Phase 1 – Agency Description: Institutional-Based Correction
Institutional-based correction is part of the correction system in the criminal justice system. An institutional-based correction system is where the offenders are separated from the community and supervised in an institution such as a jail or prison as they serve their jail term. Thus, the main purpose of institutional-based correction is to deny the offenders some individual freedom and protect both the offenders and the community from each other (Allen & Simonsen, 2011). When an offender is released free into the community, he may continue committing crimes, or the community may turn against him, injure or even kill the offender. Therefore, institutional-based correction systems are there to confine the offenders and prevent more crimes. Hire our assignment writing services in case your assignment is devastating you.
Institutional-based correction performs various functions; first, these institutions perform punishment and deterrence functions. It is where the convicted individuals are inflicted pain and suffering for violating some legal norms. The offenders’ infliction of pain and suffering is a form of negative reinforcement to discourage them from engaging in criminal activities (O’Toole & Eyland, 2005). In other words, deterrence regarding offenses is a theory that professes that a threat of punishment will deter people from committing crimes, thus reducing the probability of offending in society (Kifer, Hemmen, & Stohr, 2003). In summary, two aspects of punishment are the certainty of punishment and the severity of the punishment. The likelihood of apprehension and punishment can increase the certainty of punishment, leading to a deterrence effect (O’Toole & Eyland, 2005). On the other hand, the severity of the punishment for a particular crime influences the prospective offenders’ behaviors. Therefore, if the punishment is severe, they conclude that it is not worth the risk of getting caught.
The second role of institutional-based corrections is reformation. Reformation is all about changing the offenders’ motivations, perceptions, values, and attitudes of a social individual. Reformation aims at reversing the negative social characteristics of an individual into positive social behaviors (Kifer, Hemmen, & Stohr, 2003). While one is confined in jail or prison, they are separated from their usual environment, which could cause antisocial behaviors. Therefore, institutional-based corrections centers offer prisoners a different environment from what they are used to, giving them a chance to reverse their antisocial behaviors (Allen & Simonsen, 2011). The reformation is aided by the prison warders and the entire criminal justice system. The reformation function helps to re-socialize the offenders and restore them to the community.
The third function of institutional-based correction centers is protection. The centers protect the community from criminals by detaining them from interacting with the public. Criminals who have been jailed could easily commit more crimes if they are let into the community; thus, the best way to prevent them from committing more crimes is to confine them in correction centers as they serve their sentences (O’Toole & Eyland, 2005). Moreover, the correction centers protect the offenders from the wrath of the community. It is true that when notorious offenders are integrated into society, they might be stigmatized and even killed. Therefore, when they are confined in prisons and jails, they enjoy the protection of the centers.
The fourth function of the institutional-based correction centers is to perform social isolation and confinement. The centers isolate the offenders from the community since they have proved to be a threat to the free society. For society to be safe, stable, and socially cohesive, criminals must be kept away from the community (Public Safety Canada, 2018). Social isolation aims to create psychological torture for the offenders to feel the pain and suffering of committing crimes. When one is separated from his family and friends, he feels psychological pain, which could make him reform to avoid such torture. Isolation and confinement also deny the offender some basic rights such as freedom of movement, freedom of speech, conjugal rights, freedom of interaction, and more (O’Toole & Eyland, 2005). When these people are denied basic rights, they realize the consequences of committing crimes, and thus, when released to join society, they refrain from committing other crimes.
Lastly, institutional-based correction centers provide offenders with an opportunity to repent. When the offenders are kept in isolated places where they can ponder and meditate upon their lives, they may repent and turn away from criminal behaviors. Jails and prisons offer prisoners more time to think about themselves and deny them an opportunity to access the environment, which could lead them to commit more crimes (Allen & Simonsen, 2011). In the prisons, the offenders are kept away from drugs and alcohol, which is a major cause of crimes. Therefore, as one stays longer in such an environment, he becomes sober-minded over time, and even his reasoning improves (Bura, 2019). This leads to repentance, and they get committed to reformation.
The institutional-based correction centers work collaboratively with other criminal justice systems because it is part of the entire system. The jails work collaboratively with the court system. When the jail area is full, the administrators advise the court to choose other correction options, such as community-based correction (Public Safety Canada, 2018). Prisons to work collaboratively with the court system in that when the prisons are full, the administration advises the court to put the offenders in jails as they wait for the vacancy. The prisons also advise the court to award the offenders community-based correction to ease the prison resources.
References
Allen, H. E., & Simonsen, C. E. (2011). Corrections in America. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bura, R. (2019). What are the five basic functions of prisons? Retrieved https://www.preservearticles.com/articles/what-are-the-5-basic-functions-of-prisons/28943
Kifer, M., Hemmen, C & Stohr, M. (2003). The Goals of Corrections: Perspectives from the Line. Criminal Justice Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/073401680302800104
Public Safety Canada. (2018). The Social Reintegration of Offenders and Crime Prevention. https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/scl-rntgrtn/index-en.aspx
O’Toole, S & Eyland, S. (2005). Corrections criminology. Annandale, NSW: Federation Press,
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Question
Group Project: presented with a problem (see scenario below) involving multiple agencies, each student assumes an agency role and a project role to identify a collaborative, optimal solution.
Individually, each student will present an agency description, the agency’s perspective and role, and research the available resources.
Students will then form groups, and each group will present a collaborative, optimal solution.
In the last week of class, each group will present the consequences for not finding or not fully implementing the solution.
Throughout this project, each student is to assume the character (role play) of the leader of their assigned component agency when dealing with their counterparts from other agencies within their jurisdiction.
Phase 1 (Nov 2) – Agency Description: Each student will be assigned one of the following criminal justice components to represent and for which to serve as an advocate:
Institution-Based Corrections
The student will submit a paper describing the function and purpose of the designated criminal justice component and how it interrelates with other components.