Corrections

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The Huntsville Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, Texas, is a prison, a component of a correctional system. HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX.jpg
The Huntsville Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, Texas, is a prison, a component of a correctional system.
Qur'anic education for offenders at the Central Jail Faisalabad in Faisalabad, Pakistan Correctional Activities at Central Jail Faisalabad, Pakistan in 2010 - Convicted prisoners receiving Quranic education.jpg
Qur'anic education for offenders at the Central Jail Faisalabad in Faisalabad, Pakistan

In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and supervision of persons who have been convicted of crimes. [1] These functions commonly include imprisonment, parole, and probation. [2] A typical correctional institution is a prison. A correctional system, also known as a penal system, thus refers to a network of agencies that administer a jurisdiction's prisons, and community-based programs like parole, and probation boards. [3] This system is part of the larger criminal justice system, which additionally includes police, prosecution and courts. [4] Jurisdictions throughout Canada and the US have ministries or departments, respectively, of corrections, correctional services, or similarly-named agencies.

Contents

Coporal punishment in Afghanistan during the days of the Taliban Taliban beating woman in public RAWA.jpg
Coporal punishment in Afghanistan during the days of the Taliban

"Corrections" is also the name of a field of academic study concerned with the theories, policies, and programs pertaining to the practice of corrections. Its object of study includes personnel training and management as well as the experiences of those on the other side of the fence — the unwilling subjects of the correctional process. [1] Stohr and colleagues (2008) write that "Earlier scholars were more honest, calling what we now call corrections by the name penology, which means the study of punishment for crime." [5]

Terminology

The idea of "corrective labor" (Russian : исправительные работы) in Soviet Russia dates back as far as December 1917. [6] From 1929 the USSR started using the terminology "corrective-labor camps" (Russian : исправительно-трудовые лагеря (ИТЛ)) [7] and "corrective labor colonies" (Russian : исправительно-трудовые колонии (ИТК)).

The terminology change in US academia from "penology" to "corrections" occurred in the 1950s and 1960s which was driven by a new philosophy emphasizing rehabilitation. It was accompanied by concrete changes in some prisons, like giving more privileges to inmates, and attempting to instill a more communal atmosphere. At least nominally, most prisons became "correctional institutions", and guards became "correctional officers". [8] Although the corrections-related terminology continued thereafter in US correctional practice, the philosophical view on offenders' treatment took an opposite turn in the 1980s, when academics labeled the "get tough" program[ which? ] as "The New Penology". [9]

Community Based Corrections

US Marshals and prisoners on board a Con Air flight Conair-Marshal.jpg
US Marshals and prisoners on board a Con Air flight

Community Based Corrections are sanctions imposed on convicted adults or adjudicated juveniles that occur in a residential or community setting outside of jail or prison. The sanctions are enforced by agencies or courts with legal authority over the adult or juvenile offenders. [10]

Community Based Corrections can focus on both of adults and juveniles, attempting to rehabilitate them back into the community. In contrary to the "tough on crime" mindset which expresses harsh punishment, this community based correctional method seeks to transition offenders back into the community. [11]

Sentences

In Canada, until 1972, the Criminal Code legislated that courts could impose a form of whipping on male offenders, to be administered on up to three occasions, but did not limit the number of strokes. Whipping of female offenders was not allowed. The whipping could be inflicted using a strap, cat-o'-nine-tails, or a paddle unless specified by the court. [12] The move to abolish corporal punishment in the Canadian penal system coincided with several reforms and a change from the Reform Institutions label to Corrections or Correctional.

Intermediate sanctions may include sentences to a halfway house or community service program, home confinement, and electronic monitoring. Additional sanctions may be financial and may include fines, forfeiture, and restitution; these are sometimes applied in combination. [13]

Theories

The use of sanctions, which can be either positive (rewarding) or negative (punishment) is the basis of all criminal theory, along with the main goals of social control, and deterrence of deviant behavior.

Many facilities operating in the United States adhere to particular correctional theories. Although often heavily modified, these theories determine the nature of the facilities' design and security operations. The two primary theories used today are the more traditional Remote Supervision[ citation needed ] and the more contemporary direct supervision model. [14] In the Remote Supervision Model, officers observe the inmate population from remote positions, e.g., towers or secure desk areas. The Direct Supervision Model positions prison officers within the inmate population, creating a more pronounced presence.

List of Departments of Corrections

United States

Other countries

See also

Juvenile corrections

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punishment</span> Imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome

Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon a group or individual, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a response and deterrent to a particular action or behavior that is deemed undesirable or unacceptable. It is, however, possible to distinguish between various different understandings of what punishment is.

Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted criminals are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives. Crimes that warrant life imprisonment are usually violent and/or dangerous. Examples of crimes that result in life sentences are murder, torture, terrorism, child abuse resulting in death, rape, espionage, treason, drug trafficking, drug possession, human trafficking, severe fraud and financial crimes, aggravated criminal damage, arson, hate crime, kidnapping, burglary, and robbery, piracy, aircraft hijacking, and genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penology</span> Subfield of criminology

Penology is a subfield of criminology that deals with the philosophy and practice of various societies in their attempts to repress criminal activities, and satisfy public opinion via an appropriate treatment regime for persons convicted of criminal offences.

Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison reform</span> Reform of the prison system

Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, improve the effectiveness of a penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. It also focuses on ensuring the reinstatement of those whose lives are impacted by crimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Probation and parole officer</span> Officials who supervise the conduct of offenders on community supervision

A probation or parole officer is an official appointed or sworn to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation or those released from incarceration to community supervision such as parole. Most probation and parole officers are employed by the government of the jurisdiction in which they operate, although some are employed by private companies that provide contracted services to the government.

Francis Greenway Correctional Complex, formerly John Morony Correctional Complex is an Australian minimum security prison complex for males and females located in Berkshire Park, 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of Windsor in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is operated by Corrective Services NSW, an agency of the Department of Communities and Justice, of the Government of New South Wales.

A reformatory or reformatory school is a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries. In the United Kingdom and United States, they came out of social concerns about cities, poverty, immigration, and gender following industrialization, as well as from a shift in penology to reforming instead of punishing the criminal. They were traditionally single-sex institutions that relied on education, vocational training, and removal from the city. Although their use declined throughout the 20th century, their impact can be seen in practices like the United States' continued implementation of parole and the indeterminate sentence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation</span> Law enforcement agency in California, USA

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the penal law enforcement agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacramento.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penal system of Japan</span> Penal system of the State of Japan

The penal system of Japan is part of the criminal justice system of Japan. It is intended to resocialize, reform, rehabilitate and punish offenders. The penal system is operated by the Correction Bureau of the Ministry of Justice.

Elmira Correctional Facility, also known as "The Hill", is a maximum security state prison located in Chemung County, in the City of Elmira in the US state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. A supermax prison, Southport Correctional Facility, is located 2 miles (3.2 km) away from Elmira.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia Department of Corrections</span>

The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) is the government agency responsible for community corrections and operating prisons and correctional facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The agency is fully accredited by the American Correctional Association and is one of the oldest functioning correctional agencies in the United States. Its headquarters is located in the state capital of Richmond.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incapacitation (penology)</span> One of the functions of punishment

Incapacitation in the context of criminal sentencing philosophy is one of the functions of punishment. It involves capital punishment, sending an offender to prison, or possibly restricting their freedom in the community, to protect society and prevent that person from committing further crimes. Incarceration, as the primary mechanism for incapacitation, is also used as to try to deter future offending.

Corrective Services New South Wales (CSNSW) is a division of the Department of Communities and Justice of the Government of New South Wales, Australia. CSNSW is responsible for the state's prisons and a range of programs for managing offenders in the community. The state has 36 prisons, 33 run by CSNSW and three privately operated. The agency traces its origins back to 1788, when New South Wales was founded as a penal colony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Department of Corrections</span> Wisconsin state government department

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WIDOC) is an administrative department in the executive branch of the state of Wisconsin responsible for corrections in Wisconsin, including state prisons and community supervision. The secretary is a cabinet member appointed by the governor of Wisconsin and confirmed by the Wisconsin Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prison</span> Institution in which people are legally physically confined

A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where people are confined against their will and denied a variety of freedoms under the authority of the state, generally as punishment for various crimes. Authorities most commonly use prisons within a criminal-justice system: people charged with crimes may be imprisoned until their trial; those who have pled or been found guilty of crimes at trial may be sentenced to a specified period of imprisonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Division of Parole</span>

The New York State Division of Parole was an agency of the government of New York within the New York State Correctional Services from 1930 to 2011. § 259. "1. There shall be in the executive department of state government a state division of parole" responsible for parole, the supervised release of a prisoner before the completion of his/her sentence. In 2011, the agency merged with the Department of Correctional Services to form the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criminal justice system of the Netherlands</span> Overview of criminal justice system in the Netherlands

The criminal justice system of the Netherlands is the system of practices and institutions of the Netherlands directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, and sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts. The Netherlands' criminal code is based on the Napoleonic Code, imposed during the time of the French Empire. The Dutch largely kept the Napoleonic Code after their independence, but tempered it with a significantly more rehabilitative penological focus.

A rehabilitation policy within criminology, is one intending to reform criminals rather than punish them and/or segregate them from the greater community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Incarceration in Norway</span> Overview of incarceration in Norway

Norway's criminal justice system focuses on the principles of restorative justice and the rehabilitation of prisoners. Correctional facilities in Norway focus on maintaining custody of the offender and attempting to make them functioning members of society. Norway's prison system is renowned as one of the most effective and humane in the world.

References

  1. 1 2 Mary Stohr; Anthony Walsh; Craig Hemmens (2008). Corrections: A Text/Reader. Sage. p. 1. ISBN   978-1-4129-3773-3.
  2. ↑ Bryan A. Garner, editor, Black's Law Dictionary , 9th ed., West Group, 2009, ISBN   978-0-314-19949-2, OCLC   420487111 0-314-19949-7, p. 396 (or p. 424 depending on the volume[ clarification needed ])
  3. ↑ Correctional system is defined as "a network of governmental agencies that administer a jurisdiction's prisons, and parole system" in Bryan A. Garner, editor, Black's Law Dictionary , 9th ed., West Group, 2009, ISBN   0-314-19949-7, p. 396, which does not define "penal system".
    Blomberg and Lucken (2010) describe the post-1940 penal system in the United States of America as composed of "prisons, reformatories, parole, probation, juvenile courts [?], local jails, and a declining number of workhouses", and with added detail that "[h]owever the main focus of the system was on expanding and differentiating prisons, parole, and probation" in Thomas G. Blomberg; Karol Lucken (2010). American penology: a history of control. Transaction Publishers. p. 110. ISBN   978-0-202-36334-9.
    Stohr et al., p. 1 distinguish prisons from community-based correctional programs like parole and probation.
  4. ↑ Michael Cavadino; James Dignan (2007). The Penal System: An Introduction. SAGE Publications. p. 1. ISBN   978-1-4129-2946-2.
  5. ↑ Mary Stohr; Anthony Walsh; Craig Hemmens (2008). Corrections: A Text/Reader. Sage. p. 2. ISBN   978-1-4129-3773-3.
  6. ↑ Beermann, R (1985). "Corrective labor". In Feldbrugge, F. J. Ferdinafdgbhnjnd Joseph Maria (ed.). Encyclopedia of Soviet Law. Law in Western Europe. Vol. 28 (Revised ed.). Brill. p. 200. ISBN   9789024730759 . Retrieved 2016-05-06. Corrective labor without deprivation of freedom [...] has developed from the initially ad hoc orders (some of them by Lenin himself) to apply it against class enemies. [...] The first legal enactments were issued as early as 19 December 1917 [...] Something new and constructive was brought into the stale and unimaginative air of correctional and penal practice [...].
  7. ↑ Ivanova, Galina Mikhailovna (2015). "Chapter 1: Repression and Punishment". In Raleigh, Donald J (ed.). Labor Camp Socialism: The Gulag sdfghin the Soviet Totalitarian System. New Russian history. Routledge. p. 23. ISBN   9781317466642 . Retrieved 2016-05-06. On November 6, 1929, the Central Executive Committee and Sovnarkom of the USSR amended the 'Basic Principles of Criminal Legislation of the Union of SSR and the Union Republics' adopted in 1924. Article 13 of this document reads, in part: 'Social protection measures of a judicial-correctional nature are ... (b) deprivation of liberty in corrective-labor camps in remote locations of the USSR' [...] This was the first mention in Soviet legislation of the term 'corrective-labor camp' (ispravitel'no-trudovoi lager': ITL) [...]. [P]roclaimed principles of legality and humanism [...] are demonstrated by a different document - the Corrective-Labor Code of 1924.
  8. ↑ John T. Whitehead; Mark Jones; Michael Braswell (2008). Exploring Corrections in America (2 ed.). Elsevier. p. 8. ISBN   978-1-59345-512-5.
  9. ↑ John T. Whitehead; Mark Jones; Michael Braswell (2008). Exploring Corrections in America (2 ed.). Elsevier. pp.  8 and 54. ISBN   978-1-59345-512-5.
  10. ↑ "Topic: Community Corrections - CrimeSolutions.gov". www.crimesolutions.gov.
  11. ↑ McKenna, Brian; Skipworth, Jeremy; Pillai, Krishna (2017-01-26). "Mental health care and treatment in prisons: a new paradigm to support best practice". World Psychiatry. 16 (1): 3–4. doi:10.1002/wps.20395. ISSN   1723-8617. PMC   5269683 . PMID   28127923.
  12. ↑ Abolition of Corporal Punishment 1972, Correctional Service of Canada
  13. ↑ Gail A. Caputo (2004). Intermediate sanctions in corrections . University of North Texas Press. p.  28. ISBN   978-1-57441-186-7.
  14. ↑ Peter M. Carlson; Judith Simon Garrett (2008). Prison and Jail Administration: Practice and Theory. Jones & Bartlett Learning. pp. 46–47. ISBN   978-0-7637-2862-5.

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