Jails and Prisons
Prisons and jails are legal facilities that are established for correction and rehabilitation purposes. There are various types of prisons. The variance in the prisons depends on the nature of the prison and the social aspects that they are attributed to (Paul, 2013). They can also be categorized along the security level that they handle and the authority that governs the prisons. The broad categories of the types of prisons include, minimum security, low security, medium security and high security. The San Diego Central Jail (SDCJ) and the California State Prison Corcoran (COR) are some of the biggest facilities in the United States.
The SDCJ is run by the San Diego and it is used to hold people for short periods as they await their date in the court (SDCJ, 2014). Most of the people who stay in these jail stay for a period of less than one year. On the other hand COR is a facility that is operated by the government of the state of California. This facility is designed to hold people who have been convicted for criminal offences. Unlike the SDCJ, this facility holds people for very long periods depending of the sentence given by the court (CDCR, 2014).
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Corrections and Criminal Justice Essay".
The culture in the prisons is defined along the attitudes of the inmates towards their environment (Law Foundation, 2010). The inmates consider themselves as opponents of the judicial systems and the officers who are in charge of their correction. Violence in the system is considered as a normal way of life in the prisons, they have specialized ways of responding to assaults. All behaviors and notions of inmates that are compliant to the real definition of an inmate are perceived to be critical to the process of meeting legal standards. There are subcultures that are within the jails and prisons. A good example is between the differentiated behaviors are shown by differences among the inmates. The people who have stayed there for long are perceived to be senior and elderly in that context. They dictate the state of affairs within the inmate family (Paul, 2013).
In the criminal justice system, jails are very important. These are the places that hold the people who are awaiting trial for very short period. They enhance justice top the people who have been arrested as it acts as the place of waiting before facing judgment. They also act as lock up places for the people who cannot afford bail. They are probation centers for criminals (Law Foundation, 2010).
Community based correction systems are very important in the society. This is because they assist the inmates to change their habits in a natural community setting. They also give these inmates the opportunities to reform and acquire technical skills that can enhance their survival after the terms in jail or prison. This is also the best mechanism that can be used to decongest the main jails and prisons. The inmates are encouraged to participate in communal obligations and thus integrating them into the society.
The environment within jails and prisons encourages various violent behaviors. These are associated with the use of drugs and psychological instabilities among the inmates. The most common include sexual assault cases in the prisons. These involve raping and other immoral behaviors. There are also various cases of murder and suicide that occur in the jails and prisons (Paul, 2013).
The probation and parole officers have the responsibility of managing the record of all prisoners. These officers are involved in conducting various investigations at various levels of the criminal justice system. They are involved in the management of the general operations within the jails and prisons and periodic screening of the inmates for various attributes. They are in charge of the preparation of various reports before, during and discharge of the inmates and update the records appropriately (Paul, 2013).
Evidence based practices are ideologies that guide making of basic decisions by the use of practical and real logical reasons (Paul, 2013). These practices depend on a systematic set of ideologies that guide the decisions. In the criminal justice systems, evidence based practices are very crucial towards attainment of justice. This is because all decisions are made in relation to the policies and legal structures that are in place. The judicial processes for all criminals are guided by the best available evidence in relation to the law.
- CDCR, (2014). California State Prison. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Retrieved from http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Facilities_Locator/COR.html
- Law Foundation, (2010). Taking Justice into Custody. Law and Justice Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/ljf/app/707A7486376EC7B2CA257494002567C1.html
- Paul, M. (2013). Jail, Prisons and Criminal Justice. Routledge.
- SDCJ, (2014). San Diego Central Jail. Retrieved from http://www.sdsheriff.net/detentionfacilities/sdcj.html
