Jail and Prison Paper

CJA/204
01/19/2015
PROFESSOR DEFRANCO
Jail and Prison Paper
Have you ever wondered how many different types of prisons there are in the United States that helps facilitate offenders that have been sentenced to serve time in a penal institution? To name a few there are maximum-security prison, super-maximum-security prisons, medium-security prisons, minimum-security prisons and not to mention there are other alternatives such as prison farms, boot camps and also private prisons all in which serve a purpose in facilitating offenders. One of the first American penal institutions was Newgate Prison, which opened in 1773 in Connecticut on the site of an abandoned copper mine and was in use until the 1820s (Siegel & Worrall, 2013).

Some of the major differences between the selected jail and the selected prisons are for starters jails are not considered to be of high priority in the criminal justice system. Most jails are frequently run on a county level, jail services have not been regulated and neither has a unified national policy been produced to mandate what constitutes adequate jail conditions. Jails are not well kept and hold offenders of all types, many who suffer from mental disabilities which go untreated because there is not enough money to treat them. Prisons on the other hands have many different types. Maximum-security prisons facilitate prisoners that commit notorious crimes and are well known to the public. Super-maximum-security prisons are used to facilitate the majority of predatory criminals spending 23 hours a day on lock down. Medium security prisons require less staff on guard towers and other security precautions. Inmates are allowed to have contact visitations. Minimum-security prisons have a daily operation that allows the prison staff to operate without armed guards. Inmates that are sentenced to this type of prison are usually nonviolent offenders that have committed white-collar crimes.
The inmate subculture is comprised of a peculiar language and a distinctive set of informal norms, attitudes, beliefs, values, statuses, and roles that give prisoners a different perspective from people on the outside (BA in History, 2014). For example prisoners still carry out gang hierarchy in prisons because gang associations provide inmates with a family and a sense of protection. Some of the cultures that are trending in prisons are how different racial backgrounds associate themselves with inmates of the same cultural background. In female prisons, women have the tendency to create families.
Jail plays an important role in the criminal justice system because it acts as a means of keeping an offender off the streets until proven guilty whether it is temporary or permanent confinement. Typically confinement to any jail should be less than one year. Having jails decreases the budgets for the United States to properly transport offenders to other locations.
The role of community based corrections programs associated with jails and prisons are to serve as an alternative of being incarcerated in jail and prison. These programs are located in neighborhoods, allowed offenders normal family relationships and friendships as well as rehabilitation services such as counseling, instruction in basic living skills, how to apply for jobs, and work training and placement. Keeping an offender in jail ensures that the offender can be present at the time of sentencing and it recognizes who should be committed to prison. One of the community based corrections that I feel that has been proven as reliable is probation and parole. Although offenders can have their probation or parole revoked it serves its purpose because the probation officer ensures that its probationer is following the guidelines that has been outlined for them for the duration of their probationary or parole time frame.
Some of the