Teenage violence in School: Article Review

teenage violence
Teenage violence in School

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Teenage Violence

Forster, M., Grigsby, T. J., Unger, J. B., &Sussman, S. (2015). Associations between gun violence exposure, gang associations, and youth aggression: Implications for prevention and intervention programs. Journal of criminology2015.

Summary

Forster, Grigsby, Unger and Sussman (2015) conducted a study that investigated the link between gang association, exposure to neighborhood violence and social self control to incidences of aggression at school. The study collected data from minority youths from three Southeast Los Angeles schools. In the literature review, the authors show that aggression is a serious problem in schools. According to Forster et al (2015), over 600,000 teenagers reported assault related injuries annually, in addition, between 20 and 40 percent of school going students had experienced a bullying incident at school. The literature review also revealed that between 700,000 and 1,000,000 teenagers were members of gangs.

Past studies have shown that exposure and association to gangs, affiliation with delinquent peers, and family processes are indicators of violence perpetration and victimization. To investigate the link between the variables, the study sampled 77 female and 87 male 7th and 8th graders in three South Los Angeles middle schools. Questionnaires were used to collect data on substance abuse, demographics, social self-control, and family and peer gang association, neighborhood violence and self-reported aggression.

The study reported that teenagers with high levels of social self-control were less likely to be involved in past week aggressive episodes. Students with friends who were members of gangs reported 91 per cent higher incidents of aggressive episodes. For girls, aggression was 46 per cent higher if the family was affiliated to gangs. Exposure and fear of gun violence also increased the incidence of aggressive episodes by 26 per cent. According to the study, students were most likely to be involved in aggressive incidents if they were male, had friends associated with gangs, and had low levels of social self-control.

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Critique

Forster, Grigsby, Unger and Sussman (2015) is useful study as it explores an area of research where there exist little empirical evidence to link the variables. It is worthwhile to note that the research provides an insightful background on the teenage and school violence. The author then seeks to investigate the factors that lead to high rates of aggression among teenagers and school going students. Unfortunately, the research only sampled 164 students which is a small sample to facilitate the generalization of the results of the study to the general population.

In addition, the study was conducted in only three schools in the South Los Angeles area where gang violence and gun crime is common (Forster et al, 2015). It is obvious that teenage aggression in other areas may be driven by other factors apart from association with gangs and exposure to gun violence. However, the results than link social self-control to lower levels of self-reported aggression can be generalizable to other student populations.

Using self-reported measures is also a major weakness of the study as the students may fail to report honestly on most of the data collected. Observation would have been a better option for collecting the data on past week aggression as opposed to self-reported measures of aggression. Using observation, the researcher would have been able to see and record incidents of aggression rather than hear about them from the participants.

The study rightly concludes that school based interventions can be used to disrupt the development of aggressive behavior. School based programs can help indeed help in the development of social self-control which has an inverse relationship with the development of aggressive behavior.

Application

Forster et al (2015) is a very useful study in research on teenage violence, and associated the associated study areas. The study provides valuable statistics on the state of teenage violence indicating that more than 600,000 school age children report aggression related injuries every year. The study helps to illustrate that teenage violence is a serious problem affecting many school going children and it is an area that warrants further research.

Most importantly, the research identifies some of the factors that are predictors of teenage violence perpetration or victimization. The study reveals that association with gangs and gang members is a contributing factor to aggressiveness among teenagers. Other impacts of gang association such as the tendency to use substances and other truant behaviors can also be investigated in future studies in the area.

The study also reports an inverse relationship between social self-control and incidents of teenage aggression. Further studies also need to be conducted to establish whether self-control can decrease aggression among teenagers who associate with gangs, and have been exposed to gun violence. The study also indicates that self-reported measures of aggression were limitations of the study, and thus another method of data collection like observation can be used for future studies. The study design also provides a research model that can be expanded for future research in the area of teenage truancy and violence.

The research sample for future research on the topic can be expanded to more schools from more heterogeneous school districts to ensure the results can be generalized. Therefore, Forster (2015) is an important research article that provides preliminary evidence linking association with gangs, social self control, and family association with gangs with teenage violence perpetuation. Most importantly, the study establishes several directions for future research in the area.

References

Forster, M., Grigsby, T. J., Unger, J. B., & Sussman, S. (2015). Associations between gun violence exposure, gang associations, and youth aggression: Implications for prevention and intervention programsJournal of criminology2015.

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ISSUES IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES

Correctional facilities
Correctional facilities

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ISSUES IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES

Introduction

Correctional facilities like prisons and youth development centers in the California state, are tasked with the responsibility of rehabilitating, deterring, retribution and total incapacitation of individuals who act against social rules and norms (Brust & Ford, 2015). However, this task has often proven to be a challenge to those responsible in the management of these facilities, some of these challenges revolve around resource and budgetary constraints, and are manifested in the rampant cases of overcrowding in facilities, policies that are a threat to public safety, ineffective juvenile rehabilitation programs, and many ethical issues that regard the operation and management of corrections in the state of California (Ouss, 2015).

Due to these and other issues that will be discussed herein, issues of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of corrections are increasingly becoming a concern to many (Brust & Ford, 2015).

Issues in Correctional Facilities in the State of California

The onset of this decade has seen a rise in the number of challenges faced by the authorities of both state and county jails in the state of California, among which includes the prisons of Avenal, Corcoran and kings county jail. The high fluctuation in the number of inmates has for instance been a major issue in Avenal and Corcoran prisons, for example, Avenal prison is reported to have an approximated population of 3216 inmates, which as per the its holding capacity exceeds by around 10%.

This issue has resulted in overcrowding in the facility, and as such, the authorities have been finding difficulty in their efforts to accommodate inmates (Latessa & Smith, 2015). The prison is also reported to have had a case of a population influx that hit 8000, leading to shortage of bed and other accommodation facilities in the prison (Altschuler et al., 2016). Despite the premise that having a high population attracts more state funding, most of these facilities still suffer from poor allocation of these funds (Latessa & Smith, 2015).

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 A worst case scenario in the correctional facilities often occurs during the drought periods, which are marked with limited water supply, this adds on to resource constraints that compels the authorities to give early releases as an alternative (Brust & Ford, 2015). Cases of the early releases are often due to population increase, especially in county prisons, for instance, the criminal justice realignment program sees more inmates being driven from state to county jails, which is done to ease the high population influx by relocating less crime offenders (Ouss, 2015).

On the long run, this results to overcrowding in county jails. This situation is even worsened by the provisions of the Assembly bill 900, which tasks counties with the responsibility of running county prisons (Altschuler et al., 2016).

Early release programs are often adopted to complement the budgetary cuts effected by the state, this result of state and county authorities receiving less funds to run correctional facilities. These early releases have been reported to cause a rise in crime rates in California, as more and more non rehabilitated individuals are released into the streets (Altschuler et al., 2016).

The incapacitation of correction’s authorities has also been a precursor to the ineffective nature of rehabilitation programs, this is primarily because the authorities have a limited ability to provide incentives to prisoners, which is necessary in order to encourage them to subscribe to those programs. The rise in the cases of prison escape may also be attributed to this incapacitation (Brust & Ford, 2015).

Ethical issues in prisons are also a major concern in the running of corrections, for instance, cases of disease outbreak and abuse of prisoners have also been reported to plague the facilities. The outbreak of the valley fever in Pleasant valley and Avenal state prison is an example of the poor ethical consideration in the management of these facilities, the case of sexual abuse in Woodland Hills by authorities is another (Altschuler et al., 2016). The limited ability of the authorities to manage these facilities may also be seen in the high number of drug abuse cases, a good example is that of the 19 prisoners who died from a drug overdose (Brust & Ford, 2015).

Conclusion

Corrections in the state of California are plagued with many Issues and challenges that are becoming a great concern to the public, the ability of these facilities to meet their objectives is also under question (Brust & Ford, 2015). This has mainly been due to the emerging cases of resource constraint, poor ethical considerations, ineffective rehabilitation programs, policies that pose a threat to public safety among many others. It is hoped that a lasting solution will be found to restore the effectiveness and efficiency of the correctional facilities (Latessa & Smith, 2015).

References

Altschuler, D. M., Hussemann, J., Zweig, J., Bañuelos, I., Ross, C., & Liberman, A. (2016). The Sustainability of Juvenile Programs beyond Second Chance Act Funding. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/2000611-The-Sustainability-of-Juvenile-Programs-beyond-Second-Chance-Act-Funding-The-Case-of-Two-Grantees.pdf

Brust, A., & Ford, S. (2015). Speculating on Gold: A Narrative of Private Corrections in California. Writing. Retrieved from http://sites.duke.edu/bakerscholars/files/2015/04/Speculating-on-Gold-A-Narrative-of-Private-Corrections-in-California.pdf

Latessa, E. J., & Smith, P. (2015). Corrections in the Community. Routledge. Retrieved from http://216.69.13.12/faculty/Academics/Syllabi%20Spring%202014/CRJ%20203%2045T1%20WSmith%20Spring%202014.pdf

Ouss, A. (2015). Incentives Structures and Criminal Justice. Available at SSRN 2685952: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2685952 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2685952

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JUVENILE JUSTICE CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES

Juvenile justice correctional facilities
Juvenile justice correctional facilities

Juvenile justice correctional facilities

Draft Survey

Research Question: What are the optimal types of programs, implemented in the juvenile justice correctional facilities that would resolve the problem of juvenile delinquency?

Spatial definition of the subject of research (area of research): This case study will discuss juvenile justice correctional facilities in the United States

Time frame of the subject of research: The period from year 1990 to year 2017

Target group: Minors

Methods: comparative method, historical method, qualitative method, description, method of proof

Techniques: data collection, including: interview, surveys, content analysis

Key words: minors, juvenile, correction facilities, program, crime, reintegration, society, substance abuse, recidivism

Results: The main purpose of undertaking any research process is coming to new and undiscovered solutions about the specific topic, as well as coming to those findings which may help the profession and the community itself.  This research study aims to prove that a well implemented program can lead to the reintegration of minors in the society and can therefore have an impact both on social security, improvement of the life of specific minors and at the same time help the government budget.

Terms and definitions:

Minorunder the legal age of full responsibility (this age varies in different countries); the term which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood.

(http://www.dictionary.com/browse/minor)

Correctional facility – any residential facility with construction fixtures or staffing models designed to restrict the movements and activities of those placed in the facility. It is used for the placement of any juvenile adjudicated of having committed an offense, or, when applicable, of any other individual convicted of a criminal offense (https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Correctional_Facilities.pdf)

Program – a plan of action aimed at accomplishing a clear objective, with details on what work is to be done, by whom, when, and what means or resources will be used (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/program.html)

Reintegration – restoration to a unified state; to integrate again into an entity; restore to unity (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/reintegration)

Society – an organized group of persons associated together for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes

(http://www.dictionary.com/browse/society)

Recidivism – a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior; especially: relapse into criminal behavior (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recidivism)

1. Introduction on Intervention Problem

The subject and the intervention problem of this case study is determined by the chosen theme – Juvenile Justice Correctional Facilities. The structure of this case study will be handled by presenting the theoretical basis of the research subject and then the practical basis of the research subject.

The theoretical basis of the object of research will include the research of this topic in the existing literature – Juvenile Justice Correctional Facilities and minor behavior / juvenile delinquency as perceived in the theory, their classification and purpose; the practical part of this case study will include the application of scientific knowledge in practice – finding and implementing the optimal program in selected juvenile justice facilities and the track of its implementation in practice. 

Foundations of this research paper are based on the research and therefore identification of the optimal type of program that would resolve the problem of juvenile delinquency. This case study has the pretension to explain this aspect from various points of view; primarily from the legal, security and criminological point of view.

Why is it important to identify and implement the best program of juvenile justice correctional facilities? In simple terms – juvenile offenders, due to their young age, must be, after leaving the juvenile facility, reintegrated as equal members of the society. 

One other question that arises in this aspect is the following: how can the state ensure the implementation of the given program (program that would lead to the reintegration of the minor) along with the necessary human or material resources needed in order to do so? States are already spending enormous amounts of money in this sector.

Costs and resources needed to obtain juveniles in correctional facilities are quite big. On report given by The Justice Policy Institute in 2009 said that it costs on average of $240.99 per day for one juvenile to obtain juveniles in correctional facilities founded by the state. This is approximately $88,000 per year.

(https://www.ojjdp.gov/mpg/litreviews/Correctional_Facilities.pdf)

But although the spending, this approach does not contribute to improving the problem of minor delinquency. Therefore and due to the budget constraints, many states are rethinking their steps in this area. Implementing a program which would reduce the number of juvenile offenders and contribute to general security is certainly a step in the right direction.

2. Program to Resolve the Problem

 This part of the case study will provide the answer to the previously stated research question: what is the optimal program / are the optimal types of programs, implemented in the juvenile justice correctional facilities that would resolve the problem of juvenile delinquency?

The program that would be optimal for the problem identified in this case study is a program that would contribute both to the deterrence of the existing juvenile offenders from committing criminal offenses while at the same time combating crime rates among this population in general. This is according to Gendreau and Goggin (1996) the main principle of effective correctional programming.

The program that will be presented in this case study represents a program that will be a result of research and discussion between different focus groups and created primly in order to contribute to reducing the number of juvenile offenders. The program provides direct work with minors and individuals employed in selected juvenile facilities as well as other professionals working on its implementation.

The analysis showed that there is a need to introduce effective mechanisms for preventing and combating juvenile delinquency; the need of a program that would be effective in combating crime among minors, lead to less drug and alcohol abuse among this population, educate the minors and would in the long run lead to lower state costs for this particular subject. (Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative)

The purpose of the adoption of the program is to sensitize professionals, parents, children and young people as well as the entire society to the problem of juvenile delinquency and increase their level of awareness of the existence of this problem, the establishment of systems solutions and mechanisms of action for the prevention of its occurrence and to alleviate its consequences.

For this purpose, the program is designed as a series of practical steps in the area of ​​prevention juvenile delinquency. This program aims to promote various forms of communication in order to create a healthy and stimulating environment for the targeted group: the minors, and all of this by using different scientific methods and techniques that will be described further on.

Also, special attention is paid to the mechanism of introducing new interactive methods in the existing education system, both in schools as well as while the minor is incarcerated in the juvenile correctional facilities.  Educational background aims to build better grounds providing a healthy environment in which juvenile delinquency is minimized. As it can see, the backbone of this program is education.

2.1. Duties and principles on which the program is based

The main tasks of the Program are as following:

  • to create a positive attitude towards respect for basic human values;
  • to mobilize social resources in promoting the prevention of juvenile delinquency;
  • to teach the culture of peace, tolerance, communication skills and mediation;
  • to develop the skills of critical thinking, analysis and non-violent conflict resolution.

The main principles on which the program will be based are:

  • equality,
  • pluralism of opinion,
  • dialogue,
  • priority of educational tasks,
  • unity of experts from different areas of expertise,
  • creative organization of educational activities,
  • connection with other programs (eg. Program against drug addiction and the like.),
  • maximum involvement of minors in practical activities,
  • involvement of family or community as a source of information and an active participant in the process,
  • implementation of interactive educational forms and methods.

This program does not aim to completely abolish juvenile violence nor has any country done this so far; this program aims to reduce the rate of juvenile delinquency and to put it under social control. Accordingly, in addition to the above, this program is expected to do the following:

  • increase the overall level of knowledge of all participants in the educational process about the problem and the consequences of juvenile delinquency as well as other socially unacceptable behavior (drug and alcohol abuse among others);
  • encourage civil / parental initiatives, initiatives by nongovernmental organizations, as well as initiatives for children and young people in different states and areas;
  • reduce the rates of juvenile delinquency on other types of behavior to a reasonable, socially acceptable level.

2.2. Main aspects of the program – implementation of the program

The initial steps in this program will include the following activities:

  • introduction to the program;
  • mobilization of teams to support the program;
  • training for different professionals;
  • finding the juvenile justice correction facilities which will implement the program;
  • linking with other governmental and nongovernmental institutions;
  • lobbing support for changes in laws and regulations;
  • support of NGOs dealing with the protection of children’s and minors rights, drug and substance abuse and other similar aspects;
  • implementation of the program in specific juvenile facilities on specific individuals –juveniles;
  • track and measurement of the results of the program.

Introduction to the program – the society will be properly introduced with the program and its main elements and purposes. This will be done by promoting the program in the media, different institutions, schools and other relevant aspects of the society.

Mobilization of teams to support the program – prior to the implementation of the program, team of specialized professionals from different fields of expertise will be recruited. These trained professionals will work on different aspects of the program, from its start to the final steps leading to its finalization and implementation.

Training for different professionals – upon their recruitment, professionals will be trained in order to provide their best skills and knowledge in the implementation process.

Finding the juvenile justice correction facilities which will implement the program – various juvenile justice correction facilities in different part of the United States will be approached to participate and take part in this program. Those juvenile facilities that fulfil the set conditions will be made part of the implementation process. It is important that these facilities are based in different part of the US in order that economic, social, cultural and other factors can be taken into consideration when analyzing the results.

Linking with other governmental and nongovernmental institutions – the implementer of the program, will make an effort to link the program with relevant governmental and nongovernmental subjects.

Lobbing support for changes in laws and regulations – the team members will make an active effort lobbing support for changes within the legal framework (introduce the program to relevant policymakers).

Support of NGOs dealing with the protection of children’s and minors rights, drug and substance abuse and other similar aspects – within the entire process, the program shall make an effort to be linked and supported by nongovernmental organizations dealing with similar topic and implement certain strategies together with these organizations.

Implementation of the program in specific juvenile facilities on specific individuals –juveniles – the implementation is the crucial step of the program. The program will be implemented on individuals incarcerated in juvenile facilities, not taking into consideration the following subjective aspects:

  • the gender of the minor;
  • the age of the minor;
  • crime (type of the crime) committed by the minor;
  • number of previously committed felonies,
  • his or hers economic or social background;
  • his or hers national, ethnic or religious background;
  • his or hers family status;
  • his or hers educational level;
  • or any other subjective aspect of the person of the minor.

This will provide transparency, an equal and objective approach as well as the diversity of the given results.

This program will be implemented in at least six different juvenile justice correctional facilities, in different parts of the United States as previously stated.

In this aspect the juvenile justice correctional facilities play a huge role: if these facilities are established in a way that the juveniles exit them “transformed”, this has a significant value for the entire society. (Snyder, H, 1999)

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SAN QUENTIN STATE PRISON

SAN QUENTIN STATE PRISON
SAN QUENTIN STATE PRISON

SAN QUENTIN STATE PRISON

San Quentin, CA 94964

Marin County

1. A. Who is the C.E.O.?

B. Is he/she elected or appointed? If appointed, by who and for how long?

If elected, how long is the term?

1. A. Ronald Davis is the warden at San Quentin State Prison. He has been in this administrative position at the facility since 2014. He was previously the head of Valley State Prison in Chowchilla up to 2014 and was deputy warden at Avenal State Prison from 2010 to 2012. He has served in other similar positions in Salinas Valley State Prison ranging from the lieutenant, correctional officer, and sergeant.

(http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Facilities_Locator/SQ.html)

            B. Governor Edmund G. Brown of California appointed Ronald Davis, the warden at SanQuentin State Prison where he had been serving as acting director since 2014. (http://www.insidecdcr.ca.gov/2015/06/governor-appoints-ronald-davis-as-san-quentin-sp-warden/)

2. A. Discuss the main function/responsibility of the correctional department or facility? (Do not answer anything related to the welfare/care/safety/well-being-feeding, medical care, bathing/education/training/rehabilitation/social programs/preparation for release. If the Dept. only had funds to do ONE thing what would that first thing be? ). Think about this one; you already know the answer, the basics.

B. Describe the population’s “classifications” of the inmates. Hint: Is it pre-sentence, post-sentence, or both? Male, Female, Juvenile or a combination, if so list percentages.

C. Describe and discuss the security classifications (maximum, medium minimum, etc.)

2. A. The primary function of San Quentin State Prison is to ensure criminal offenders are housed in a secure way.  This is the State’s only gas chamber, and all condemned inmates are located here. The prison facility has death row divided into three sections; the north segregation for prisoners who don’t usually cause trouble, the East block and the Adjustment Center for the worst criminal offenders. There is a psychiatric facility that serves the prisoners and a converted shower bay for holding religious activities.

However, most of the functions and programs available at the facility are not accessible to death row inmates. In 2007, a new execution chamber was built at san Quentin with a 230 square feet injection chamber and three viewing areas for family, victim and members of the press. Other than state executions, the prison facility carries out federal executions although in rare cases. So far, only three such executions have taken place on criminals who had been incarcerated at Alcatraz Island federal penitentiary. Notably, this is the only inmate-produced newspaper in California and one of the few in USA.

(http://abc7news.com/news/rare-look-inside-san-quentin-prison-home-of-death-row/1471159/)

B. Initially a combination of both male and female inmates, San Quentin bay facility is strictly a male prison. It houses post-sentence criminal offenders who have committed serious crimes such as murder. The original plan for establishing the facility was to replace a prison known as Waban and since the French revolution of 1852 during the Bastille Day, the state prison has been known as Bastille by the Bay.

During its construction, inmates slept on the prison ship at night and labored to build the new facility during the day. San Quentin house used to house both male and female inmates until 1933 when Tehachapi women’s prison was constructed. (http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Facilities_Locator/SQ.html)

C. Although the Quentin State Bay Prison has a death row operation for serious criminal offenders, it does not fall under the category of maximum, medium or minimum security prison. Rather, it exhibits all the features and facilities of the three security classifications. There is one maximum security cell block known as the adjustment center, and a medium security setting. There is also a minimum security firehouse, and a central health care service. The walled prison comprises four elephant cell blocks; West, South, North and east blocks.

( http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Facilities_Locator/SQ.html)

3. What is the Mission Statement? (Can be a cut and paste, in quotations)

“We enhance public safety through safe and secure incarceration of offenders, effective parole supervision, and rehabilitative strategies to successfully reintegrate offenders into our communities”.

(www.cdcr.ca.gov/About_CDCR/vision-mission-values.html)

4. A. What is correctional accreditation?

B. Is the agency accredited? If yes, what is the title of the accreditation and since when?

A. Correctional accreditation is meant to enhance the operations of prison facilities by ensuring they adhere to standards relevant to all areas of operations. These areas include safety, security, inmate care, administration, justice and programs. The accrediting body ensures the correction facility follows to these standards by continuous assessment, contracting, preparation, and audit for final accreditation decision. The body works hand in hand with the facilities being examined to introduce them to the process of accreditation, provide necessary documentation, assign auditors to each levels of the facility and discuss various requirements for each standard.

(https://www.aca.org/ACA_Prod_IMIS/ACA_Member/Standards___Accreditation/About_Us/ACA_Member/Standards_and_Accreditation/SAC_AboutUs.aspx?hkey=bdf577fe-be9e-4c22-aa60-dc30dfa3adcb)

5. B. The prison agency was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Corrections in 2015. The commission had in previous year accredited eight additional California departments of corrections and rehabilitation prisons, such as Chukawalla Valley state prison and Folsom State prison. 

San Quentin State Bay Prison was accredited alongside Avenal State Prison, California State Prison-Los Angeles County, Deuel Vocational Institution, California Medical Facility, California State Prison-Corcoran, Salinas Valley State Prison and California State Prison-Los Angeles County.

( http://www.insidecdcr.ca.gov/2014/08/8-california-prisons-accredited-with-the-american-correctional-association-total-now-16/)

6. List the number (how many) of sworn personnel and the number of civilian personnel.

            As of March 22, 2017 San Quentin State Bay prison had a total capacity of 3, 760 inmates. This is in excess of the initial design capacity, given that the facility was meant to house a maximum of 3, 082. This facility is 122 percent occupied, with a staff capacity of 3, 956 personnel.

 7. A. Staff Personnel Diversity- What percent of the personnel in the agency are minorities, give breakdown, if it’s readily available (website)?

 B. Inmate Population Diversity- Advise on the inmate populations (percentage or actual   numbers) information: Male/Female, Adult/Juvenile, Race, and Ethnicity.

7. A. The facility hosts personnel of diverse cultures and origins, age and gender. The minority are female personnel.

(http://www.corrections.com/articles/21703)

7. B. Given that the facility is a male-only prison, there is no diversity of the population of inmate. There are 3, 076 male inmates who the occupy 122 percent of the facility’s capacity.

8. Inmate housing classification. How are they segregated: Is it by offense type, age, sex, and medical, all of the aforementioned? Explain.

Correctional officers are permitted to impose a wide range of disciplinary actions to maintain order in the prison. Reasonable sanctions may be imposed to classify and segregate inmates in terms of crime, mental illness and their conduct within the facility. However, corporal punishment, extreme isolation conditions, handcuffs, restraint chairs and any other form of cruel treatment is not acceptable. In the most severe cases of disciplinary crimes, inmates may be isolated for safety and security reasons.

Prisoners can also be segregated in protective custody or any other form of restriction than those used on the general population at the facility. This is mainly done to protect the prisoner from sexual abuse, manipulation, physiologically harm, verbal abuse or physical torture. This can also be applied to prisoners who request protection from other violent inmates. This type of segregation cannot exceed 30 days unless there is a serious and credible threat to the prisoner’s safety and the officers are unable to sufficiently offer protection.

9. Staff Personnel Work Schedules: How are the staff personnel that directly supervise the inmates assigned? (i.e. what are the shifts, 5/8s, 4/10’s, 3/12’s, or other) ?

The personnel work schedule involves three shift commanders who are changed after every eight hours. The commanders have the power to make decisions at the post unless they are litigating eventualities from top a senior manager.

 (https://forum.jpay.com/forum/state-specific-forums/colorado-doc/532-chain-of-command-in-a-prison-facility)

10. Your text Chpt. 12 discusses Centralization vs. Decentralization in prisons. A. Is your correctional department operating as centralized or decentralized, or is it in transition?

B. Explain what specific factors are present in the management and administration that resulted in your answer for A.

10. A. Effective management of San Quentin facility requires the implementation of an approach to management that appreciates the complexity of the correctional organization and the inmate’s environment. As a result, the management has adopted a decentralized system that effectively integrates inmate supervision and quality service delivery to the larger population while recognizing the needs of the staff.

(https://www.correctionsone.com/jail-management/articles/3440029-Prison-management-styles/)

          10. B. Like most of the US prisons and jails, San Quentin prison bay is a decentralized collection systems. The federal government, states and a lot of counties operate individual but interconnected networks. The prison organizational structure involves several individuals and agencies responsible for decision making and running of the facility. This relies on team environment at various levels in the organization where each individual has some authority to make decisions.

( https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ483118)

11. A. Are the personnel that directly supervise inmates assigned to the same area for any period of time? (3mo/6mo/year).

B. What is the process for them to change shifts? And Change Assignments?

A. The personnel that supervise inmates are assigned to the same area but a specific [period of time. This can range from months to one year.

B. For change in assignment or shifts, the personnel can fill in one staff is missing, and the next above them takes the position of whoever was assigned that duty.

(https://forum.jpay.com/forum/state-specific-forums/colorado-doc/532-chain-of-command-in-a-prison-facility).

 12. Organizational chart- detailed (can be an attached sheet). Do not provide a link.

13. Your text, chapter 5 explains Organizational Conflict and how it can be used to bring attention to issues and ultimately result in a positive outcome. These issues in a correctional setting can be potentially explosive, and diffusing them quickly is paramount. Discuss a real example that occurred in your selected Correctional Department.

        The complexity of San Quentin prison facility makes it difficult to manage, and even harder to resolve conflicts that arise from perceived opposition of values, needs and interests between the management and the inmates. On august 2015, the facility almost exploded into chaos after the first of six prisoners tested positive for legionnaire’s disease. The outbreak started with inmates for death row to solitary confinement, with 95 more inmates reporting the disease’s symptoms in the last few days.

None of the 95 inmates received official diagnosis of legionnaire’s infection. The California department of corrections and rehabilitation department sought to identify and treat potentially infected inmates. The outbreak was a result of water contamination with Legionella bacteria was aspirated, and the inmates possibly breathed in as moisture in the air conditioning.

The diseases claimed the lives of 12 people who had been sick because of contaminated cooling towers .This resulted to unusual lockdown of the facility, where visitors were prohibited from seeing inmates while the prisoner’s movement was highly restricted. The staffs were also subjected to difficult measures, being expected to be clean and many programs coming to a standstill.

Another incident happened on August 2013 where about 30 000 inmates in California prisoners went on hunger strikes, reusing state issued meals.  The prisoners demanded an end to the increasingly common practice of long-term solitary confinement.        (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/03/us/san-quentin-prison-scrambles-after-outbreak-of-legionnaires-disease.html?_r=0)

14. A. What is the ratio of corrections staff to inmates?

B. How does management ensure security in a facility/Dept/Prison when the correctional staff is always so out-numbered (basic principle used in all jails/prisons) ? Explain the physical settings and procedures that ensure officer safety and prevent inmates from taking over and escaping? This includes Physical barriers/ allocations of inmates/officer safety procedures and disciplinary deterrence’s. Address each of these.

C. What inmate medical, social services, educational/training programs, and religious opportunities are available for inmates?

 D. What inmate services would YOU say are lacking at the Department or Facility.

14. A. Currently, San Quentin State Bay prison has a total capacity of 3, 760 inmates and staff capacity of 3, 956 personnel. This will result to a ration of correction staff to inmates of 989: 940

14 B. The physical settings include level 2 housing; an open dormitory with secured perimeter and armed coverage. There is a Condemned Unit, and a reception center that provides housing on short term basis to process and evaluate inmates. Maintaining security in prison facilities involves cooperation between the inmates and the correctional officers. Sometimes, the correctional officers may be outnumbered by the inmates, and the management needs to highlight strategies to handle such an eventuality.

Having strong leadership is the first key solution to ensure the officers have all the support they need. Good leadership ensures prisons are well supervised ad there is minimum level of violence within the prison. The administration can ensure strong leadership by subjecting the officers to quality training and sufficient time on the job.

( http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Facilities_Locator/SQ.html)

14 C. Inmates at the facility are allowed to engage in various social activities such as sports. Since 1994, prisoners have been allowed to play baseball with players from outside the prison- the games take place twice a week through the summer. There is an on-site degree granting program run by the Prison University Press that begun in 1996. Counter force is a non-profit organization that educates and supports people who are incarcerated.  It has various programs like the peer health education program that offers effective health information to prisoners, and the Back to Family Program that enables men to effectively re-connect with their families. ( http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Facilities_Locator/SQ.html)

14 D. Despite the numerous social and educational services and programs available at the facility, there are services that are lacking. There are no sufficient religious programs to take care of diverse inmates needs effectively, and the available ones are lacking in terms of support and effectiveness. Only baseball sport is available, yet there should be more activities ranging from football, rugby and athletes.

15. A. Citing from the various specific Management and Leadership Styles discussed in your textbook, what leadership style would best for use by the Director or Warden towards his staff personnel? Comprehensively explain why?

    B. What leadership style would be best for correctional line personnel towards the inmates? Comprehensively explain WHY?

A. For effective running of the facility, a Laissez-faire leadership style would be best suited to deliver quality services while paying attention to the missions and goals of the organization. Using this style, the warden will be able to give subordinate staff enough freedom in doing their work at the facility. This leadership will result to job satisfaction by the correctional officers.

(https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=13&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjbwf2NlvfSAhUHuo8KHfWEBP4QFghUMAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.leadership-toolbox.com%2Fautocratic-leadership.html&usg=AFQjCNGv-Zxmoh93xeJLTM4SrkGEAHUJRg&sig2=yZsDLIIffwJt5aUL48Paqg&bvm=bv.150729734,d.c)

             B. Due to the complexity of managing and getting inmates to do what is expected of them, an autocratic leadership style by the correctional personnel would be highly effective. An autocratic officer will make decision without asking or consulting with inmates, an appropriate style when decisions have to be made quickly. In most cases, agreement with the prisoners about key issues affecting the facility is not relevant.

16. Discuss THREE problems/issues related to the administration or management of the department or facility and explain how YOU would resolve each one IF you were the C.E.O. (Warden or Director, or …) List them as A. B. and C. (Hint: This could be budgetary, corruption, staffing, grievances, organizational, disciplinary, or …)

             One of the major problem facing the prison is overcrowding of inmates. This has resulted to increased difficulty in execution of key operations and has fueled grievances from the prisoners.  With an overcrowded facility, there is risk of controlling inmate behavior, minimizing incidences of violent attacks and it becomes problematic to monitor disease outbreak such as Legionnaires infection.

.Classification of inmates in terms of their ethnicity and race is another problematic issue related to the administration of the facility. This is especially the case with prisoners of Jewish origin, who fall somewhere between White and Asian.  Accusation have been forwarded against the administration for using race as a predominant factor in categorizing cellmates and putting Jews in dangerous positions when classified as White. As a result, the Jews might find themselves in same cell with racists and end up being mistreated.

(https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjynPrSl_fSAhVElxoKHeGvBdAQFggrMAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jweekly.com%2F2003%2F12%2F05%2Fasian-inmate-at-san-quentin-challenges-prison-s-classification-ofjews%2F&usg=AFQjCNH2yldcnmC5znnMCpVeOi76Gi1xGA&sig2=_K8jqy5CJIMOVRs0asef4g)

 The third administration challenge that requires immediate intervention is the question of correctional officer- inmate relationships. While some inmates make it harder to administer the facility due to their violent and stubborn behavior, there are cases when officers use extreme measures to achieve order. This has resulted to complain from inmates, human rights activists and other stakeholders demanding better treatment of the prisoners. The Adjustment Center (AC) is one cause of problem. Now partially exposed by the media, the AC has resulted to hunger strikes at the facility by inmates who demand an end to extreme torture.

17. A. Define the managerial concept of span of control as it relates to management of a CJ agency.

B. Apply the concept and tell me what the span of control is for TWO management or supervisory assignments.

17. A. Span of control refers to the number of employee who report to the manager in a hierarchy of command. When there are more people under the control of the manager, the span of control becomes wider. Less people mean a smaller span of control. It is the highest number of people supervised by a manager, and the number may be increased or reduced according to the nature of the work done. Span of control allows an organization to experience a smooth running of functions.

(https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjR4p3ZmPfSAhXEpY8KHYl5AqMQFghZMAs&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstudy.com%2Facademy%2Flesson%2Fspan-of-control-in-management-definition-disadvantages-advantages.html&usg=AFQjCNG5_MqfkZXSN3WU2YSbAz5QTJk-8Q&sig2=7Y1_cv0DamWDI5d9G9js-g&bvm=bv.150729734,d.d2s)

B. For an organization with two managements, span of control concept means that the employees will be reporting to two managers within the same organization at different levels of management. This also means that the organization has only two levels of management where decisions are made.

18. Describe the physical layout of the correctional facility. IF you selected to do a Department, pick one facility in the department and describe its physical and staffing facets. Publicly available information only, include the address, number of dormitories, etc. Google EARTH may assist you with this question. If they tell you that its confidential for security, they are misunderstanding the question. You want the public basics only, if they have a concern, advise them of this.

             The physical address of San Quentin prison facility is CA 94964, California. The complex is mounted on Point San Quentin which entails 1.75 Km2 northern San Francisco Bay. It stretches 275 acres and has its own ZIP code for mail sent to prisoners. It’s bordered by San Francisco Bay to the south. They prison comprises four cell blocks, one maximum security block, central healthcare building, medium security dorm n a firehouse house.

19. Hierarchy of command.

A. Define it (in the context of Criminal Justice)

B. List all (hierarchy of command) ranks of correctional personnel that are responsible for custody of the inmates, from bottom to top. Start with title of the persons that directly have care and custody responsibilities of the inmates (often titled “correctional officer”) and End with the C.E.O., often titled the “Warden” or “Director” (note: Its not the Governor or President) , or they may have another title in your selected Department. Do not list the NAMES of personnel, ONLY the title, like Ofc. Sgt, Lt. …. or similar for YOUR selected Department.

19. A. A chain of command refers to a group of individuals who execute orders based on authority within the group. Its part of structure that delegates how power is distributed form the top most management to the rest of the people in an organization.

19 B. Shift Commanders

  Commanding Officer

            Sergeant

             Lieutenant

             Captain

             Warden: Title for the administrative head

19. Answer ONLY A or B and C.

A. IF your agency has a DEATH ROW, describe how many males and females are housed there. Also, describe the cell (size and what’s in it, sink? Bed? Toilet? Desk? And describe the daily life activity of a death row inmate (how many hours of outside area time, etc.).

                San Quentin has the largest death row for male inmates, and the largest in United States. The different units house 725 male inmates. However, there has not been any death execution for the past ten years as a result of challenges to the execution protocols. The cells in the facility look old, given by the fact that much of the structure were built 100 years ago. There is nothing automatic with the sinks, beds, doors and cells. Each cell must be locked manually using hands.

20. No right or wrong answer: Just a personal survey, with 5 easy points credited.

 A. How many actual hours did it take to complete this assignment? Between 40 to 50 hours.

B. Did you find it difficult? Yes. The assignment was a little frustrating but become easy and interesting towards the end.

C. Did you find it was a good review/repeat of the text material that ensures a student a student learned/understood what was to be learned in the course? Yes, the assignment is a good review to help understand classroom knowledge.

D. Most write that at first it looks tough and.. But later write that it was a great asset to the course, mostly only repeating the same concepts and terms, do you feel that way, that you learned a lot? Yes, it looked challenging given that information is not readily available. In the end, I realized there is much about correctional facilities that I learned.

E. What would you change? F. Any personal comments? This is all used to improve the content and RA for the future. The assignment should not be limited to correctional facilities in states of Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Texas, New Orleans, Utah, California, Minnesota, Idaho, or Wisconsin

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Prison and Jail System

Prison and Jail System
Prison and Jail System

Criminal Justice: Prison and Jail System

Question 1

Prison litigation refers to cases filed by inmates in the public courts of law. The number of prison litigation in the 1980’s skyrocketed to 23,230 filed in the US district courts under the Title 42 within the Federal Statute.  The number increased by 49% in the 1996 an aspect that necessitated the Congress to pass the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) to reduce the number of cases (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2014). The PLRA has two pillars, which are the prospective relief provision and the prisoner litigation provisions.

The two pillars have three major facets that hold the prison litigation in place. The prisoners need to go through all the administrative channels before going to the federal courts. Secondly, prisoners filing forma pauperis are required to pay the courts and filing cost via their funds that are present in the correctional trust fund. Lastly, the prisoners are not permitted to file forma pauperis if they have filed cases that have were terminated by the courts due to malevolence (Campbell, 2009).

The PLRA amendments served to benefit one party that is the courts by reducing the number of cases in the courts but were disadvantageous to the prisoners. The amendment makes it difficult for the prisoners to be guaranteed fair hearing in the federal and state courts. The amendment provides a long chain for the prisoners to follow before they file their cases in the court termed as exhaustion requirement.

According to Margo Schlanger who has done research on the impact of PLRA, she discovered that most of the cases filed within the system are discarded for frivolous issues. Some of them include missing a deadline, filing the documents with red ink or attaching medical records to support their claims in their submissions. The aspect makes it harder for the prisoners to not only file their cases but also win them (Sullivan, 2013). The legal system needs to make sure that the rights of all citizens by the fact that they are human beings are upheld, but inmates are shunned under the pretext of the PLRA.

The second effect is that it does limit the number of experienced lawyers willing to represent the prisoner. The reason for this is that the PLRA does limit the contingent rates that the lawyers can recover to 150% of the judgment and the hourly fees to 150% of the appointed counsel rates by the courts. This aspect coupled with the fact that the chances of winning are minimal deters them from taking the cases hence placing the inmates at a disadvantageous point.

 Based on Booker (2016), only 5% of the cases involving inmates in 2012 was represented by lawyers when compared to 65% of the cases involving non-incarcerated individuals. The disparity reduces the chances of the inmates to get a fair trial and have an equal chance of winning the cases filed against the system.

Thirdly, the policy restricts the inmates from recovering from mental or emotional injury without proving a physical injury took place. In the prison case scenario, inmates are at times coerced into sex, discriminated against regarding religion, ethnicity among other violations within the constitution that do not involve physical injury. The prison and the legal system have a duty of ensuring such aspects do not occur, and in the case, they do the perpetrators face punishment. Based on this aspect the inmates end up adopting violence as a coping mechanism in the harsh environment while some commit suicide as a way of escaping their torture (Bark, 2014)

Prisons are areas where the criminals are expected to reform, but with the PLRA the reform involves infringing immensely on their rights as human beings. The courts have minimal authority when it comes to altering the prison policies to protect the inmates. The incapacitation of the courts gives more power to the administrators to set up more hurdles when the inmates are filing their cases (Schlanger and Shay, 2008). The increase in procedures and policies set do frustrate the inmates as it limits the chances of addressing their grievances.

Question 2

According to Schlanger and Shay (2008) jails play an integral role in the criminal justice system as they hold inmates as they await their trial, sentencing or charges. The jails serve to separate the criminals from the innocent people in the society. The aim of the separation is to keep the society safe from the criminal who wants to create havoc. Jails are typically run by the local government while others by cities or managed by people privately through contracts with the local government

The jail system holds criminals who have done petty offenses or those serving a sentence of less than one year. The inmate, in this case, is run through a system that will help them change their perspective on life, in other words, make them fit in the society. Jail system has a rehabilitation program that does give the inmates skills that will enable them to get employment after their sentence (Terry, 2009).

Furthermore, the jails decongest the state prisons hence ensuring manageable numbers. The USA as an estimate of 3,300 jails that hold 1/3 of 2 million inmates, the number has increased tremendously over the years due to the lifestyle changes in the society. It is true that there is a negative correlation between the rate of criminal increase and the jails in the country resulting in overcrowding in the system (Sullivan, 2013).

I believe the jail system is necessary as it does deter people from engaging in crime. The harsh conditions in the present jail system make many people rethink their decision to commit a crime. Moreover, the jail system does punish the criminals by taking away some privileges they enjoyed in the free world and aid them in reforming. Retribution is part and parcel of the jail system as it saves to bring a reformed individual to the society.

Question 3

 Three punishment and incarceration theories form the basis of treatment programs they include utilitarian, retributive and denunciation. The utilitarian theory focuses on punishing the criminals to serve as a lesson to them and other members of the society. Under the utilitarian theory, offenders go to jail or prison to deter them from engaging in the same crime for a period (Mallik, 2014). When they are under the system, the system does introduce harsh living conditions that will make them regret their mistake.

The regret is what leads to the next step, which is rehabilitation. Rehabilitation deals with treating mental illness, violent behavior, and drug dependency. It also does incorporate educational skills that give the inmates skills and knowledge that will enable them to get jobs when they integrate into the society (Schlanger and Shay, 2008).

The second treatment program focuses on the retributive theory where the criminal gets punished for their offense (Mallik, 2014). In the USA, some states still have the capital punishment for offenders. The capital punishment serves to punish the offenders for the crime they committed and does give justice to the victims. The severity of the issue does make many potential offenders abstain from engaging in any criminal activity that will cost them their lives (Gottschalk, 2006).

The last one is the denunciation whereby the society subjects an individual to societal condemnation (Mallik, 2014). An example is when someone gives out information to a competitor in the business world. The publication of their name in the newspapers and the media serves to condemn them for their actions, and the business industry will shun their serves.

Treatment programs serve as a means of reforming the criminals into productive citizens. The programs give the criminals a second chance to achieve their potentials which do result in the growth of the nation. The treatment programs give the society an opportunity to deter potential criminals from engaging in crime. The major disadvantage is that managing the programs is costly and does add an immense burden to the state and federal system (Lowenkamp, Latessa and Smith, 2006).

Based on my analysis, I can conclude that they are necessary for ensuring that the victims get justice and the offender gets punished for their offense. The treatment programs provide the society with an opportunity to move forward from a negative event in their lives.

Question 4

Correctional system in the USA has undergone many amendments with the aim of formulating means to reduce the over congestion in the prisons and jail system. The first correctional policy is the reduction in the harsh sentences within the criminal judicial system. Many states in the USA have eradicated capital punishment in preference for the rehabilitation sentences (Lowenkamp et al., 2006).The adoption of the utilitarian approach with the aim of appearing democratic has increased the number of offenders hence increasing the number of inmates in the system.

Secondly, the AB 109 also known as the realignment bill serves the purpose of diverting the risk of punishing low-risk offender to the counties from the state. It also altered the three strikes law……” where the defendant convicted of any new felony, having suffered one prior conviction of a serious felony to be sentenced to state prison for twice the term otherwise provided for the crime…,’’ (California’s Three Strikes Sentencing Law – criminal_justice, 2017).

The AB 109 does increase the chances of criminals viewing the system as being lenient hence increasing their chances to engage in serve crimes.  An example of the negative impact of this is the shooting of Whittier police officer Keith Boyer by an offender who was on a locally supervised probation instead of jail (Realignment (AB 109) in California, 2017).

The third correctional policy is the hands-off doctrine that eliminated the supreme court’s involvement in prison operations. The policy has resulted in the correctional facilities being under the direct control of the administrators. In the case, an inmate feels offended by the jail system and want their grievances addressed the long channels tend to limit them from getting justice (Gendreau, Goggin, and Smith, 2000). The hands-off policy is closely tied to the denunciation theory where the society does shun the inmates, in this case, the administrators. The aspect as resulted in the increase in violence in various jails and prisons around the country.

As discussed in this paper there is a conflict of goals that tend to affect the future corrections system. Different states apply different correctional policies when it comes to dealing with offenders. The drive is often political, civil or economic pressures faced by the legislature. The conflict in goals leads to lenient policies that favor one party while ignoring the other party directly or indirectly involved in a crime.

The second challenge is getting adequate funding. The correctional facilities in the current are underfunded by the federal and the state government. In 2016, the total budget allocated to the correctional facility was $71 billion which is not proportional to the high number of inmates in these facilities.

Thirdly, the correctional facilities have understaffed an aspect that makes it difficult to enroll the correctional programs fully. The aspect results in the offenders viewing jail term as a break from their real lives instead of a period to reform. The perception has led to the increase in the number of second-time offenders across the country (Gottschalk, 2006).

Lastly, there is a lack of proper coordination between the different agencies involved in the criminal justice system when it comes to correctional activities. The lack of a seamless flow of information on how to reform the inmates and decongest the system has rendered the correctional system ineffective (Gendreau et al., 2000).

In conclusion, the future seems bleak in the correctional system if the legislature and the society do not take a step to work together. The joint effort will enable the future generations to grow up with morals and the institution of progressive correctional policies that will reduce the rate of crime in the country.

REFERENCES

Bark, N. (2014). Prisoner mental health in the USA. Int Psychiatry, 11, 53-5.

Booker, M. (2017). 20 years is enough: Time to repeal the Prison Litigation Reform Act | Prison Policy Initiative. Prisonpolicy.org. Retrieved 1 July 2017, from https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2016/05/05/20years_plra/

Bureau of Justice Statistics, US Dep’t of Justice, (2014). Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems.

California’s Three Strikes Sentencing Law – criminal_justice. (2017). Courts.ca.gov. Retrieved 2 July 2017, from http://www.courts.ca.gov/20142.htm

Gendreau, P., Goggin, C., & Smith, P. (2000). Generating rational correctional policies: An introduction to advances in cumulating knowledge. Corrections Management Quarterly, 4, 52-60.

Gottschalk, M. (2006). The prison and the gallows: The politics of mass incarceration in America. Cambridge University Press.

Lowenkamp, C. T., Latessa, E. J., & Smith, P. (2006). Does correctional program quality really matter? The impact of adhering to the principles of effective intervention. Criminology & Public Policy, 5(3), 575-594.

Mallik, A. (2014). Theories of Punishment in the Ethics of Philosophy. Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science & English Language.

Realignment (AB 109) in California. (2017). Shouselaw.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017, from http://www.shouselaw.com/realignment.html

Schlanger, M., & Shay, G. (2008). Preserving the rule of law in America’s jails and prisons: The case for amending the Prison Litigation Reform Act.

Sullivan, K. T. (2013). To free or not to free: Rethinking release orders under the prison litigation reform act after Brown v. Plata. BCJL & Soc. Just., 33, 419.

Terry, C. (2009). Prison Litigation and What It Means To You as a Corrections Professional. Corrections.com. Retrieved 1 July 2017, from http://www.corrections.com/news/article/22872-prison-litigation-and-what-it-means-to-you-as-a-corrections-professional

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Punishment in the Criminal Justice System

Punishment in the Criminal Justice System
Punishment in the Criminal Justice System

Punishment in the Criminal Justice System

All over the world, the criminal justice system of any state serves two major objectives; enforcement of the law of the land, and correction of offenders through various reform institutions. In this regard, criminal justice can be construed to mean a system governed by standard practices that aim to uphold social control, detecting and preventing crime, and most importantly sanctioning offenders through the use of various forms of punishments.

Significantly, criminal punishment is applied as a way to encourage proper conduct between individuals in the society and at the same time make one take responsibility for a wrongful act committed against another. In this respect, retaliatory acts are avoided because victims of crime will be satisfied that the wrongdoer has faced equal punishment in comparison with the act done. Notably, Lollar (2014) asserts that punishments can also be used as a compensatory tool towards victims of crime.

Retributive punishment

Foremost, this type of punishment is founded on the belief that the best way to respond to a wrongful act is by using a proportionate punishment. According to Flanders (2014) retributivists are of the opinion that when an offender commits an illegal act, the criminal justice system should make such a person suffer an equal and proportionate punishment.

Amusingly, retributivists attach their justification for proportionate punishment from ancient religious laws such as the ones contained in the Holy Bible, for instance, Exodus 21:23 avers that if any person commits harm, then the resulting punishment should be equal, hence the catchphrase “a life for a life, an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Notably, similar sentiments are proclaimed in Biblical verses such as 5:38 and Deuteronomy 19:21.

Retributivists argue that as long as the damage has been done, there is nothing that can be done to reverse such damage hence the only way to administer justice is by giving equal punishment (Flanders, 2014). Seemingly, such reasoning can be said to be backward looking such that it does not take into consideration that at times crime may be committed in a unpremeditated way such that punishing an offender for the same would be harsh or excessive.

Another going concern for this form of punishment is that it may encourage revenge and promote retaliation in the society. Also, in some instances, it may be hard to draw the line between punishment that is sufficient and from the punishment that is excessive.

An example of a retributive form of punishment is the death penalty which according to Luliano (2015) is no punishment at all because it only seeks to insert pain as a measure of administering justice but does not address the root causes of crime or even ways of helping individuals refrain from such crime.

Utilitarian Punishment

First, from a wider scope, the utilitarian theory developed by Jeremy Bentham emphasizes that any action within the society should be directed towards achieving maximum satisfaction and catering for the well being of the majority members of the society. The utilitarian form of punishment, threads on the same footing by asserting that the laws that guide the conduct of the people in the society, should be used to maximize the happiness of the society (FERRARO, 2013).

Hence, crime and punishment should be kept to a minimum because they are inconsistent with happiness which the utilitarian theory of punishment asserts. Importantly, proponents of this theory of punishment recognize that having a crime free society may be a fallacy as such recommend that the form of punishment handed down to a wrongdoer should be directed to producing “good” from the person. In this respect, the punishment should not be unlimited.

Unlike the retributive form of punishment, which is said to be backward looking, the utilitarian form of punishment is largely presumed to be proactive on crime. For instance, the laws that direct how punishment should be handed down on crime should be designed to deter future crimes of the same nature.

Accordingly, rehabilitation of criminal offenders can be said to be one of the methods that the utilitarian form of punishment emphasizes as a way of administering justice.  Rehabilitation mainly aims at reforming an offender rather than punish so that they may be integrated back into the society. Equally, jailing as a form of incapacitation of an offender also falls under the utilitarian form of punishment because, by removal of the offender’s ability to commit offenses from the society, future crimes of the same nature may be prevented.

Preferred rationale/form of punishment

First, it is important to appreciate the fact that in certain instances, the commission of a criminal act may not be planned such that one will be deemed unswervingly guilty of the act. Offenses such as murder may happen due to provocation such that one may end up taking another one’s life in the heat of passion. Similarly, minors and persons of unsound mind are not spared either when it comes to the commission of a crime. However, such a category of persons may be deemed to a special group because of the underlying issues such as the lack of understanding of the consequence that a particular act may lead to.

From the examples mentioned above, a retributive form of punishment will certainly administer justice in the wrong way because of its backward-looking nature of offering proportionate punishment. Without taking into consideration factors that may have led to a crime, any form of punishment handed down to an individual may be excessive or uncalled for.

By the same token, criminals are presumed to be ordinary persons such that one factor changed that status, for instance, one may seek to steal due to poverty. Alternatively, another person may engage in crime as an act of revenge for a wrongful act done on them. Under such circumstances, the form of punishment handed down should be directed towards enabling such a person reform and be integrated back into the society so as to continue developing.

Notably, even under religious laws, the principle of forgiveness is widely discussed. In this respect, retributive punishment does not give individuals any opportunity to reform or even afford the wrong persons with the chance to deliberate on pardoning the person after serving their sentence as an act of compassion.

Hence, I will argue that the utilitarian form of punishment stands out as the best-placed method for punishing offenders because it not only takes into considerations of the underlying factors that may have led to a crime but it also focuses on handing down the punishment that in the long run will stem out goodness from a person. Goralski (2015) is of the same views by asserting that models of punishment that presume criminals to be bad people who deserve harsh punishments should be relatively be avoided because this leads to vengeance rather than reform.

Philosophy of Imprisonment

Borrowing meaning from the Law Dictionary (2016), imprisonment means restraining or putting an individual in confinement such that his liberty is subjugated. In this respect, imprisonment can be said to be a tool of crime deterrence going by the fact that is limits one’s movement and activities.

Arguably, the rationale for imprisonment as a form of punishment can be said to have stemmed from the belief that by subjecting a person to a place whereby their rights and freedoms were limited to a minimal level, then people would be careful not to commit crime because of the hardships that one would experience while in prison.

However, one can say that imprisonment only acts as a form of banishment of an individual. This is to say, prisons only act as means of putting an individual away from his ordinary life such that he is disassociated with the society. Hence, for imprisonment to reform an individual, an extra effort must be provided a failure to which the individual will only lack his privileges which may not be enough to deter future crimes.

Stuart Greenstreet (2017) argues that imprisonment does not serve its purpose of preventing crime. In his discourse, “Prison Doesn’t work” he asserts that the reason why prisoners even after being released are likely to commit crime is based on the fact that by putting together equal minded people that share similar criminal mindsets, the likelihood of having a worse crime is high because of the perception that jail is used as a way of punishing them.

Also, innocent persons may be subjected to imprisonment such that if they are not helped in having a changed mentality of a criminal justice system, then the likelihood of prisons remodeling such a person by just having them locked up can be equaled to a time bomb.

From a personal point of view, imprisonment only serves to confine people to a place whereby they can no longer commit the crime, but it is not effective in deterring the occurrence of future crimes. Imprisonment should be supported with other special programs that help prisoners have a different perception of prisons and importantly assist them on being integrated back to the society.

Restorative Justice

Restorative Justice largely emphasizes on the usage of alternative measures to solve crimes and social disorders. According to Walgrave (2013) restorative justice embraces the ideology that wrongdoers should be empowered to rehabilitate, reform and be reconciled back to the community. Seemingly, any form of crime causes harmto another as such focusing on repairing the harm in perceived to be vital in assisting the warring parties. United Nation’s office on drug and crime asserts that restorative justice seeks to put things right between conflicting parties while at the same time preventing occurrences of similar misconducts through the use of corrective strategies and programs.

Nevertheless, this concept has been purported as being too ambitious in a bid to restore ties between the victims of crime and the offenders, especially when compared with traditional models which emphasizes on the punishment of offenders for any crimes committed. However, restorative justice must be applauded for promoting values such as forgiveness, dialogue, accountability and fraternity (Arlene Gadreault, 2015). Evidently, the main aim of restorative justice is to give both the offenders and victims of crime a bigger role to play within the criminal justice system so as to yield positive outcomes and at the same time offer the necessary assistance to both parties.

Notably, restorative justice can be regarded as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, which uses less punitive channels often in the form of diversion programs under various state agencies that are meant to aid the involved parties to resolve the previous conflict. Accordingly, restorative justice affords offenders with the opportunity to take responsibility for the harm or injuries caused to victims and consequently, make adequate compensation.   

Bentham project

Foremost, Bentham being a prominent law scholar that developed various law theories such as the utilitarian school of thought theory, it is then important to have a deep understanding of the message that he intended to put across through the use of his works. Thus, the Bentham project can be said to largely focus on Bentham’s writings and how they can be made relevant to the modern world’s activities.

The Bentham Project also can be said to focus on how to formulate basic codes of conduct within the society. For instance, the utilitarian theory of punishment can be said to follow the guidelines of Bentham’s utilitarian theory.

Lastly, this project is of great significance especially for learners to get to know the foundation and originality of various concepts that are applicable in today’s world. Having a deep understanding of the origin of things or events is important in assisting one to comprehend their significance in the society.

References

Arlene Gadreault (2015, January 7th). The Limits of Restorative Justice, School of Criminology,

Universite de Montreal, [online]. Retrieved from http://www.victimsweek.gc.ca/symp-colloque/past-passe/2009/presentation/arlg_1.html

FERRARO, F. (2013). Adjudication and expectations: Bentham on the role of the judges. Utilitas, 25(2), 140-160.

Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0953820812000349

Flanders, C. (2014). Can retributivism be saved? Brigham Young University Law Review,

2014(2), 309-362. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1567682599?accountid=45049

GORALSKI, M. W. (2015). LET THE JUDGE SPEAK: RECONSIDERING THE ROLE OF REHABILITATION IN FEDERAL SENTENCING. St. Louis Law Review, 89(4), 1283-1310. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1860286122?accountid=45049

Lollar, C. E. (2014). What is criminal restitution? Iowa Law Review, 100(1), 93-154. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1633992433?acccountid=45049

Luliano, J. (2015). WHY CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IS NO PUNISHMENT AT ALL. American University Review, 64(60, 1377-1441. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1719903823?accountid=45049

The Law Dictionary (2016). What is imprisonment? [Online] Retrieved from https://thelawdictionary.org/imprisonment/

UNITED NATIONS Office on Drugs and Crime (2016), ‘Handbook on Restorative Justice

Programmes’, Vienna. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org>06-56290_Ebook

Walgrave, L. (2013). Perceptions of justice and fairness in criminal proceedings and restorative

encounters: Extending theories of procedural justice. Tijdschrift Voor Criminology, 55(2), 229-233. Retrieved fromhttps://search.proquest.com/1426081042?accountid=45049

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Impact of criminological research on social policy

criminological research
criminological research

Impact of criminological research on social policy

Criminological research can impact social policy in a considerable way, given that crime and criminal justice are generally considered social issues. While criminal justice is involved in studying crime, social policy aims at establishing how the society promotes the welfare of individuals. Both areas are also related to social problems that relate to crime and are concerned about how better responses can be undertaken to prevent crime (Wincup, 2013: 5).

Therefore, research in criminology provides useful findings on crime, criminal behavior, causes of crime, ways of preventing crime and how to deal with offenders in order to reduce crime, all which provide solutions that can be applied in social policy development to make the society a better place to live.

Sociology aspect: Criminological Research

Crime is considered a social problem and social policy concerns itself with addressing social problems. In this relation, criminology and social policy have a direct relationship in that criminology studies provide solutions for addressing crime in order to promote societal welfare. The application of criminological research provides a more comprehensive approach to identifying social problems that lead to crime.

It provides a more scientific approach in the collection of data, analysis and presentation, which provides highly relevant information for use in managing crime (Liebling, Maruna & McAra, 2017: 58). A majority of these interventions revolve around social policy and this implies that criminological research has significant implications on criminal research. This could also explain why criminological research as a course is offered together with social policy, given that they both have a beneficial relationship.

The more recent research on whether prisons are more useful or harmful in promoting reducing crime is an example of research in criminal justice that has a direct impact on social policy. This is because while the use of prisons has been predominant over the decades as a means of correction, statistics have also shown that the use of prisons has only resulted in overcrowded jail facilities and increased crime as witnessed in the rate of recidivism among former criminals.

In this relation, criminology research has also focused on determining social interventions that would be more effective in reducing crime such as poverty reduction, education, early child development programs, job creation, war on drugs, help for mental problems and community-based punishments for crime (Liebling, Maruna & McAra, 2017). This would impact social policy in that based on the recommendations from criminology research, it is possible to implement such measures to provide solutions that improve social welfare.

Such actions have been observed in the United States there is increased efforts towards addressing underlying social issues that influence crime. A notable intervention has been the implementation of prison education programs that ensure that prisoners are able to take reintegrate into the society through finding decent jobs (Davis, 2014: 1). The same applies for prison overcrowding, where criminological research has been prevalent and established that overcrowded prisons have led to more problems in the United States’ attempt to reduce crime.

The government has consequently called for action to address the problem of prison overcrowding to promote the welfare of prisoners and reduce deaths, injuries, immorality and recidivism associated with prison overcrowding. To address such issues, social policy must rely on findings from criminological research because they are more accurate and are based on well researched theories, such that interventions are likely to lead to better outcomes.

References

Davis, Lois M., et al. (2014). How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go

from Here? RAND Corporation, 2014, Report No. 564. Retrieved from https://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/effects-prison-education-programs-research-findings

Liebling, A., Maruna, S. & McAra, L. (2017). The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford University Press

Wincup, E. (2013). Understanding crime and social policy. New York: The Policy Press

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Crime and Punishment: The Death Penalty

Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment

The death penalty and other issues concerning crime and punishment

This paper focuses on the general aspect of crime and punishment in different jurisdictions as they vary with religious and social beliefs, as do the treatment of persons from the point of investigations, arrest, trial and finally committal. The rights of the prisoners have long been neglected as they are considered pariahs in the society. This paper is analytical of the plight of prisoners and the sentences they face in addition to exposing the human rights issues that are to be addressed in the plights of prisoners’ rights.

Crime and punishment in the law

Crime is defined as an act that infringes on the law and therefore punishable. This broad description covers the significant aspect of what crime entails although it is worth noting that some crimes are not against people per se. These actions or omissions result in the suffering of persons. As a general duty of the state and its agencies to guard and protect its citizens, any infringement of the same attracts certain penalties to the perpetrator. Such penalties are out in the criminal laws. These punishments are meant to ensure justice for the victims (Friedman and Percival, 2017). It is also for the maintenance of law and order.

The inclusion of social mechanics of the society has had a great impact on the development of this area of practice of crime and punishment. The involvement of human rights organisations and the community as well as the introduction of acceptance in the forms of punishment.

Bibliography  

Creamer, C. D., & Simmons, B. A. (2015). Ratification, reporting, and rights: Quality of participation in the Convention against Torture. Human Rights Quarterly, 37(3), 579-608. Friedman, L. M., & Percival, R. V. (2017). The roots of justice: Crime and punishment in Alameda County, California, 1870-1910. UNC Press Books.

Garland, D. (2014). Peculiar Institution: America’s Death Penalty Today. In Die Sinnprovinz der Kriminalität (pp. 233-244). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.

Maruna, S., & Immarigeon, R. (Eds.). (2013). After crime and punishment. Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=-WsQBAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=crime+and+punishment&ots=BHWteeRM9H&sig=fZpTDoEIAGl-vq2WTtaQEplscys&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=crime%20and%20punishment&f=false.

Mathias, M. D. (2013). The sacralization of the individual: Human rights and the abolition of the death penalty. American Journal of Sociology, 118(5), 1246-1283. (Annotated bibliography)

In the outcry for the respect of the sacrosanct value of life, the author looks at the various forces that have fought for the abolition of death sentence in most jurisdictions. He focuses on the trends, cultural and political that led to the achievement of this feat. The article further dissects the various challenges that have faced this fight such as religious beliefs and the embrace of the human rights cultures. It also looks at the various aspects of communal lives of the residents in the fight for the abolition of the death sentence as being paramount. 

Matthews, R., & Young, J. (Eds.). (2013). The new politics of crime and punishment. Routledge. Retrieved from <https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rmzKtScaWv8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=crime+and+punishment&ots=DhSwn0i0xu&sig=MZdIQ1tiPH2lj0VyjZ48zQqyVOc&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=crime%20and%20punishment&f=false>.

Smith, C. E. (2016). Shaping Constitutional Law: The Example of Prisoners’ Rights. In The Supreme Court and the Development of Law (pp. 1-13). Palgrave Macmillan US.

World Health Organization. (2015). Sexual health, human rights, and the law. World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/175556/1/9789241564984_eng.pdf.

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