Corrections Trends Evaluation

Correction Trends Evaluation

Correction Trends Evaluation

The corrections system is the final stage of the criminal justice process. The correctional goals of retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and restoration have produced the sanctions of probation, intermediate sanctions, jail, prison, and capital punishment. Even though the corrections system has evolved, the primary purpose of the corrections system is to keep society safe and protected from criminals, and to imprison criminals for the punishment of their crimes.

Past

Although the system of justice in the United States is such a prominent institution in today’s society it is easy to forget that prisons were built as a place for punishment is less than three hundred years old. Originally early American prisons were not envisioned as places of punishment, only as a place to hold people who were awaiting trial.

Prisons in the United States were founded by Pennsylvania Quakers as penitentiaries to symbolize their prisoners as religious "penitents," serving penance in prison for their sins (Johnson, 2004). The goal of early Pennsylvania system penitentiaries was the perfecting of society through incarceration, and in absolute silence, the Quakers saw this as a way for the prisoners to reflect and pray on crimes that they committed so when released they could become productive citizens.

By the late 19th century prisons were overcrowded, underfunded, brutal facilities where convicted criminals were unproductive and unable to reintegrate into the larger community upon release (Johnson, 2004). Society’s outrage over deplorable prison conditions led to the Reformatory movement, in an attempt to redefine the prison's role of reforming inmates into model citizens, through education, work, and counseling (Johnson, 2004). Prisons evolved with the creation of probation and parole in the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century (Johnson, 2004). The idea was to reduce...