabilitative program.

            The main goal of rehabilitative programs is to alter an offender’s behavior for the better. They attempt to do so by teaching them different and better ways of dealing with frustrating circumstances. Many times, when someone who has a history of criminal behavior, encounters those situations, it results in criminal behavior or activity. The main goal is to help the offenders reshape their thinking process, this is key in prevent and stopping criminal behavior.

            Rehabilitative justice is a crucial form of punishment. It would be very beneficial if everyone realized such and gave it a chance. I understand the reluctance towards it, but it is time to realize that the previous way of punishment are not being effective, and it is time to give rehabilitation a shot. 

Synthesis

Criminal behavior has become an epidemic in the United States. In more recent years, the issue of overcrowding in jails and prisons has only increased. The amount of people going to jail because of drug related crimes has been one of the main reasons for the overcrowding issues in jails, and even prisons. Due to laws, such as the Three Strikes Law, after more than two offenses criminals are sent to serve longer sentences in prison even if the crimes are less serious. This begs the question of, what are the options for decreasing the number of offenders going in and out of prison or jail? There are a few different forms of punishments and the one that proves to be the most effective is rehabilitative justice. Rehabilitative justice is the most beneficial for decreasing the amount of recidivism, and in helping offender learn how to become contributing members of society. 

          Rehabilitative justice is proven to be the best form of punishment, even though a lot of people believe it lets the offender off too easy. Both rehabilitative and treatment programs are crucial in potentially improving the life styles of inmates upon their release. It is important to understand most jails and prisons provide a variety of programs to help inmates resist criminal activity once out of corrections (Rehabilitation, 1). However, a number of people feel that spending money on these programs is a huge waste of it, and that enough money is already being spent on criminals (Meyer, 3).  The daily cost of each inmates is $79. 49 per day, per inmate (Cost of Corrections, 1). This number does not take into account what type of security it is; for instance, if the inmate is in maximum security the cost rises. Therefore, rather than making sure criminal are incarcerated, the court should be making sure they are getting help to stay out of corrections. Most jails and prisons do have programs available in helping the inmates with day to day life outside of confinement.

          All of the programs that jails and prisons offer can be very beneficial to the inmate, when they take the program seriously. Almost all jails and prison have programs that allow inmates to get their GED’s or even a high school diploma (Rehabilitation, 1). The importance of this is because corrections believe doing this will help them make better decisions upon release and continue to want to better themselves. The inmates who participate in the program typically do not pursue higher education, but they do look and aim to maintain a job, (Rehabilitation, 1). Another program they offer is teaching them how not only to maintain a job but also relationships. They teach them certain skills to build healthy relationship in either work, romantic, familial, and or amicable. Having better relationships with people will lead to less recidivism because they will be less motivated to partake in criminal behavior out of fear of losing the relationships they have built. That, of course, only applies to those who have truly taken the teachings to heart and care to make their lives’ better. Jails and prisons also offer psychological treatment.

          For many inmates, receiving psychological help is imperative in their willingness to get better. Especially for those who are in there because of drug charges, they need the opportunity to get better and many times these programs give it to them. However, most of them do not have the financial means necessary to do this on their own, even if they do want to, and most rehabilitative programs outside of a correctional facility are extremely expensive, (Rehabilitation, 1). Most people who find themselves in jail or prison because of drugs do not have the money to get psychological help for their addiction. That is terrible because a meta- analysis, which is a form of measuring statistics, concluded that rehabilitative programs reduce recidivism by 10 percent, (Davis, 1). The reasons these programs are crucial is because the intent behind them is to alter the inmates’ way of thinking and behaving, (Rehabilitative,1). In achieving this, they help the inmate learn other forms of expressing themselves, when they would have originally done some form of criminal act.

          Another way Jails and prisons try and help inmates learn work ethic, is by assigning them tasks around the facility. The tasks are usually maintenance on the facility, working on the prison farm, and working in a prison industry, (Rehabilitation, 1). Many people feel that rather than trying to teach them skills, the facilities do this to keep the inmates from just standing around all day. Jails and prisons also provide something called work programs. Work programs teach the inmates to basic things like how to make a resume, interview, and how to apply for a job. Learning these basic things really help with them and being able to get ahead in life upon release, (Rehabilitation and Reentry for Former Prisoners, 1).

          In summation, there are a plethora of evidence proving that rehabilitation and treatment programs are prevalent in helping inmates. The number of re-offenses is still high and without attempting to change each individual nothing will change that. In creating more programs more inmates will get a chance at reestablishing a healthy life with healthy relationships, and day to day activities. Ensuring their psychological help is essential and more people need to make it a focus to help inmates. 

Rehabilitation, Parole, and Probation

Does rehabilitation actually work? Logically, it makes more sense than all the other forms of justice purposes, i.e. deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution. Rehabilitation is the only one out of all of them that focuses more on changing offender, versus just getting them out of society. They all have the same main goal which is to prevent and stop crime, and to decrease recidivism. Many argue that rehabilitation does not work, when in reality it has been the only form of justice that has the most results.

               In more recent years, more criminologists have studied the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs. The studies have provided substantial evidence that proves that rehabilitation works.  A meta- analysis, which is a way of measuring statistics, concluded that rehabilitation programs reduce recidivism by 10 percent, which is more than deterrence, retribution, or incapacitation have produced. The meta- analysis also narrowed down which should be the primary focuses for the programs. A few of them being to provide treatment intervention for high- risk offenders, use cognitive- behavioral treatment to eradicate criminal behavior, take into account the different characteristics of the offenders, and so on. Using the primary focuses can make a real difference in the minds of the offender and allow for better results. Does this mean that the future of rehabilitation programs in correctional facilities will increase?

               Many surveys have proved that more and more people are coming around to the idea of rehabilitation programs for inmates. A decent amount of the population, claim to believe that it is important to treat offenders. They believe this for the sake of society, the better offenders are treated the less likely they are to reoffend. All of the justice purposes are set up to protect society from the harm that criminal can cause. Probation and parole are another form of punishment. However, they fall mostly under incapacitation, but can also be considered a rehabilitative punishment. Most people think that incapacitation only means getting put behind bars, but it is any form of take away an individual’s freedom in order to ensure the safety of the community.

               Probation and parole are technically two different things. Probation is a form of punishment given to an offender prior to actually going to jail. Probation allows the offender to rehabilitate themselves, in effort to not go to jail. The offender will either not get a sentence or have their sentence suspended while on probation. If the offender violates probation they either serve the sentence that was originally given, or the judge then gives them a sentence to serve. While on probation, the offender will be required to complete certain tasks, and adhere to certain rules. For example, they will most likely have a curfew of some sort, they will be required to participate in a rehab program, frequent drug testing, etc. The length that a person can be on probation varies from crime to crime, and state to state. Being that probation frequently requires the offender to go to therapy or participate in a rehabilitation program, make probation fall under the rehabilitative justice. Parole differs from probation in just a few ways.

               Parole is a term used to define the period of time after a person is released from prison. Parole has a lot of the same requirements as probation. Parole may require the offender to live in a halfway house, and have other financial duties. One of the major differences of between probation and parole is that a parole officer’s main duty is to help the offender become a member of society again. When violation occurs, it is up to the parole board, and not the court room, on whether or not goes back to prison to finish their sentence. For instance, if the offender serves 15 years of their 30-year sentence, gets out and violates his or her parole, the offender is then subject to finishing that 30- year sentence.

               Parole and probation are the two form of incapacitating punishment that is also part of rehabilitation. This is because most probation and parole agreements require the offender to either participate in a program or receive some form of counseling or therapy. Probation and parole are used quite frequently because of the overcrowding of prisons and jail, therefore the less amount of people they can have in prison or jail, the better. The people who actually participate in the programs required by parole or probation, typically have less chances of recidivism. 

Programs Jails and Prisons Offer

Jails and prisons have various types of programs, which all aim at helping the inmate in some form or another. Almost all prisons have educational programs, a large quantity of inmates end up getting their GEDs while incarcerated. Correction facilities believe that teaching the inmates things like math, literature, science, and history will motivate them to continue to better themselves and even pursue higher education. Although, very seldom upon release, they pursue higher education, but they do feel capable of getting and maintaining a job.

               Jails and prisons also provide work programs, which better ensure them getting and maintaining a job. The work programs teach the inmates special skills they can use upon release to get a job. The programs will teach the inmates basic things like how to apply and interview for job, being that many do not have the best experience in doing so. Many programs also teach them how to manage their own money and making it last, how to manage a household, and live a healthy life. These programs also teach them how to form and keep relationships with people in any kind of setting, have it be work or romantic. A long with teaching them these basic skills needed for acquiring a job, some institutions will also give the inmates certain work assignments. The assignment includes maintenance of the facility, working on the prison farm, and working in a prison industry. Some believe that the prison or jails main purpose for assigning the inmates to these types of jobs is to prevent them from just standing around doing nothing, rather than trying to help them learn work skills for their release into the free world. There are also psychological and counseling programs available for inmates.

               The psychological and counseling programs main goal is to alter the offender’s way of thinking and behaving. They aim to stop the criminal acts by having them confront their issues and understanding what they did was wrong. The most common form of treatment in jails and prisons for drug use. There has been a huge increase in drug related crimes or crimes committed under the influence of some form of drug. Therefore, it has become extremely important to treat the inmates suffering from drug use or abuse. Even though the amount of drug treatment programs has risen, it is not keeping up with the number of inmates that need to be a part of it. Group counseling is another form of treatment that is common for inmates, these programs prioritize having the inmate give up their criminal ways of thinking and behaving. There are many other forms of psychological treatments and ways of helping the inmate change their criminal behavior.

               Most people are not aware of the fact that some of the people that are currently in jail or prison have some sort of mental disorder. This is due to several different reasons. I recently visited the Utah county jail and learned that some of the people in there with mental disabilities are in there because the other institutions could not fit them. Others are in there because of committing heinous crimes due to their mental disabilities. For example, a few years ago, two young girls attempted to murder their friend because the “Slenderman” wanted them to do it. The young girl who was the brains of the who operation was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which is a brain disorder that cause realistic illusions. The young girl genuinely believed in “Slenderman” and convinced her other friend to kill the other young girl in efforts to protect their families from him. This most definitely is not the first case where people commit crimes because of their mental disorder, a lot of murderers have psychopathy and when not treated correctly can cause them to do terrible things. Therefore, it is imperative to have programs that can prevent these people from doing terrible things while in prison.

               Few, believe in the necessity for treatment or rehabilitative programs in jails and prisons. However, its prevalence is obvious, especially when it comes to the inmates who still have a chance becoming people who can be a good member of the community. The need for more programs is growing and people have to realize it is fundamental in getting people to stay out of jail and prisons. In the long run this will be more beneficial, financially, for each state.

Sources:

http://law.jrank.org/pages/1935/Rehabilitation-Correctional-programs-in-United-States.html

annotated bibliography

Annotated Bibliography on Jail and Prison Dynamics and Problems They Are Facing

Builder, D. F. (n.d.). Prison History. Retrieved March 03, 2017, from http://www.adpsr.org/home/prison_history

          According to Morris G. Caldwell’s Group Dynamics in the Prison Community, there are two separate groups within them. There is a formal group and an informal group. The formal group is the prison personnel, their purpose is to maintain order, organize work, and help with the rehabilitative programs. They get the inmates in to groups and assign tasks, the inmates are in charge of the maintenance of the prisons. The staff is responsible making sure the tasks are completed and done properly. The informal group is made up of the inmates, and their roles with each other. These roles include, gambling, sexual perversion, moonshine makers, and so forth. These roles are secretive, but their hierarchy roles are often not. For instance, most guards can tell which inmates are the alphas and which are betas. However, the details of these roles are frequently looked passed. All jail and prisons have their own set of norms and rules; however, it is important to understand why society needs institutions like this.

          It is so amazing to read about how different jails and prisons are from each other. They definitely have their similarities, but most people do not realize they serve somewhat different purposes.

Criminal Law, v. 1.0. (n.d.). Retrieved March 02, 2017, from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/4373?e=storm_1.0-ch01_s05

Criminal Law by Lisa M. Storm, is an article that briefly describes the five purposes of punishment. The five being, Specific or General Deterrence, Incapacitation, Rehabilitation, Retribution, and Restitution. Deterrence prevents crime by putting fear in the defendant or the public. Incapacitation does it by taking the defendant out of society. Rehabilitation aims to prevent future crime by attempting to change the defendant’s behavior. Retribution tries to achieve crime prevention by “having the punishment fit the crime,” resulting in the society feeling that no one will get away with any sort of crime. Restitution prevents future crime but using money to punish the defendant. Often times the defendant will have fines to pay or cost of damages.

This was quite relevant to the research because it explained how each form of punishment works and its importance to the justice system. It also provided more knowledge on each one and effectively summarized the goals behind each of the punishments.

 E., P., E., E., C., E., . . . Farrell, A. (n.d.). Prisons: Prisoners - Inmate Subcultures And Informal Organizations. Retrieved March 02, 2017, from http://law.jrank.org/pages/1796/Prisons-Prisoners-Inmate-subcultures-informal-organizations.html

In this article titled, Prisons: Prisoners - Inmate Subcultures And Informal Organizations, the author goes extensively into the unspoken social norms within prisons and even jails. These norms are more common in prisons being that the inmates spend longer time there, thus developing a subculture. Certain inmates play certain roles and people must recognize all roles and play their own parts as well. Most times the guards have an idea of some of the roles that the inmates play in their prison community. However, even the guards who spend the most time with the inmates, know exactly how the subculture works and its rules. The article also touched on the slang names of each of the different roles and what they are responsible for. Prison guards try to regulate as best they can, but many times the inmates get creative with their tactics and it results in them still having their subculture intact along with everything that comes with it. For example, somehow being able to get things from the “Free-world” inside of the prison.  This is common and even though it is really hard it can still be done.

The article was really helpful in learning the day to day dynamics of prisons. It was very interesting to read on how they all play a different part, and that most of them just know it without having to actually address it.

Incapacitation - The Scholarly Literature On Incapacitation And The Measurement Of Incapacitative Effects. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2017, from http://law.jrank.org/pages/1353/Incapacitation-scholarly-literature-on-incapacitation-measurement-incapacitative-effects.html

In the United States the most common form of incapacitation is imprisonment. That is why most jails and prisons are highly crowded. Being that the United State has more regulations and laws concerning human rights, cause for there to be more incarceration, longer sentencing, and less harmful punishments. Incapacitation needs to be further studied especially if it is one of the more common forms of justice. Many of the numbers and statistics concerning it are, skeptical because it is really hard to measure if whether a person was going to even commit a crime in the first place. There are a lot of things left unsure and unanswered with this type of punishment.

All forms of justice are imperative in the criminal justice system. Incapacitation is the most common form of punishment, and it is necessary because it remove the harmful person from society.

Minton, T. D., & Zeng, Z. (2016, December). Jail Inmates in 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2017, from https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/ji15.pdf

          Jail Inmates in 2015, is an article that describes the population of jails in the recent years. According to the article, jails reached their peak of inmates in 2008 with 776,600. That number is the amount of inmates in jail daily divided by the number of days in a year. In 2015 the number remained at a steady 721,300, which is quite a decrease from 2008. With such a decrease in the daily average of inmate, the number of bed space increased while the population decreased. The numbers however, are still high and prove the people are still going into jail a ridiculously fast rate. The article shows that smaller jail have a higher turnover rates, versus their larger counterparts. This is mainly due the facility being smaller and needing the space for newer offenders.

          This article was less relevant, still very insightful. However, it will most likely not be making it into the final paper.

Restorative Justice Briefing Paper. (2005, May). Retrieved February 16, 2017, from http://www.d.umn.edu/~jmaahs/Correctional%20Assessment/rj%20brief.pdf

          Restorative justice is “a new movement in the fields of victimology and criminology. Acknowledging that crime causes injury to people and communities, it insists that justice repair those injuries and that the parties be permitted to participate in that process. In other words, the main focus is to repair and to restore as much of the damage as they can. Restorative Justice views criminal behavior and actions as not just lawbreaking, but also realizes that it they harm done to the victim, community, and themselves. It also allows for more victims and communities to respond to crime, rather than just the government and the offender. Additionally, it measures success by the amount of harm that is repaired or prevented, instead of how punishment is administered. One of the ways that this form of justice is applied, is by face-to-face meetings.

          It is important to know all components of each forms of justice. This will help to narrow down why rehabilitative justice is the best form.

Schlanger, M. (2003, April). The Differences Between Jails and Prisons. Retrieved February 20, 2017, from https://www.law.umich.edu/facultyhome/margoschlanger/Documents/Resources/The_Differences_Between_Jails_and_Prisons%20.pdf

This article goes quite in depth on the differences between jails and prisons. It starts off with their size, jails are often very small but there are a few quite large ones. Jails, often times, are more chaotic than prisons because jails usually have more inmates. Jails are considerably more dangerous than prisons, because they are more crowded with people who are more dangerous. Jail inmates may be considered more dangerous because they are usually going through a lot more emotionally and can react badly to everything. They are also more crowded which leads to more chaos. Jails have less funds available to them due to their funds coming from the county, and prisons get it from the government. This in turn, leads to jail having poorer living conditions, and less treatment programs available to them.

This article was fantastic, it had a lot of important information. It was great because it had a lot of studies and statistics that made it more credible. It was also originally a book that was uploaded, which is also nice to have.

Thigpen, M. L., Hutchinson, V. A., & Geaither, R. E. (2002, January). Jail Crowding. Retrieved January 3, 2017, from http://static.nicic.gov/Library/017209.pdf

          Jails are becoming more and more crowded, even though the rate of serious crime is going down. Less people are having to spend the rest of their sentence in prison because their crimes are not grave enough to do so. The most common crimes are drug related; these crimes do not require a lengthy sentence, but do require jail time. Most of these offenders continue to offend after getting out of jail, and eventually find their way back into jail. The article also touches on the purposes of jails, and who make up the population of jails. Most jails hold offenders who are in there for property and public offenses. However, this does not mean that they do not hold dangerous criminals who have committed serious crimes, those criminals just typically go to prison fairly quickly. Most people who spend time in jail usually only stay from 10 to 20 days. The majority of jails can hold offenders for up to a year, and some for even up to 2 years, it varies depending on the jail.

          Very interesting information, not sure how significant it will be. It further proved how rehabilitation program in jails are imperative to truly helping and changing the inmate.