Introduction
While jails are run by local governments or sheriffs and are designed for housing people serving short sentences or awaiting trial, prisons on the other hand, are run by Federal Bureau of Prisons and state governments and are meant to hold people who are convicted of crimes.
In addition, jails handle issues in drug and substance abuse, behavioral change, educational as well as vocational issues. State prisons in contrast, operate work release centers, halfway houses along with community restitution centers (Schmalleger, 2009).
Body
There are various types of prisons: state, federal, military and municipal. Federal prisons are managed and operated by the government and usually house inmates who have convicted crimes in violation of federal statues instead of local or state laws.
Whereas municipal prisons are high security prisons, military prisons are prisons operated and managed by the military. A military prison is used to hold enemy combatants, war prisoners or those people whose freedom is considered a national security risk by the national authority as well as military members guilty of serious offences.
Lastly, state prisons are facilities used to rehabilitate and house criminals and are managed by a state. Prisons as a total institution are enclosed facilities estranged from society and physically are where residents share all their daily life aspects.
Prisons like many other institutions are made up of social units that have their own culture and norms. This can be seen in concentrated camps and mental hospitals where individuals who are deemed socially unfit are eliminated from the larger society.
Following the same line of thought, jails are important in protecting the society by keeping away offenders from the rest of the society. This is an effort to maintain law and order in the society.
In addition, the role of community based correction programs such as concentrated camps, seminaries and mental hospitals associated with prisons and jails is that, they help in restoring community’s safety and reducing violence cases. Prisons also deliver designated punishment to offenders which are either short term and/or long term.
Without them, crimes would be overrated and people breaking the law will go unpunished, thus they would keep on committing crimes repeatedly.
Prior to considering violent behaviors between inmates, among prisoners and staff, one should reflect on the inmates’ age, level of education, prior incarceration experiences, gang affiliation, and history of criminal activity in addition to how long they have been serving currently.
Violence against staff members in prison are seen to result from “friction points” which are inevitable in the prison administration system.
There are various strategies for responding to such violent behaviors. First, violence can be controlled through supervision and management. Second, there can be provision of adequate services in the prison. Thirdly, it can be ensured that the prison is serving its incarceration purpose.
Another solution is the provision of gang members’ segregation housing units. The fifth point is that there should be creation of smaller housing units than the present ones. Lastly, there should be provision of counseling services to help prisoners that specialize in relationships development as well as managing violence and anger.
This is in an effort to ensure that, those who successfully complete such counseling program are awarded with personal incentives.
Parole, a concept for prisons and jails is used in order to allow prisoners to serve the final part of their sentence in the community based on clearly set conditions as a parole officer enforces. Fundamentally, “parole is a conditional release from prison”.
The parole system requires prisoners to serve a third of their sentence before they apply for parole consideration. The panel which comprise of the parole members then evaluate the record of the prisoners and resolve whether or not the prisoner stands a good chance of staying as a law-obedient citizen.
If these parole board members consider the parole candidate favorably, they usually release that prisoner in line with the prescribed conditions. Those parole conditions include abstinence from alcohol or drugs, employment, regular monitoring and permanent residence.
Ahead of accepting the parole’s conditions of release, the applied prisoner turns out to be a parolee. This means that the prisoner goes back to the society to start on abiding by the conditions of the parole release.
The assigned parole officer will observe his conformance with the conditions of release. Violation of the release’s conditions, the parolee might be recommended to go back to prison and either a parole board or judge will make the ruling.
Conclusion
The role of truth-in-sentencing is believed to act as a deterrent to crime since criminals are aware that if they are arrested, they will serve the sentence in prison.
Along the same lines of thought, truth in sentencing laws are promoted too as a means of protecting the victims’ rights and those of the general public. Violent crimes victims, for instance, can be guaranteed that the criminals will serve the sentence against them (Earley, 2005).
References
Earley, P. (2005). The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison. New York: Random House Publishing Group.
Schmalleger, F. (2009). Criminal Justice Today 10th edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.