Essays on Prison System

Abstract

The prison is being used since the people started to live in a society. It is being the necessity to obtain control over the group of people to protect the crimes by punishing the criminals. The history of jails in the US will date back to the British ruling period while it was first introduced to punish the criminals. The jails were not in a good shape on that time that caused the death of many prisoners in health issues. The jails are being reformed day by day and upgraded to the prison system that we witness in the ...

Introduction

Democracy is a type of government where the supreme power is vested in the population of the country or representatives elected from the population. The concept of liberalism is a political doctrine, which protects and enhances the individual freedom and considers it as the central political goal. Therefore, liberal democracy is a democratic government system where the individual freedom and are officially protected and recognized, and the rule of law limits the political power. Liberal democracy has been the greatest export of the United States of America to the world. But, due to several reasons, the United States is ...

Incarceration

So far, the main purposes of incarceration are incapacitation, rehabilitation and integration. In the model of incapacitation, the prisoner is deterred from committing more crimes, and the security of the populace is under consideration. In the rehabilitation model, there are treatment sessions in the prison system in order to reform the prisoner, while integration has the objective of enabling prisoners to return to society such that they become productive members of it, and are able to maintain productive relations with family and acquaintances (Cole and Smith, 336).

What are some potential impacts of incarceration on an individual? the family? Their community?

One major impact of incarceration on an individual is psychological in nature. ...

Nuestra Familia is a criminal organisation of Chicano or Mexican prison gang with origins in North California. Today, it is described as the California’s worst Hispanic prison gangs that has gotten the opportunity to develop both within and outside the state’s prison system. Fundamentally, this group of gangs started at vocational institution at the state of California with an initial name of La Familia in September 1967. Eventually, La Neustria Familia became the new name of the organization after the gang founders decided to change the name. In reality, many Americans view this gang group as closely ...

Introduction

The prison system in the United States has followed a system where prisoners are locked away from the rest of society and their families never to be seen nor heard from ever again, it has become a common theme with prison systems. Prisoners are forbidden to see their families, watch movies, and have certain times when items need to be returned so as to eliminate a possible threat against prison staff; many prisons in many states have restricted the rights of all prisoners. Prisoners in California prisons are a shining example of said treatment, it has gotten to the ...

(Institute/College/University)

Prison establishment: concerns and issues

Over the last five years, the number of female inmates in US prisons has increased twice as that of the men. In the last decade, the numbers of correctional facilities that house both men and women have also risen. Though there were fears as to the possible repercussions of ‘blending’ male and female inmates in one institution, the changes that were evinced were for the better rather than for the worse. In one instance, noticeable improvements were seen in the conduct of the male inmates. However, some of the inmates have engaged in sexual relations with each other. ...

Introduction

Cognitive Behavioral Interventions are approaches that use soft instruments to correct or enhance behavioral characteristics of individuals, either to comply with society expectations or to unlearn a particular behavior. A person with a drugs problem may be trained to handle the urges of taking drugs and avoidance of risky situations, with an aim of solving the problems. Cognitive behavioral therapy, commonly referred to as CBT, teaches the subjects a new set of skills designed to increase awareness of thoughts and emotions of an individual. The idea is to re-empower the individual to understand how certain exposures to situations, people ...

INTRODUCTION

Human civilization has come a long way since it first began establishing communities and attempted to establish law and order. The reality is that there have always been criminals; people who for one reason or another break the laws established and require consequences for their actions. One of the most controversial discussions throughout history is what are the best means to admonish the offenders, protect law-abiding citizens and send a message of deterrence to other would-be offenders. That being said many different approaches to addressing offenders who commit crimes have existed throughout the ancient world to present day. One ...

Question 3

Some individuals and organizations argue that prisons should be abolished because most people who are locked are poor ethnic minorities. Furthermore, they suggest that the prison system does not help in rehabilitating criminals (Edge 43). Many people who are accused of committing various crimes and end up being incarcerated are often unable to hire good lawyers to represent them in court. Imprisonment results in the restrictions of a person’s liberty. Inmates also suffer physical, sexual, and psychological abuse while serving time in prisons. However, unless better alternatives to the prison system are established, prisons should not be abolished ...

Capital punishment or the death penalty is one of the most contentious types of punishments in the United States of America. It is the type of punishment that puts to death an individual who is found guilty of a crime as a result of a legal trial. The implementation of the death penalty dates back to the 1600s but has undergone many reforms thereafter. The discharge of the death penalty is very uncommon because it is usually applied for crimes of aggravated murder. Because the public views the death penalty as too harsh, immoral, and inhumane, it has been ...

The idea behind Foucault's theory of power structures is that power is what makes society what it is. Power exists everywhere and comes from man's concept of what his or her definition of everywhere is. Given that power is derived from everywhere, it is not a structure, but rather an overarching influence that exists in society. The idea of power according to Foucault is intertwined with the subject of knowledge. Using the term, power/knowledge, Foucault identifies that the concept of power is accepted in society through the idea that within knowledge lies truth. Truth, to Foucault is what induces ...

The United States has the highest prison population in the world while having only 5 percent of the world’s population (Liptak, 2008). While most of the people who are incarcerated are in the prison system because of non-violent or drug related offenses. With most of these consisting of Hispanic and African American people from lower income areas. This disproportion is caused mainly because of the lack of equal access to education. Four in every ten prisoners returns to jail within three years of being released “a collective rate that has remained largely unchanged in years, despite huge increases ...

Mental Illness Among Criminals

The prison systems have been over populated by many criminals in our country. The increasing rate of prisoners who have been diagnosed with mental illness is increasing. Many criminals have either been diagnosed with mental illness before being arrested and put into prison or they were diagnosed with mental issues after being incarcerated. The inmates with mental illness while committing crimes may have done so because of their illness. The people who were incarcerated and then diagnosed could have had mental problems because of the prisons system they are now living in. It can cause inmates to become depressed, ...

Introduction

Violence within prison complexes is common in almost all parts of the world. The violence can originate from staff or inmate. The correctional systems in several countries attempted newer approaches to incarceration in order to avoid violence on prison complexes. There are very few complexes in the world that have reduced rates of violence or can claim to be violence free. Instead of rehabilitation, prisoners face entrapment in a dangerous game. The level of accountability towards prisoners and their safety diminishes in regions such as Asia, Middle East, and South America. The United Nations established a set of international ...

One of the points we take pride in as Americans is being the land of the free. While we like to hold this idea up as a reason we are a great country, we currently house over 20% of the world’s prison population, while only having 5% of the world’s population according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) web site. This means that 1 out of every 110 adults is currently incarcerated. Between the years of 1978 and 2014 the prison population has risen a staggering 408%, and will most likely continue to grow. These numbers ...

Reduction of crime is the dream of any criminal justice system. In the era where the rate of crime has significantly increased due to the use of sophisticated weapons and technology, there is an increasing necessity for the government and other stakeholders to ensure that such crimes are minimized. Having strict punishment mechanisms is one of the strategies geared towards the reduction of crimes. In Canada, this approach is the most common. Its proponents give a two-fold argument about its role in reducing crime. First, they argue that the offender is ‘locked behind bars’, hence temporarily separated from the ...

1. Mandatory Minimums Mandatory minimum sentencing has been used for hundreds of years to lock those who commit crimes away for a guaranteed amount of time or to guarantee that the person in question receive a minimum fine. Initially, mandatory minimum sentencing conventions came about at the same time federal crimes were invented, with the passage of the 1790 Crimes Act (“History of Mandatory Minimum Penalties and Statutory Relief Mechanisms”). The modern version of mandatory minimum sentencing laws have come to only be applied to certain types of crimes, such as drug crimes, weapons charges, criminal possession of pornography, ...

Prisoners when in jail fall ill regularly and have to be tended to in the prison. The prisoners cannot be taken out of jail so that they can receive the medical attention required for their illness. However, they may at times get terminal illness when in jail. The terminal illnesses may at times restrict their movement to their cells or in the wards of the prison where they do not get any type of moral support (FAMM 53). Every patient in the world needs some form of moral support in his or her bid to get better and overcome ...

Introduction

The Massachusetts Correction Institute in Concord for men will be used as an example for this research. People in the society need to feel protected and secured in their homes. This fact is what causes the government to formulate security measures such as the correctional institutions that will be used to punish and rehabilitate criminals. In order to understand the topic of correction and punishment, it is crucial that one should be able to define their meanings. The word correction has many different meanings. However, in the criminal justice system correction is described as the rectification of one's behaviors. ...

Angela Davis’ analysis of the naturalization of the prison system within American society puts it open that for the most of the time, the multiple ways the prison system permeates our daily lives (morally, economically, ideologically, etc) is not considered (Davis 78). However, we consider it and we do think about it because we are so removed from it. We only understand the prison system in terms of what we see in popular media. In my essay, building from Davis’ notion of the naturalization of prison and her attempts to “denaturalize the prison system” (Cecil 1), I explore the ...

Angela Davis’ analysis of the naturalization of the prison system within American society puts it open that for the most of the time, the multiple ways the prison system permeates our daily lives (morally, economically, ideologically, etc) is not considered (Davis 78). However, we consider it and we do think about it because we are so removed from it. We only understand the prison system in terms of what we see in popular media. In my essay, building from Davis’ notion of the naturalization of prison and her attempts to “denaturalize the prison system” (Cecil 1), I explore the ...

The presence of places of deprivation of liberty is an indispensable attribute of any state, as any penitentiary system provides an isolation of the offender as one of the measures to curb their illegal activity. Therefore, the presence of prisons and educational institutions, special treatment is not something unexpected even in developed countries with a low crime rate. But do children have to suffer from this system and if so, how much ‘adult’ must they be? Each country has its own prison system, wherein the existence of certain rules and conditions of detention. Often these conditions do not meet ...

1. What is Angela Davis’s overall objective (purpose) in writing this book? What is her overall THESIS (argument—her position on prisons)? Since the 1970s, the growth of prisons has been exponential, and Angela Y. Davis worries why the community allows such a thing to happen. The growth is associated with the larger economic and social situations of the country. Davis argues that the growth of prisons is rarely seen, but it creates a cycle of incarceration and joblessness. She argues that prisons permit individuals to disassociate from the issues in their community (such as social, economic ...

The correctional institutions house numerous inmates across the country. The increase in inmate prison population has caused an overcrowding issue. The number of inmates has risen over the last 25 years. Rules that were set in place had assisted this increase. The three strikes you’re out rule had increased inmate housing because of the guidelines that under this law. “If a person had been convicted of three violent criminal acts they would be staying in prison for life” . This had made a huge impact on the amount of inmates who were serving life sentences. Since that law had ...

Overcrowding or overpopulation in prisons is defined as a situation when prison(s) hosts more prisoners contrary to the certified normal accommodation (CNA) as stipulated in the establishment’s requirements (Garcia & Marco, 2012, p. 37). This can be validated when there is the scarcity of rooms for inmates to sleep. Besides, the inability of facilities to offer adequate meals or food, poor health care services for inmates, insufficient staff who can care for inmates and ensure their safety as well as the lack of designated accommodation facilities necessary for detaining separately various types of prisoners, more so those that ...