The American Government Built Correctional Institutions

The American Government built correctional institutions for the sole purpose of teaching malefactors how to live without breaking the law. However, prisons fail to fulfill their one duty. Too many people once released from prison return to prison within a short period of time. A staggering percentage of inmates used drugs prior to arrest, but because they receive subpar rehabilitation within prison walls, they still suffer a drug addiction when they get released. Severe mental disorders plague many of today’s prisoners, and the Government should assign them to a proper mental institution instead of a correctional facility. Even though prisons intend to cease violence, violence still occurs within prison walls. Correctional institutions should incorporate the upper three levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs into their system to help inmates realize their true potential. The current system of correctional facilities fails to succeed because they place a group of dangerou s deviants into a building deprived of hope instead of using peaceful methods to change the mindset of inmates for the better. Drugs play a tremendous role in the world of crime. In 2004, the United States Department of Justice stated 64% of Federal prisoners and 70% of State prisoners regularly used drugs. 25% of current inmates felt intoxicated on drugs when they committed whatever crime got them in jail. Narcotics not only cause addiction problems, but they also motivate crime. Contrabands lead to crimeShow MoreRelatedThe Overcrowding Of The Correctional Facilities1730 Words   |  7 Pagesfrom cruel and unusual punishment (Boylan, 2015, p. 558). At the time California’s correctional institutions were at double their capacity, housing over 155, 500 prisoners in only 33 institutions (Specter, 2010, p. 194). The overcrowding of correctional facilities is one of the biggest problems facing corrections policy makers in the United States. The overcrowding of prisons is not jus t an American problem. Correctional facilities in Ontario and the Prairie Provinces are experiencing overcrowding atRead MorePrivatization of American Prisons1661 Words   |  7 Pagesjustice system is facing, and government should not delegate coercive authority to private entities. History of Prison Privatization: In the United States of America, prison privatization began to increase in popularity around the late 19th century. There are many reasons that the idea became increasingly entertained. These reasons include the egregious overcrowding of government run facilities, citizens forceful promotion of policies to further increase the American prison population, and increasingRead MoreThe Law Enforcement And The Judicial System870 Words   |  4 Pagesenforcement and the judicial system to punish people who have violated the law. Often times people commit crimes that carry jail or prison sentences. This requires governments at the federal, state, and local level to establish facilities to house these individuals. In 2013 the total number of adults in some phase of the correctional system was around seven million, whether it be jail, prison, or probation and parole (BJS, 2015). Being incarcerated is the punishment; being locked away, separatedRead MoreCorrectional Facilities And The Cor rectional Facility1645 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction The correctional facilities in the United States of America are composed of operators that own or manage correctional facilities and halfway houses. Correctional facilities serve to confine and rehabilitate prisoners and may be classified as minimum, medium or maximum security facilities. The prisoners contained in the facilities may participate in educational and vocational programs as well as in paid programs or work release programs through the industry. Correctional facilities areRead MoreCorrections in teh Criminal Justice System1076 Words   |  4 PagesWhen most people hear the term, â€Å"corrections† they probably think of prisons, striped uniforms, cellblocks, armed guards, and surly prisoners. Part of American corrections is prisons, but corrections is much more than that. Corrections includes prisons, jails, halfway houses, group homes, probation, parole, intensive supervision, electric monitoring, restitution programs, victim-offender mediation, and even the d eath penalty. Corrections can be defined as all that society does to and with offendersRead MoreEarly Correctional History : The Rise Of The Modern Penitentiary System1409 Words   |  6 PagesEarly correctional history is normally put in a large category from 2000 B.C. to 1800 A.D. (Allen, 2010). This period obviously covers a lot of ground both in time and technological advances along with cultural standards. This period ranges from ancient Babylonia and Samaria, Rome, Medieval Europe, Renaissance Europe, to the rise of the modern penitentiary system in America. Throughout this time, there were many different practices and philosophies, but one or two underlying factors might be notedRead MoreSolving The Problem Of An Aging Prison Population1250 Words   |  5 Pages Solving the Problem of an Aging Prison Population Joshua N. Handy American Military University Abstract The American correctional system is facing many emerging issues. One of these issues is the exponential increase in aging offenders. In the past few decades, the number of geriatric offenders incarcerated has multiplied at an increasing rate. This essay addresses the issue of aging offenders in the correctional system; the problems that these offenders create and the underlying issuesRead MoreCorrections Trend873 Words   |  4 Pagesalternate correction systems as a developing trend. In today’s society the jails and prison pretty much function with the same protocol. In the past the history of the State prisons began at the Walnut Street Jail in 1790, it was the actually first American penitentiary located in Philadelphia. Punishments such as the pillory and hanging were carried out in public. In the past, the Old Stone Jail in Philadelphia held old and young, black and white, men and women all together. In Chester County, theRead MoreFederal Prisons And Its Effects On The United States3590 Words   |  15 Pagesbudget did not allow for prison expansion so, as a result, they needed more investment from companies. Plus, the extreme overcrowding in federal prisons assured the government they needed to find a way to solve the issue on hand. In order to reduce spending in prisons, the government turned to private organizations to begin running correctional facilities with more efficiency which allows for less overcrowding in federal prisons and less tax dolla rs needed to run a prison, but soon causes its downfallRead MoreThe Prison Industrial Complex ( Tabibi )965 Words   |  4 Pages social historian Mike Davis was the first to coin the term prison industrial complex, in his research of the California penal system in the 1990s. The prison industrial complex refers to the coinciding relationship between corporations, government, correctional communities, and their collective economic interest in prison expansion and high rates of incarceration (Davis, 2003a). That is, each of these components benefit economically from perpetuating the notion that increasing crime rates are the