Background
Definition
Criminal justice system is the process whereby justice is administered. The system has three main players: law enforcers, courts, and corrections.
Law enforcers
These are the police; they are the first contact that a suspect has. They are the ones who investigate the wrong doing and make arrest. When they come into contact with a scene of crime, they are supposed to correct all the evidence that can support a case in a court of law. When warranted, they are allowed to use force and other legal coercion in their efforts to keep peace and order; they interrogate the suspect and advise the court on the proceeding of the case.
Courts
This is the place that disputes are settled and justice administered. They involve public offices which are trial and appellate courts, prosecution and public defender offices. There is also the participation of the private sector when the suspect is represented by a private lawyer. After the case has been heard by a judge, the suspect is allowed to defend himself as well as produce any evidence and/or witnesses to support his/her defense (Duckett & Schinkel, 2008).
Corrections
When a person has been convicted of an offence, he is placed in a prison where he is expected to be rehabilitated as well as punished for what he did. This presentation will focus on a prison set up.
Today, there is an increased crime rate in the world. Most of the crimes are social crimes. Crimes committed by women are also on the rise. There is need to develop a facility that caters solely for the needs of women. The facility will cater for 2000 women who will undergo various counseling and be trained in various areas which are likely to assist them in future.
Name of the prison
The name of the jail will be called “Hope Women center”.
The facility will be a women prison where they will be rehabilitated. The capacity is 2000 women at the maximum.
Location
The jail facility will be located in south west of the country up in a serene environment at high altitudes; the place is a natural forest where the jail will be set up in the middle of “nowhere”.
Mission statement
To be a jail that rehabilitates inmates to be productive members of the society after their release.
Vision statement
“To be a prison that will assist the condemned to change their lifestyle and offer life skills to facilitate full rehabilitation” the vision and mission will be attained by different measures/programs that will be run by the facility. This will include counseling classes.
Positioning statement
We assist you to change but the choice is yours.
Core values
- Discipline
- Integrity
- Handwork
- Honesty and
- Responsibility
Financing
The facility will be financed in three different folds that are the private funding through donations, internal funding through activities, and government funding. The private people and corporate institutions will be encouraged to donate money, clothes and foods tuffs to inmates. In the government allocation the facility will use the funds for its numerous activities. Inmates will be farming for their consumption and the rest sold to the public during market days. This will assist in raising funds. Occasionally there will be concerts performed by the inmates and the public invited for a fee. This will raise revenue in the prison (Langan & David, 2002).
What will it look like?
The facility will cater for women who have been convicted for one year and above. This duration will allow for program set completion. The structure of the jail will take two angles
- There will be a training center for training in different courses. The center will be located at the far end of the compound; inmates will be required to enroll in a course alongside rehabilitation program
- There will be dormitories which will be divided into cubical of two people. In total there will be three of them separated with a compound.
- There will be a playing ground that will be right at the face of the administration.
- There will be a farm where inmates will be required to produce some farm produce to generate some money to the facility
- There will be conference rooms and counseling rooms
- To ensure that there is a 24hour security, police officers will be stationed in the facility; they will also be participating in various field activities with the inmates.
- The administration block will be located almost at the center of the facility to ensure that from the offices an overall view of the facility can be gotten.
This facility is aimed at ensuring that convicted women get life skills, which they can use in the future after release. The setting will be more or less the same like the one in the outside world.
What level of security will be provided?
The facility holds both men and women and most of them are in their adolescence stage. There require strict rules and guidelines to be set to uphold discipline. The security may not necessarily be armed but measures should be taken to ensure that the inmates adhere to set rules of the institutions. Despite the fact that the inmates will be kept free, security will be maintained 24hours a day and 7days a week. There will be cameras monitored from the security room in the administration office situated all over the facility. They will offer close supervision of the facility and ensure that inmate’s behavior is monitored. The place will have a high fence with electric wires on top of it (University of Washington, 2008).
How does your jail design support your jail’s functions and goals?
The jail is taking the face of a jail and that of a rehabilitation center. Women commit crimes less often than men but this does not mean that they should be ignored in the correction process. Handling women on the other hand is an easier task since they are easily rehabilitated compared to men. The major functions will be counseling of the inmates at the same time giving them a chance to learn a course (Eastvedt, 2008).
Advantages
The prison is one with a human face that aims at rehabilitating inmates. After an inmate has been released, he will be able to integrate effectively with the society. Course offered can assist the released to face life challenges later. There will be plans to ensure that some funds are set aside to give a released inmate with a certain talent funds to start up a business after release. Some of the reason quoted for repeat offenders is lack of job and stigmatization after release; when measures are put in place to ensure that a released has some economic activity to do then correction is more facilitated.
Secondly, the prison is more likely to be efficient since it will cater for same gender thus conducting of programs will be easy. On the other hand, it aims at facilitating a personal decision to change and thus addresses the root cause of a problem and not symptoms. However, the facility is a high cost facility to build and maintain. It will require for collaboration between the private sector and full support of the government (Turner, 2007).
Reference List
Duckett, P., & Schinkel, M. (2008). Community psychology and injustice in the criminal justice system. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 18(5), 518-526. Web.
Eastvedt, S. (2008). Criminal justice ethics: a view from the top. American Jails, 22(5), 61.
Langan, A; and David, J. (2002). “Recidivism of Prisoners Released in 1994” (pdf). Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Turner, C. (2007). Ethical Issues in Criminal Justice Administration. American Jails, 20(6), 51.
University of Washington (2008). Bulging Prison System Called Massive Intervention in American Family Life. Press release.