...Therefore, they had eventually banned flogging and decided to use prison as a corporal punishment. After many years passed, in 1997, Jeff Jacoby decided to explain his thoughts towards prison in his essay “Bring Back...
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...Throughout the decades, studies have been conducted to address the question of whether prisons work. The prison is a system used by the State to punish criminals, which is justified by the concept of retributivism (proportional punishment) and crime reduction (Cavadino & Dignan 2007, p36; Pollock 2005, pp3-4). According to the actuarial perspective (Feeley & Simon 1992), prison works in certain circumstances, as it efficiently minimises risks to society by confining individuals of dangerous population for the purpose of social control. However, this risk-focused view of prison’s functionality is limited, as it lacks understanding of the imprisonment of vulnerable groups, since Actuarialism overlooks the cultural factors outside risk-calculations....
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...APRIL 2003 THE INTERRELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PRISONS: DOES THE EXISTENCE OF PRISONERS UNDER PRIVATE MANAGEMENT AFFECT THE RATE OF GROWTH IN EXPENDITURES ON PRISONERS UNDER PUBLIC MANAGEMENT?* James F. Blumstein** Mark A. Cohen*** * Work on this project was funded by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and by the Association for Private Correctional and Treatment Organizations (APCTO). ** Centennial Professor of Law, Vanderbilt Law School; Director, Health Policy Center, Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies. B.A. (Economics), Yale College; M.A. (Economics), Yale University; LLB, Yale Law School. Institutional affiliations for identification only. *** Professor of Management (Economics), Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University; Director, Vanderbilt Center for Environmental Management Studies; Leverhulme Visiting Professor and Visiting Professor of Criminal Justice Economics, University of York (U.K.). B.S.F.S., Georgetown University; M.A. & Ph.D., Carnegie-Mellon University. Institutional affiliations for identification only. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This study investigates the relationship between (i) the fact that a particular state houses some of its prison population in prisons that are privately owned or operated and (ii) the growth in costs per prisoner in publicly operated prisons. The core objective has been to determine whether the existence of prisoners under a state’s jurisdiction that are held in private facilities...
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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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...Privatization of Prisons Introduction I am writing this memo in response to a request to analyze the benefits and disadvantages of privatized prison systems. With the present economic environment, it is important to explore all options that could reduce the state’s deficit. This research project will explore the cost benefits to the privatization of California’s prison system, in comparison to other cost saving options. It will use statistics from other states that use private prison systems, as well as federal detention facilities that are privately managed. The purpose of this analysis is to reduce spending as a whole, and to not place a financial burden on local governments. It is also important to note that prison sentences are not only a form of punishment, but also a deterrent for future criminal activity. It does not serve its purpose in its entirety when sentences are reduced due to budget inefficiencies. Findings The fiscal year, 2011-2012, has a $10,017,591,000 budget for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. This budget includes all adult corrections and rehabilitation operations, juvenile operations, parole operations, inmate health care, administration, and education and vocations programs (CDCR). It remains to be a difficult comparison between private enterprise and government entities due to the difference in accounting practices. Public agencies do not always include all expenses incurred at the specific agency level...
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...Organization: Problem-Solution organizational pattern Audience analysis: My audience will consist of two female and one male adults, all of Caucasian ethnicity, between the ages of 27 and 60 years old. My audience is somewhat informed on the topic of mental illness, but not on how mental illness affects the prison population. They are either related to me or are friends of mine. Topic: Mental illness is a serious problem among inmates throughout our prison systems. General Purpose: To persuade Specific Purpose: To inform the audience that mental illness is a real problem throughout the prison system and that through a combination of Christian faith-based therapeutic programs, a larger variety of prescription drugs, and their personal...
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...Purpose and History Chris Souza CJA/234 May 5, 2014 Moore When you think of the purpose of prison, what comes to mind? To house some of the world’s most notorious criminals? To rehabilitate those who has seen the evil of their own ways? Or has America's melting pot of philosophies has made it difficult to manage societal institutions? Throughout this paper the discussion of how the history of prison development was established. The history of punishment for those who committed their crimes will be in focus. We will compare the Pennsylvania system and the Auburn system to each other. Finally, the impact of prison labor overtime shall be discussed. For some the purpose of prison is to protect society from criminals who intend to harm innocent civilians. For others a prison's purpose is to rehabilitate citizens who need skills to become upstanding members of society. Still others believe that a prison provides a way for criminals to be punished and therefore pay their debt to society. Within the correctional system of America there are varying degrees of incarceration. The history of punishment in corrections of prisons can be dated back as far as 1750 B.C. One of the earliest known written codes that specified different types of offenses and punishments was the Code of Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi was divided into sections to cover different types of offenses and contained descriptions of the punishments to be imposed to offenders. (Lych, 2014) There were five punishments...
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...Prison Assignment This assignment is a research and reflection paper on some aspect of the prison system. You have some choice of what focus you would like to take. You can do one of the following options: 1. If you enjoy history you can research a historical prison. 2. You can compare the prison system in Canada with the United States, or another country. 3. Lastly you can create your own perfect prison system. With this option you would consider such things as: * how big would the cells be and what would be included in them? * what activities would the inmates be allowed to do? * what rehabilitation programs would your prison have? * would you use solitary confinement and if so under what circumstances and for how long? * what would be the key purpose of putting people in prison and for what crimes would you use prison? This paper should be approximately 2 pages double spaced and organized with an introduction, conclusion and several body paragraphs. Be sure to cite your sources using the MLA (EasyBib can be used for websites). The paper will be evaluated based on the following criteria: Content – a thorough analysis of your topic with sources referenced /20 Communication – clearly written with proper grammar and spelling /10 Total /30 Some issues you may consider including: 1. The Ashley Smith case or how to deal with mentally ill inmates who are suicidal? 2. The use of prison...
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...seems fair for him to spend time in prison. Should he see probation after the jail time? How much? This scenario helps introduce the dilemma we have today as a society about institutional vs. community corrections. Punishment for crime has always been an issue for debate. With the growth of the American colonies, the colonists needed a system of punishment for lawbreakers. Many methods developed in Europe meant to bring shame to those offenders were adopted. Around this time, the world saw a change in punishment ideology; some began to stress that humans are not perfect and make mistakes. Thus, there should be more reform as well as punish. In 1682, William Penn made a push for change. He limited the death penalty to cases of murder only and called for fines and imprisonment for most offenses. This is widely considered the beginnings of the prison system in the U.S. He also helped start the creation of jails, like the High Street Jail. The first federal prisons were established in 1891. Before this date, prisons were organized by states and territories. The establishment of parole and probation, or community corrections, began in the 1870s. There has always been and most likely always will be a huge social dilemma on what types and to what extent punishment should be laid out. Both institutional and community corrections have their pros and cons. One thing is for certain, however, that we do need a mixture of both. The current prison system...
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...Analysis of Argument Jeff Jacoby’s “Bring Back Flogging” Purpose, Method, and Persona • Purpose: – What is the author’s purpose? • His thesis: We should once again use flogging. – What is your purpose (for this exam)? • Dispute his argument – Jacoby’s argument is flawed. • Methods: – What are the author’s methods? • His arguments: examples, historical justifications, deductive reasoning, statistics, and so on. – What are your methods (for this exam)? • The weakness in his arguments: Find contradictions, inconsistencies, logical fallacies, false assumptions, and so on. – Statistics are misleading Purpose, Method, and Persona • Persona: – What is the author’s persona? • Is he comical, serious, academic, angry? – What is your persona (for this exam) • Formal and doubtful – Sarcasm – “Now, we offer a more enlightened, more humane way of disciplining wrongdoers: We should lock them up in cages” – is part of his persona here. Doubt the efficacy of this approach. He wants to make prisons sound less humane, but should humanity be a part of this argument? Has he left himself wide open for attack? Exam • You MUST bring a large blue book and a pen or pencil • You MAY bring – Your textbook – Your syllabus – An outline that doesn’t contain any complete sentences (except quoted material from the text) – A dictionary / thesaurus • You MAY NOT bring – A computer – A phone – A completed essay Sample Exam Question 1) Jeff Jacoby, an established...
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... 2008). It is important that there is an examination of the behavior of the groups so that a complete understanding of the behavior is obtained. There are many types of groups that people become a part of in their everyday life including family, community, church, and within their profession. Memberships to these groups are important because it plays an important role in their behaviors and attitudes. This paper will identify an organizational group of which I have been a part of and will give analysis of the group dynamics of my chosen group. As a part of the analysis the group will be described including the purpose, goals, and demographic nature such as gender, education, and so forth. The stages are development experienced by the group is described and the structure and effect of the structure on the effectiveness of the group is written to help readers understand the importance of the group. Explanation of the dynamics of group behavior within the group and analysis of the effect that group has on me concerning group polarization, conformity, and groupthink concepts. Counseling Department for Georgia Department of Corrections There are many reasons to why a person joins groups but the main reason is because the group membership helps him or her form a need of satisfaction. When I decided to change my career goals and become a counselor instead of climbing the ladder of success from a security point, I wanted to personally experience how different jobs within...
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...Evolution of Life in Prison November 11, 2013 Evolution of Life in Prison The purpose of this essay is to do an analysis on the evolution and perspective of prison life. This essay will explain how the evolution influenced the classification of male and female prisoners over time. Last, this essay will explain how the prison populations in jails compare to the population of prison at the state and federal levels. A person could describe prison life as living with thousands of other men and women, who also have criminal convictions by the judicial system. Prisoners will need to realize that his or her prison sentence is not a vacation; however, it is a punishment for his or her criminal mischief. Some people will not understand the true meaning of life in prison because they will not experience it themselves to pass judgment. As Stanley “Tookie” Williams did say in his Life in Prison book is no life in prison is hard for any individual who has to serve life in prison. Inmates will spend his or her time trying to figure out how he or she can win his or her freedom again (Becnel, 2008). The Evolution and Perspective of Prison Life A convicted felon prison life will change as the nature of the institution itself will change. The 1700s life in confinement is life in jail awaiting trial, sentencing, or punishment. Each prisoner will remain in the same jail together. Those prisoners will sleep in dirty and unhealthy jails. The prisons and jails have epidemics and malnutrition...
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...To the attention of the Prison Governor North of England Sir, Following are some national scale statistics related to prisons’ performance and associated costs as issued by the Center for Social Justice in March 2009A. which I would like to use as argument in reply to your statement on Total Quality. - Prisons population has increased dramatically in the last decade, counting as of today about 83000 people; - Approximately three quarters of young prisoners under 25 and two thirds of all adult prisoners are reconvicted within two years of release; - Today, the annual public expenditure costs of running prisons and managing offenders is over £5 billion, which combined with £11 billion costs of re-offending as estimated by Social Exclusion Unit (in 2002), amount to an annual total of £16 billion. Relating statistics to your statements, I agree with you, “Total Quality is a myth” but I add “because people in charge fail to commit to it” Although not directly related to our business, I want to use these statistics as a means to show the impact of Total Quality culture as compared to traditional management style of prisons. A critical analysis instead, leads to the conclusion that prisons management and the correctional system is stuck in a closed cycle between overcrowding and failure to rehabilitate. This is part of a traditional prison management where more of the same, brings in turn more of the same, resulting in long term progressive loss, both financial...
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...general population section of the prison. (Harner & Budescu, 2014) The exclusion criteria for the study excluded non English speaking inmates, inmates not housed in the general population, and those who did not wish to participate in the study. Indicate the method used to obtain the sample. The study sample was obtained by using a cross sectional design via a questionnaire completion from the volunteered inmates .(Harner & Budescu, 2014) The sample method utilized is the convenience sampling , which is a study of the inmates who are women and incarcerated. These two criteria were the main focus of the study and the reason why the convenience sampling method was used. According to (Grove et al., 2013) Convenience sampling is used when the subjects are in the right place at the right time. The study did not appear to be costly and the inmates were not compensated for their time. Grove further states that convenience sampling is not expensive and does not acquire a lot of time as other sample methods. (Grove et al., 2013) State the sample size. Was power analysis done to determine sample size? If not specified, how is a power analysis done? Power analysis was not completed to determine the sample size of 439 and it was not specified in the study. The sample size was determined by the completion of the questionnaire from the inmates. Approximately 900 questionnaires were distributed and 439 were returned completed and ready for analysis (Harner & Budescu, 2014)...
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...Does Employment Reduce Recidivism? Elliott Markson Do individuals who obtain employment upon release likely to stay crime-free or are they going to commit another crime? The main purpose of this research is explanatory. It is explanatory because researching the issues surrounding employment and recidivism should be able to explain behavioral changes, a change in social status, and the effects that employment has on the individuals released from prison. The main independent variable of this research question is whether or not the released inmate will be employed or not upon release. The main dependent variable is whether or not the individual will return to their criminal behavior or not. The unit of analysis we will be studying is individual ex-offenders. Our goal will be to learn something about the population that we are studying and to gather information to identify certain common traits. Observations will be made using the longitudinal study method. Observations will be stretched over an extended period of time, and made twice a year for five years. The notion that having a job reduces the probability of recidivism is suitably confirmed throughout criminological literature. Employment offers the essential earnings for survival, increases self-esteem, advances the connection to a community, and progresses the impression of belonging to a group. Consequently, even if locating employment is strenuous for ex-offenders, a policy that aids these individuals in gaining...
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