Jails and Prisons Free Essays

The Differences of Prisons and Jails Kenitra Evans CRJ303 Instructor Martin McAuliffe March 13, 2013 There are many differences between jails and prisons. They equally both house offenders but their day to day operations are very different. There are long histories about jails and prisons both and in this paper we will describe the differences of jails and prisons including how they operate and their functions. We will write a custom essay sample on Jails and Prisons or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many people hear the words prison and or jail, and they believe that both are one in the same but in reality they are very much different. Jails are correctional facilities that house offenders before or after they are sentenced for their crimes committed. Those individuals that are confined in jails are: * Individuals pending arraignment and awaiting trial, conviction, or sentencing * Probation, parole, and bail bond violators and absconders (Seiter,2011 pg 71) There are many different other reasons jails house inmates. Jails are full service facilities that offer security, food service, medical care, and offender programs and are therefore different from lockups, which are commonly located in police stations and hold people only for a short period of time, usually no more than forty-eight hours. †(Seitter, 2011) Sheriff’s and local governments oversee the day to day operation of jails and there are different jails such as the regional jail which were created because th e basic operations of jails were becoming complicated for small counties and the need for funding to continue operations. There are about 3,600 jails in the United States. â€Å"The size of the jail population is a product of decisions made by various law enforcement entities that the jail serves, the courts, and other segments of the criminal justice system. The size of the jail population is also affected by local, state, and federal laws; crime rates; and public attitudes about crime. †(nicic. gov) The length of stay and those admitted to jails are quite different from prisons. There have been almost 9 to 11 admissions to jail and the average length of stay is 15 to twenty days. Sometimes a person stays longer if they are still fighting a case thus pushing out their court dates which extends their stay provided they cannot afford bail. â€Å"During 2003, 686,437 inmates were admitted to state and federal prisons, 656,320 inmates were released, and the average length of stay for released inmates was 36 months. The jail system booking and release procedures are on a constant whirlwind with bail bonds and so forth. There are different jails as well such as state jails and county jails. In state jails an inmate can spend no more than two years maximum. Prisons Prisons are run by state governments and the Federal Bureau of Prisons. There are only about 100 federal prisons, detention centers, and correctional institutions in the U. S. Prisons were created to house inmates that are serving a sentence of one year or more that are convicted of crimes. Prisons offer more to inmates such as work programs, Halfway houses and other educational programs that could possibly benefit the offender. These sorts of incentives are not offered in jails because inmates are usually serving shorter sentences. There are different facilities such as BOP operated prisons, long term contract facilities and jails/short term facilities. Many offenders in prison are set in place by their security levels. Some are deemed as low risk, medium risk or high risk offenders which determine where they are housed. The prison budget has been over exceeded with the operations and also building more prisons to prevent overcrowding. Corrections is the fifth-largest area of state spending after Medicaid, secondary education, higher education and transportation. State spending on prisons has swelled as the nation’s jail and prison population has climbed to 2. 3 million people, or about one in every 100 adults. But grim budget realities are forcing state lawmakers’ hand. †(pewtrusts. org) There is a difference in jails and prisons as well as how they are operated. Prisons house offenders that have been convicted of crimes whereas jails house those awaiting trial as well as those serving shorter sentences. Prisons and jails have come a long way and there will be more changes to come with the world’s crime rate as it is. References At Least 23 States Cut Funding for Prisons This Year, August 11, 2009 The Pew Charitable Trusts http://www. pewtrusts. org/our_work_report_detail. aspx? id=54481 Corrections: An Introduction; Richard P. Seiter 3rd edition 2011 Upper Saddle River New York Jail Resource Issues What Every Funding Authority Need to Know, Gary M. Bowker February 2002 http://static. nicic. gov/Library/017372. pdf How to cite Jails and Prisons, Essay examples Jails and Prisons Free Essays One of the key cornerstones of the criminal justice system is the correctional system, specifically the correctional facilities. Prisons and jails are examples of correctional facilities that help keep the criminal justice system running smoothly and efficiently. Without these facilities, there would be no place for criminals to serve their sentences, and no one would really be safe. We will write a custom essay sample on Jails and Prisons or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although prison and jail seem to be interchangeable words, they actually mean two different types of correctional facilities. According to â€Å"Prisons and Jails† (n. d.) website, Prisons are run by the state or federal government officers for adults who are convicted criminals sentenced for at least a year or more, the adults are confined for the sole reason of punishment for crime, and release (parole for example) will only happen after mandatory time is served. On the other hand, jails are run by regional, county or city officers (Prisons and Jails, n. d. ). Convicted criminals sentenced to jail time typically are sentenced for less than a year, but they are not the only people that could be present in jail. As well as convicted criminals, there are people in jail for protective custody, being held in contempt, or just pending arraignment (Prisons and Jails, n. d. ). Jails contain a variety of people including juveniles, adults, men and women, repeat offenders, and first-time criminals. Jails are very important to the criminal justice system because they hold inmates for a brief amount of time, but they can make a huge impact. They help reform first time offenders, offer many different types of programs, classes, and work releases in order to help a person rejoin the ways of society and the social norms of the community. Locally in St. Cloud, Minnesota there is the Stearns County Jail. This jail is divided into several different sections including the Work Release section, the holding cells, medical cells, separation cells, and six different housing units. Within the housing unit there are 108 beds, there are 12 holding cells, 8 separation cells, and 2 medical cells (Jail FAQs, 2012). The jail is in place to hold inmates for up to one year after their final sentencing. In contrast there is a prison also located in St.Cloud, Minnesota. In this correctional facility there are 981 inmates currently residing within its walls (MCF-St. Cloud, n. d. ). This facility is limited to men only, but is unlimited as to how long a man can reside within its boundaries. There are no work release programs like there is within the jail facility, but instead there are educational programs to help inmates earn their GED, and even help inmates with vocational training in barbering and masonry (MCF-St. Cloud, n. d. ). Within any prison setting there are two different cultures at work at the same time. The basic culture of prison is the structured rules that are patrolled at monitored by prison guards and staff (Schmalleger,2011). Beyond the basic standards of prison culture there is an underlying feeling of a whole other culture, a subculture, of prison life that goes way beyond the basic standards of the prison culture. This subculture evolves from the prisoners that dwell within the walls of the prison, laying out their own code of â€Å"ethics and conduct† so to speak. The subculture lays out the inmate rules of how to act, and if someone does not follow these rules they can become subject to the subcultures type of punishment. Another aspect of the subculture in prison would be the language and slang used within the prison. Within almost every prison, there is the existence of slang terms that inmates learn, adopt, and use in order to communicate with one another (Schmalleger, 2011). A third part of prison subculture would be the existence of homosexuality. According to accounts within the text of Schmalleger (2011), right after being brought into prison inmates are sometimes classified for homosexual relations, most of which are brought on by prison conditions not by a homosexual disposition that had existed prior to incarceration. Those who already have had the homosexual disposition prior to incarceration tend to promote their feminine ways in prison instead of toning it back. Violence within prison is quite common. One type of violence that relates directly within the subculture of prison would be prison rape. Although starting in 2003 there have been programs put in place (PREA) to help put an end to this sort of violent and demeaning act, there is still rape occurring within prisons across the nation (Schmalleger, 2011). More typical violence occurs within prison as well, and most of these fights occur when someone breaks the code of ethics within the subculture of prison. Probation and parole are two positive endings for a person who has been incarcerated. Probation is when a person’s sentence is suspended as long as they stick to certain conditions of an agreement (Value of probation and parole, n. d. ). Violating the conditions of this agreement can result in the person being brought back into incarceration to serve the rest of their sentence. Parole is when a person is allowed a conditional, early release from their prison sentence. In order for a person to be able to receive parole, they need to appear before the parole board (Value of probation and parole, n. d. ). Parole and probation do a lot of positive actions for the criminal justice system and the community. Within the criminal justice system having these in place makes it so that there is less chance for prison overcrowding, while also reducing criminal socialization and chances of repeating an offense. Within the community these programs help keep families together, while also improving the chances of a successful rehabilitation (Value of probation and parole, n. d. ). The entire correctional branch of the criminal justice system is a very complex one, with intricate factors that are circumstantial within each specific correctional facility. Violence exists within the correctional facilities, but with the availability of parole and probation violence rates might diminish. The only other way to truly get violence rates down is for prison and jail guards, officers, and wardens to monitor subculture activities, behaviors, and â€Å"norms† in order to keep prison violence and rape under control. Without the guidance and help of the correctional facilities, no criminals could be rehabilitated successfully and the public would not be safe. How to cite Jails and Prisons, Papers