Abstract
Over the last decade, it has been more apparent that the many criminal justice agencies and people are interconnected. There has been a parallel increase in knowledge within prisons that the jail is a complex system in which all staff categories are interrelated. The focus points of the correctional system are the humanization of prison systems and the possibility for released offenders to enhance their capacity to engage in an ethical society. All state penal systems provide courses in education, vocational advice and guidance, prison industries and other employment tasks, sports and recreational, fine arts, and religion. Increased prison populations, concerns about public safety, and a desire to lower the expense of imprisonment have all contributed to the need for these reforms.
Contrary to popular belief in the rehabilitation ideal, the correctional system continues to thrive but in an entirely different shape from what existed in the previous decades. The current state of correctional systems is discussed in this paper. More specifically, it examines trends and analysis of the data, the trends ‘efficacy in the real world, legally required services, changing demographic features of prison populations, convicts with criminal records, and cost-saving strategies. Also, corrections and other parts of the Criminal Justice System will be examined. When it comes to future trends, economic and management considerations will play a role in law enforcement and judicial systems. As corrections have evolved throughout time, they have brought innovations and technologies that are now part of the corrections scene.
Introduction
Correction may be defined as the act or process of bringing about a change in another person or object. When criminal justice professionals retain criminals and help them become better while serving their sentence in detention, they are referred to as correctional officers. Corrections have developed in several ways throughout time, and this is true now. Although correctional facilities were designed to be a form of punishment, people were very seldom imprisoned in these establishments over their lifetimes. Instead of jails and prisons, the government would use caning, fining, branding, and the death penalty, among other means, to punish anyone who violated the law. Corrections in the criminal justice system are more necessary than ever before. Correctional systems have seen a variety of transformations throughout history. It has been decided to use new correctional concepts so that the imprisonment rate may be increased faster. Recent developments in this field are thought to have impacted the changes over many decades. The public has legitimate worries about the criminal justice system’s correctional components, especially when it comes to imprisonment.
Corrections are being employed as a form of criminal punishment in several different jurisdictions right now. Because the prison systems are so enormous, it is probable that overcrowding may develop inside them in the future. Offenders might be sentenced to jail terms ranging from a few years to live in prison if convicted. In addition to non-offenders, several rules and regulations must be obeyed by all members of the facility’s employees. Even if a person is admitted to the criminal justice, their human status remains unchanged. They must be safeguarded and provided with their legal rights while detained in detention facilities.
In the same way that any other prisoner is held accountable for their crimes, convicts are also required to complete their jail terms. It makes no difference to them their social status or financial resources; they are all regarded as criminals. An individual who commits a criminal crime will be held responsible for his or her actions. People who are released from jail are less likely to re-offend. Notably, in the United States, there are distinct adult and juvenile justice systems in operation. The juvenile justice system operates in a manner that differs from how it was intended to work. Previously, the juvenile court system was primarily concerned with children running away or acting delinquently. The juvenile correctional system is distinct from the adult correctional system in a number of respects. Their actions and demeanor must be congruent with those of their classmates at home. All juveniles under the age of 18 are required to attend school daily. In most cases, individuals are not required to attend unless they must do so by a court order.
Even though financing is decreasing and jail populations are expanding, it’s a challenging task for the criminal justice system. Inaction on these issues will result in a major reduction in the effectiveness and efficiency of rectification processes going forward. Administration, activists, and lawmakers are expected to engage in ideological debates to find effective remedies to the issues that have been recognized in the criminal justice system, according to the expectations of participants (Subramanian et al., 2018). Others think that current events are putting more pressure on several issues that must be addressed to move ahead in the right direction. Changes have been made to prior patterns of conduct and behavior to guarantee that correctional institutions function properly. It will be thoroughly explored, with a particular emphasis on their efficacy and usefulness and the current trends in education.
Gaps in the Budget
Notably, because the economy is improving, prison officers seldom get more funds. On the other hand, when money is scarce, corrections are often seen to save money on administrative costs. Convincing people in our society that adequate funding for prison operations is just as important as providing for our children’s future or giving aid to the needy is challenging for various reasons. Building a prison costs a lot of money, and then there are the ongoing maintenance costs. In particular, this is true for prisons that are meant to accommodate the most dangerous prisoners. The upshot is that instead of creating new facilities, we tend to see patchwork improvements made to existing ones. In addition, it is not uncommon for old equipment to jeopardize the safety of both customers and employees. This urgent issue must be dealt with in budget allocation negotiations before the subject of employee compensation can even be considered.
In criminal justice, the retention of prison employees is a persistent issue that requires ongoing attention. Prisons are perhaps the harshest aspect of the legal system for criminals. To deal with convicts who are constantly conspiring to harm others, correctional officers must enter a high-security jail and work inside the facility. In the long run, the stress of frequent exposure to deviant behavior and risks to one’s safety might be too great. Consequently, a large number of highly qualified prison workers opt to quit the sector for other employment prospects.
Trends that are currently in effect
According to a recent study, correctional facilities around the country are already displaying signs of racial disparities. The Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics recently released a study that indicated that more than 60 percent of those imprisoned in 2019 were of the race (The sentencing Project, 2019). African Americans are more likely than whites to get arrested, as seen by this statistic. A disproportionately considerable percentage of persons of color are jailed in the United States due to this inclination. However, alterations to the legal system have shifted this trend in a different direction. Even if racial disparities have diminished in recent times, African Americans remain to be arrested. This shows that in the United States, racial tensions have reduced. Recent reports indicate a desire to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. judicial system. While white imprisonment has declined, Hispanic and African American incarceration rates have decreased faster. These modifications have been widely publicized. To determine incarceration rates, a comparison between minority groups and whites has been conducted. A 5:1 ratio has been developed, implying that black-white incarceration rates are about equal to the rates of black people being locked up (Sabol, et al., 2019). When contrasting the experiences of black people and whites, it is more likely that they will be sentenced to prison time. However, there has been a significant fall in these persons being detained in jails or subjected to imprisonment in recent years. The number of these people who are being locked up or held in prisons has gone down by a large amount. Between 2000 and 2016, racial inequalities linked with people exposed to correctional control reduced within the criminal justice populations (Sabol, Johnson, & Caccavale, 2019).
On the other hand, individuals on probation are claimed to face lesser discrepancies, and those on parole and in jail are believed to experience the greatest rates. In the United States, the degree to which minorities, particularly African Americans, offend has decreased in recent decades. Robbery and assault, among other crimes, may not be exclusively connected with members of minority groups, as has been suggested before. Consequently, white people have been identified as prospective criminals and are subject to the law in the same way other races are.
Another development in prisons that has to be discussed is life sentences for particular crimes, which is becoming more common. Many people are believed to be serving life sentences in the United States, with the number of those receiving life sentences rising (The sentencing Project, 2019). The method has contributed to reducing violent crime in the United States society. More importantly, the general public’s safety has been ensured, consistent with the rising use of long prison terms. As a result, life sentences are increasingly being used to deter crime and participate in illegal activity. Around one out of every nine inmates in the U.S. is projected to be serving a life sentence, and about a third of those persons have not been permitted to go free (The sentencing Project, 2019). (The sentencing Project, 2019). In the past, a lot of individuals received this form of punishment, but the number of people receiving it presently has gone down. Reports suggest that every year, more and more prisoners in the United States are handed life sentences. According to a research by the Sentencing Project, roughly 162,000 individuals are serving life sentences in prisons throughout the US right now (McCarthy, 2020). Changes to the criminal justice system are popular in today’s culture. Because of this, the number of prisoners serving life sentences in jails around the nation has gone increased. This component, on the other hand, has only become better in the previous several years. According to McCarthy (2020), 1994 was the year when the most people were sentenced to life in prison. Since then, there has been a significant decrease in violent crime, with the murder rate halved when compared to the years 1991 to 1994. However, there has been an increase in the number of those sentenced to life without the possibility of release. As a result, the method has assisted in deterring crime in the United States society.
Trends and Analysis of the Data
In instances of racial inequalities, the trend entails the rendering of legal decisions based on racial differences in a court of law. When this element is seen in a culture, it is noteworthy that the minority group does not get favorable treatment from the court system. The individual’s race is likely to be taken into account while making a court decision. White people may not be subjected to the discrepancies that have been seen in the legal system. Improvements have been seen recently, with the rates of inequalities in income and wealth declining dramatically. Previously, many African Americans were exposed to racism, which became clear when they sought redress in court. However, there have been significant developments in the judicial system, including eradicating factors that lead to racial inequities. Organizations have been formed to fight for human rights on behalf of minorities, and the rights of minorities are being recognized throughout society.
Death sentences are handed out to those found guilty of grave crimes such as murder and treason and life in prison or hard labor jail sentences. The great majority of offenders serving life terms have probably never been considered for release because they have been denied parole. According to studies, the technique has had several benefits in the United States, including decreasing crime rates. Since then, this pattern has altered, and new rules have been introduced to make it clear if a person who should receive a life sentence is a criminal or a civil violation (King & Bracy 2019). The issue has had a role in decreasing the number of homicides reported throughout the country in recent years. Comparing the former time to the present, the number of persons receiving life sentences was greater in the earlier age than it is today.
The Trends’ Efficacy in the Real World
It is notable that the two trends, in particular, may be considered to have had a positive influence on society, which is significant. Historically, racial distinctions have resulted in establishing legal systems that protect and promote the rights of individuals of all races and ethnicities. There have been several benefits for minorities due to the decrease in instances of racial disparity in the judicial system as a result of this drop in the number of cases (Sabol, Johnson, & Caccavale, 2019). Particularly noteworthy is the enormous progress done in the United States to ensure that all individuals get fair treatment and judgment in the courtroom. On the other hand, a prison for life has been an effective deterrent to crime in the United States according to recent research (McCarthy, 2017). Evidence suggesting a reduction in the number of criminals obtaining life sentences may be linked to the prevalence of this development due to its efficacy.
Future jails may be so technologically sophisticated that offenders will be continually watched by computers rather than guards, rather than vice versa. The use of community punishments will be more effective in lowering the jail population. If the justice system is re-evaluated, small-time offenses will no longer be punishable by imprisonment. Many institutions may have difficulties in dealing with budgetary and administrative challenges. Budgets must be followed, yet most institutions have already surpassed their budgets as a result of unanticipated expenses (Bright et al., 2021). A significant portion of the expense of holding each prisoner every day is borne by the state in which the jail is located and the kind of prison, which may range from a private to a county to a state to a federal facility. However, even though many prisons get special funding from other ministries due to these factors, the funds and grants available are inadequate. Defendants, their relatives, and employees may pursue lawsuits against the government, which might cause the budget to be exceeded.
The widespread consensus is that technological improvements in the next future will be helpful rather than a source of worry. If prisons had more resources, this approach might be justified; nonetheless, it is usually the case that they are unable to invest in technologies that would benefit their facilities and workers due to a lack of funding.
Even convicted criminals may gain from technical breakthroughs, especially as we see an increase in the downsizing of electronic components. Compared to previous generations, today’s communication networks are among the smallest on the planet (Bright et al., 2021). Small devices make getting into a penal facility much easier and keep them hidden from guards. If the device is small enough, this is especially true. As technology progresses, there is an increasing amount of concern about contraband.
To conclude, corrections are the act or process of making someone or something better via correction. For decades, correctional facilities have been used to imprison and rehabilitate prisoners while serving their sentences in the criminal justice system. Corrective services have evolved from being primarily focused on punishment to being more focused on rehabilitation through time. Before, women and men were imprisoned in the same section of jails, resulting in horrendous treatment of women; however, prisons have become more organized. Women and men are now held in separate sections of jails. Corrections were supposed to be a type of punishment; nevertheless, incarceration was seldom used as a punishment due to the widespread use of alternative punishments. The government would use canning, imposition of fines, branding, and the death penalty instead of traditional punishments. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, the criminal justice system cannot function without corrections. The history, present, and future of prisons and various aspects of the criminal justice system have all been examined. Not only will the budgetary and administrative implications of future patterns on the components be evaluated, but so will the implications for law enforcement and the courts. Throughout history, the growth of disciplinary methods has resulted in the merging of technological breakthroughs and instruments from previous generations into correctional methods used now and in the future. Finally, the American penal system is associated with several tendencies that are beneficial in preventing and removing criminal conduct. When life sentences are implemented, it assures that large-scale criminal episodes are either eliminated or considerably decreased in society due to the punishment. Racial imbalance is growing increasingly prominent, which has affected the formation of functional legal systems across the nation.
Reference
McCarthy, N. (2020). Report: the number of people serving life sentences in the U.S. is surging [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2017/05/05/report-the-number-of-peopleserving-life-sentences-in-the-u-s-is-surging-infographic/#25d81fa0691d
Sabol, W. J., Johnson, T. L, & Caccavale, A. (2019). Trends in correctional control by race and sex. Retrieved from https://cdn.ymaws.com/counciloncj.org/resource/collection/4683B90A-08CF-493F89ED-A0D7C4BF7551/Trends_in_Correctional_Control_-_FINAL.pdf
The sentencing Project. (2019). Trends in U.S. corrections: Fact sheet: Trends in U.S. Corrections. Retrieved from https://sentencingproject.org/wpcontent/uploads/2016/01/Trends-in-US-Corrections.pdf
Chadwick, A., & Vaccari, C. (2019). News sharing on U.K. social media: Misinformation, disinformation, and correction.
King, S., & Bracy, N. L. (2019). School security in the post-Columbine era: Trends, consequences, and future directions. Journal of contemporary criminal justice, 35(3), 274-295.
Subramanian, R., Riley, C., & Mai, C. (2018). Divided Justice: Trends in black and white jail incarceration, 1990-2013. New York, NY: Vera Institute of Justice.
Bright, D., Brewer, R., & Morselli, C. (2021). Using social network analysis to study crime: Navigating the challenges of criminal justice records. Social Networks, 66, 50-64.
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