Correctional supervision in the United States.

The public’s perception of corrections most commonly centers on prisons and jails – buildings with bars, locked cells and uniformed guards. But far more offenders pay for their crimes through community sanctions, including drug courts, home detention and electronic monitoring, residential facilities with treatment, and day reporting centers. Although most people do not realize that there is a difference between the terms “jail” and “prison” and use the words interchangeably, the members of law enforcement distinguish between the two. Primarily, the difference is that a jail is used by local jurisdictions such as counties and cities to confine people for short periods of time, from two days up to one year. A jail also houses individuals awaiting trial, people who have not yet paid bail, and detainees who have just been picked up on suspicion of committing a crime. A prison, or penitentiary, is administered by the state or federal government and is used to have convicted criminals for periods of much more duration. A prison is capable of handling far more prisoners than a jail is, and the prisoners are typically segregated on the basis of the types of crimes that they have been convicted of, as a safety precaution. In general, the prison facility as a whole is very tightly secured to prevent escapes or potential violence. Prison staff are specially trained to work in a prison environment, and a board of governors appointed by the state oversees prison management. Given the different kinds of crime for which people are sentenced to prison, what should be the function of a modern prison? Should it be mainly to punish wrongdoers, to protect the society or its citizens, or to rehabilitate prisoners, that is, to move them away from criminal tendencies and prepare them for life back in the society? There are different kinds of prisons, based on the level of security and the control over prisoners. This range of security includes minimum, low, medium and high security. Each has different rules, and different kinds of prisoners will be sent to each. In most prisons there is some effort to rehabilitate prisoners. This may take the form of educational programs or vocational training, and some prisons employ prisoners in their own factories or on behalf of other companies. There are also systems of short-term work release into the community. However, by their very nature prisons work against rehabilitation. They force people to be cut off from outside society. The habits and attitudes that prisoners learn may be the exact opposite of those they are supposed to learn. In prison they may learn to accept violence as normal. They will also mix with other criminals and learn new criminal skills. Over 60 percent of all men set free after serving prison sentences are re-arrested within four years. The problem is that if prisons are made more pleasant places to be, this may assist in achieving the rehabilitation of some prisoners, but it may also mean that a prison sentence becomes less of a deterrent to those who may commit crimes.

The centerpiece of community corrections is probation and parole. Offenders placed on probation are typically lower level offenders who are allowed to remain in the community provided they exhibit good behavior and meet other conditions while supervised by a probation officer. With origins in this country dating to the mid-19^th century, probation is ordered by a judge and served under threat of more serious sanctions. Probationers may have to do some community service such as cleaning the parks or helping elderly people. If a probationer violates conditions governing his or her community release, a judge may impose additional rules or require a term in custody. Parolees, by contrast, are offenders who have spent time in prisons and are released to complete the remainder of their sentences under supervision in the community. Intended in part to smooth a prisoner’s transition back to society, parole, which became prevalent at the turn of the 19^th century, is sometimes ordered by appointed parole boards, which also craft conditions governing a parolee’s release. More often, the date of parole release reflects the offender’s original sentence, perhaps shortened by credits for a clean disciplinary record or completion of in-prison programs. In the community, parolees are supervised by a parole officer and subject to similar rules as those on probation. If parolees violate the rules of their release, they too face penalties including re-incarceration. At the end of 2009, the most recent year for which figures are available, more than 1 in every 100 adults in the United States was confined behind bars, one out of every thirty-two adults was under criminal justice supervision and the incarceration rate – the number of incarcerated people per 100, 000 U.S. residents – was 743. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the number of adults under correctional supervision in the United States at yearend 2009 was 7. 225. 800. The correctional population is comprised of four groups: prison inmates (1.5 million), jail inmates (0.7 million), parolees (0.8 million), and probationers (4.2 million).

Task 1. Answer the following questions.

1. What is the difference between prisons and jails? 2. What are three possible functions of modern prisons? 3. What are the ways in which prisons may help to rehabilitate prisoners? 4. Why does rehabilitation often fail? 5. What does probation mean? 6. What does parole mean? 7. Why do you think the United States leads the world in prisoners?

Task 2. The following statistics on people in prison were published by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons in 2010. Work with a partner and analyze the information in each table. Take turns making statements about the key information.

According to Table 1 the most common prison sentence imposed in the United States is 5 to 10 years.

Task 2. Now discuss with your partner which data in these tables surprise you and why.

Task3. Discuss with a small group:

1. Are there different types of prisons in your country? What are they?

2. Do prisons in your country try to rehabilitate prisoners?

3. In your country can people be let out of prison early for good behavior?