...Mental illness has become an epidemic in the prison system. Most offenders with mental illness go untreated, and those who do receive treatment often get it in the form of forced medication. Some prisons have implemented treatment plans for inmates to try to treat any mental illness or substance abuse problems. Unfortunately, the staffs in the prisons are inadequately trained to detect those who need help and in turn prisoners are not given the proper coping tools or medications. Most of these reform programs are designed for short-term prisoners and focuses on a 9-month plan. The individual is then released with the high rate of returning to prison within the next 3 years. How can we correct how mental illness is treated in the correctional...
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...discuss the author's conclusion and his/her recommendations. Then finally, I will address my findings for this article and what recommendation I believe should happen. Overview The Internet Article that I have chosen is from the Virginia's Department of Juvenile Justice. In this article, the Director of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Mr. Andrew Block has proposed a $66 million plan to the Virginia legislators in the hope of building two new detention facilities that will focus more on rehabilitation, counseling, and various services. Mr. Block told legislative budget writers Monday that the new facilities that he plans to build will probably pay for themselves. Shortly, Mr. Block also stated that his $200 million operating budget will spare new annual cut which will help return shift resources to rebuild prevention and treatment program that has had substantial cut over the last ten years. In spite of some pushback from the legislative committee the vice chairman of the committee, Mr. Steve Landes admitted the plans sounded doable. Into furthermore better his case Mr. Brock bought statistic that showed why the DJJ wants to focus more on rehabilitation instead of the “Old sprawling and expensive” way like Bon Air and Beaumont detention center. According to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), the statistic stated 59 percent of the children the States locks up reports physical abuse, 58 percent parent criminal activity, 46 percent...
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...War on Drugs and Prison Overcrowding Thomas K Anderson University of Memphis Prison overcrowding has been a social phenomenon that has led to a variety of reforms. One of the major causes for overcrowding in the prison systems today began back in the early 1970’s, when President Nixon declared War on Drugs. There were dramatic increases in the prison population in the 1980’s and 1990’s. These increases were projected due to trends of harsh punishments. Political leaders were influential in these trends as they created mandatory sentencing guidelines. Currently 50.1% of all offenders that are incarcerated in the Federal Prison System are due to drug offenses. That total accounts for 98,554 individuals, many of whom are serving time for a nonviolent offense or first time offenses. The second largest cause for overcrowding in the prison are immigration related crimes, which still only accounts for 10.6% or 20,862 of the individuals. In June of 1971, President Nixon declared a war on drugs, which did not go over too well because he and everyone else had differing views on how to handle the problems being created due to the increase of drug use. Because of the increasing of the prison population, a reform was created to offer treatment for drug abuse; of course this did not take place since it was a contradiction of current drug policies. Unfortunately, the end result of Nixon’s plan did not stop the problem of drugs, but only caused...
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...Chris Christie uses an example of fear when he mentions a story of a lawyer who got car jacked and murdered in front of his family after he was Christmas shopping. b) Identify 2 stakeholders for programs to integrate employment and treatment programs for drug court participants and explain why they would or would not support the change. 1. Offenders are an important stakeholder because they do not have to serve a prison term. In addition, individuals who participate in drug courts have the possibly to maintain their jobs which can help them complete the program. Non-violent drug offenders will support this policy because they can be rehabilitated without going to prison. 2. Drug courts gives non-violent offenders treatment for their habit and they do not have to serve a prison term if...
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...Crime in Rio de Janeiro: Possible Solutions to look into 1.0 INTRODUCTION The 2014 FIFA World Cup was scheduled to hold in Brazil and 400,000 fans were expected for the quadrennial tournament but some concerns arose prior to the tournament that had to do with the growing rate of crime in the country especially Rio de Janeiro which is Brazil’s biggest tourist destination (Biller, 2014). In Rio de Janeiro, robbery numbers on public transport increased from 345 to 629 in August 2013 and assault with intent to rob rose by 37% (Radnedge, 2013). Due to the level of corruption and violence the police themselves in Rio inflict on the public, citizens are not encouraged to report criminal activities because they are scared of the police authorities and do not respect them (Brazil, 2014). During the first half of the year 2013 the police were held responsible for the death of 362 citizens in Rio de Janeiro and even though the police report these loss of lives as a casualty due to gun fights with criminals, the Human Rights Watch and some other groups report that some of these killings result from unconditional use of force and others do not (Human Rights Watch, 2014). All these problems highlighted shows lack of public security and poor police conduct is plaguing the city of Rio de Janeiro and adequate measures should be taken by the government to resolve these problems. In the year 2007, the Brazilian government pledged £850m to the betterment of Rio de Janeiro’s huge...
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...CUSTODIAL AND NON-CUSTODIAL MEASURES The Prison System Criminal justice assessment toolkit 1 UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME Vienna CUSTODIAL AND NON-CUSTODIAL MEASURES The Prison System Criminal Justice Assessment Toolkit UNITED NATIONS New York, 2006 The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations, the Secretariat and Institutions of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Belgian 2006 OSCE Chairmanship concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. This publication has not been formally edited. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION TO THE ISSUE ..................................................................................... 1 2. OVERVIEW: GENERAL AND STATISTICAL DATA ......................................................... 5 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 7.1 7.2 OVERVIEW OF COUNTRY AND PRISON SYSTEM.............................................. 5 PRISON POPULATION ........................................................................................... 6 PROFILE OF PRISON POPULATION..................................................................... 6 QUALITY OF DATA ......................................
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...Assignment 2: Treatment of Mentally Ill Prisoners 1.0 The Treatment of Mentally Ill Prisoners The treatment of mentally ill inmates has been not only a public concern, but has also been identified by Canada’s Correctional Investigator, Howard Sapers as an issue of concern in his 2014 report to parliament. Between 1997 and 2007, offenders entering the prison system with a mental disorder grew 71% in men and 61% in women (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2012). The problem at hand is that correctional institutes and their staff are not widely trained to deal with inmates who suffer from mental disorders. The result then, is that use-of-force interventions, and placement in solitary confinement, often for extended periods of time, are used as methods of dealing with unruly behaviours exhibited by these mentally ill offenders. While there are various issues surrounding mental health in the Canadian judicial system, for the purpose of this report, the discussion will be focused around inadequate methods for dealing with behaviours presented by these inmates, namely by use-of-force and solitary confinement 1.1 Use-Of-Force Techniques In Sapers 2014 report, it is reported that “28% of all use of force interventions involved an offender with a mental health concern as identified by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC)” (Ministry of Public Safety, 2014). This is likely due to the fact that mentally ill inmates are more likely to self-harm, have unpredictable behaviour...
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...are black or Latino, though these two groups constitute only 25 percent of the national population. Some of the greatest racial disparities in rates of incarceration happen in states in which minorities are massed in urban areas, which tend to have both higher rates of crime and greater law enforcement activity. This paper will also discuss how these incarcerations affect the offenders, public safety, criminal policies and procedures. Racial Disparities in Corrections There are many factors regarding the disproportional rates of incarceration in communities of color. Data generated by the U.S. Department of Justice predicts that if current trends continue, one out of every three black males born today will go to prison in his lifetime, as well as one of every six Latino males. The rates of incarceration for women overall are lower than for men, but similar racial/ethnic disparities still apply. Some law makers are looking at ways to develop policies and practices to reduce insupportable racial disparities in the criminal justice system, it is essential to analyze the factors that have produced the increasing levels of incarceration in relations to racial/ethnic disparity. Research has shown that the factors are disproportionate crime rates, overlap of race and class...
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...with the writer that implementing this system of graduated re-entry would benefit our prison system and decrease the recidivism rate. This concept of gradually conditioning and basically weaning someone into society, can have tremendous benefits for both the inmate and the general population. Furthermore, I can agree with the author that it is often true that prisoners will go back to a life of crime due to poverty, low self-worth and even the appeal of the old neighborhood “crime family.” The problem with this system is that the writer is trying to propose a system that may actually lead to a lower recidivism rate. This system is relatively of a similar cost to our current prison system. Currently,...
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...Prison Downsizing Implementation in New York State Darlene R. Muller Policy Implementation: Spring 2013 New York State has been in financial crisis for a long time. Numerous plans, policies and budget cuts have been proposed and enacted to attempt to save money, and no public service or government agency has been overlooked. One of areas where most attention is drawn is to the corrections system. A large portion of New York’s budget is spent on housing, supervising, and rehabilitating inmates. There are many who believe this is wasteful, but what is the solution to the dilemma? Public safety must be ensured, as well as the rights the inmates and accused are entitled to. There are two sides to this problem. There are vast amounts of money spent upon this system, however it also is one of the main sources of employment for those located in the areas that contain these facilities. The loss of jobs and revenue within these areas must be comparable to the savings involved. There is no question policy changes must be made, as the prison population continues to grow and budget constraints are an issue in every state. As policies are enacted to become tougher on crime, the need for corrections services increases. Legislation and policy change has had some success in other states. Kansas had an overwhelming problem with prison population and budget restraints throughout the last few decades. (Rengifo, 2010) At first, with increased prison capacity, in the 1980’s, Kansas...
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...Before 1835, the inmates were housed in a vermin infested jail in New Orleans (Angola Museum, n.d.). In that same year, the first Louisiana State Penitentiary was built. The penitentiary was built on the corner of sixth and Laurel Streets in Baton Rouge using a plan similar to a prison in Wethersfield, Connecticut (Angola Museum, n.d.). In 1844, the penitentiary and the inmates were leased to the private firm of McHatton Pratt (Angola Museum, n.d.). During the Civil War union Troops occupied the penitentiary. Then in1869 the lease was given to a Confederate Major by the name of Samuel James. The James Family was in charge of the Louisiana Corrections for the next 31 years (Angola Museum, n.d.). In 1880, Major James bought an eight thousand...
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...organization of integrity and justice, is a perfect example of a seemingly equal situation, which turns out to be anything but for women. The policies imposed in the criminal justice system affect men and women in extremely dissimilar manners. I plan to examine how gender intersects with the understanding of crime and the criminal justice system. Gender plays a significant role in understanding who commits what types of crimes, why they do so, who is most often victimized, and how the criminal justice system responds to these victims and offenders. In order to understand the current state of women and the way in which gender relates to crime and criminal justice, it is first necessary to provide a comprehensive analysis of the historical evolution of women in the criminal justice system and the affect that the different waves of feminism have had on policies and practices towards women in this system. I plan to argue that the criminal justice system is another form of patriarchal control, a sexist organization which creates conflict between the private sphere of a woman's life and the public. This control extends far beyond the just incarcerated women, it affects all women. Despite the fact that there have been changes to certain policies and prison regulations, though made with resistance, none of the changes have been for the better. By looking at past and present situations as well as the differing feminist perspectives on the justice system, I hope to offer ways and opinions on how...
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...UNIVERSITY OF CAPE COAST THE EFFECTIVENESS OF COUNSELLING SERVICES IN GHANAIAN PRISONS: A STUDY OF ANKAFUL AND SEKONDI PRISONS. REV. FR. DUAH 2014 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Background of the Study Since ancient times till now, no clan or society has existed without crimes and offenses of some kind for which society inflicts punishments (Dobb, 1994). In pre-colonial Ghana, different traditional societies had their own various ways of meting out punishments, deterring and rehabilitating offenders and deviants. In these societies, the socialization of the people and sanctions meted out to offenders were both in accordance to the customs, values, belief systems and traditions of the people. Power and authority rested on the chiefs and traditional rulers as well as heads of clans and families to punish culprits of various offenses and offer rehabilitation services. According to The Library of Congress Country Studies (1994) there was no prison system in the traditional Ghanaian society in the colonial era and advent of western education and culture in Ghana. The Ghana Police Service was established and mandated to provide the security needs of the citizens by protecting lives and properties. The judiciary or law courts of Ghana were also given the mandate to provide fair trial and justice to offenders arranged before them and those found guilty were given various punishments ranging from fines to custodian sentences in jail to serve as a deterrent to others. In the mid-nineteenth...
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...Plan to Improve Correctional Facilities Patricia Saylor Dexter Levin Corrections November 10, 2013 In general, rehabilitation programs have been effective in reducing recidivism among prison convicts since they are mostly focused on treating the criminal causing behavior of prisoners by eliminating completely the factors or circumstances that drive them to commit criminal acts. Criminologists such as Martinson who conducted research on the effectiveness of rehabilitative programs such as educational, community based and transcendental programs noted that rehabilitative programs had a higher efficacy when they were oriented towards providing treatment to prison convicts so as to reduce recidivism. Martinson noted that both the educational and transcendental rehabilitative programs were designed to provide prisoners with life skills that they could use to manage their criminal causing behavior as well as equip them with technical skills that would improve the quality of their lives (Prison conditions, 2013). Rehabilitative programs that are focused on the principles of effective intervention are able to target the known factors of recidivism thereby necessitating change and also enabling the incorporation of cognitive or behavioral treatments to reinforce the behavior of the criminal offender by eliminating criminal thinking patterns. Principles of effective intervention ensure that rehabilitative programs are able to take into account the various characteristics of offenders...
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...The new labour government voted into power in Britain in May 1945 was determined to press ahead with political reform in India and there was optimism among nationalist leaders that progress towards independence would quicken. Viceroy Wavell was worried that Labour was too eager to hand over power to congress, which would further raise the anxieties of the Muslim League. In January 1946, the British MPs made a small visit to India without announcing there conclusions, but in private some stated that Pakistan must be conceded to avoid Muslim unrest. Viceroy Wavell was keenly interested in making practical preparations for the eventual unpleasantness of announcing the actual boundary lines. This shows that some of the British leaders did foreshadow the horrific consequences of the partition but they went ahead with it anyway, perhaps believing that it was a better solution than keeping India united. This contrasts with popular writings which claimed that 'the country’s division was a colossal tragedy, a man-made catastrophe brought about by hot-headed and cynical politicians who failed to grasp the implications of division along religious line's '[14]. The writings criticise the politicians for not being perceptive and aware of what the outcome of the partition could be. It places the partition solely in the hands of the clueless politicians, so the partition was not inevitable and the leaders should be blamed for making such a disastrous decision and not thinking about the...
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