Answer

Functions, Issues, and Objectives in Corrections

The history of punishment for various crimes has changed over time. The functions and objectives of punishing criminals have encountered both stormy and clement seasons. Typically, the purpose of correctional systems is to punish, correct and rehabilitate delinquents to enhance unity, peace, and order in society. Correctional systems have a broad history since prehistoric and medieval times. This paper examines the history of correctional systems in relation to their objectives and activities, constitutional rights of the felonies as well as the impacts of incarceration and social justice concerns for the correctional centers. The paper will also discuss cultural sensitivity and diversity awareness concerns in prisons, rehabilitation centers, and jails. Finally, this document will examine the existing alternative sentencing methods and the efficacy of both correctional institutions and private institutions.

            Prisons and jails have significantly transformed from being areas of holding offenders awaiting beatings, whippings, deportation, execution, or maiming by the authorities. Confinement of the delinquents has become the initial punishment (Sarat & Pant, 2019). Both the Supreme court and the constitution of the United States provide four different jurisdictions for corrections, that is, incapacitation, rehabilitation, societal retribution, and deterrence. The main purpose of the first category was to permanently incarcerate populations who cannot change.

Historical and Contemporary State Correctional Systems

During medieval times, European state correctional systems used very punitive forms of punishment. The systems are mainly used to execute and torture the populations perceived to go against the authorities. Various instruments were used to kill or torture the felonies. For instance, the systems used some racks which were stretched to tear apart the bodies of the offenders. Another instrument that was used to execute delinquents was the Iron Maiden, which was a kind of box made with very sharp spikes both on the floor and its sides. Iron Maiden pierced the person using the sharp spikes as it closed back and forth (Verreycken, 2019). Apart from this kind of execution, offenders could also be burned, beheaded, or hanged. The public was allowed to flock to the scene of execution to watch everything happing.

            Before the offenders were executed, some could be put in confinements. The primary objective of the confinement or imprisonment of the offenders during medieval times was to allow time for the offender to confess to the crime. Sometimes, the medieval church was used to incarcerate the offenders instead of the killings. Those days, some wealthy individuals could construct their private prisons to imprison those who opposed their whims or dared to block their efforts to rise to power. King Henry II enacted the Assize of Clarendon ordinance, which allowed the construction of the first prison in history (Verreycken, 2019). The main function of this prison was to deal solely with the crimes that were categorized as offenses against the peace of the king. Instead of using the church, victim’s family structure, or the lord, populations who committed crimes in this category were punished by the state. These state-operated prisons were made to be extremely cold, filthy, and soggy.

The prisoners had to spend their time in the cold while starving in the dark rooms. The imprisoned populations could only buy rat-and roach-infested prisons. Prisoners were also charged for the chains or manacles, mattresses, blankets, and food when availed to them by the prison keepers. They were also charged for other privileges such as being booked or released. Although most of the prisoners suffered in the terrible conditions in the prisons, some of the rich prisoners could pay for relatively habitable quarters. Apart from being executed by the state, many prisoners died in the prisons, mainly because of malnutrition, diseases, and victimization by prison keepers and other inmates.

Contemporary State Correctional Systems

            Contemporary state correctional systems are used for various functions. One of the functions of jails in the contemporary criminal justice system of the United States is to hold accused persons awaiting trials, arraignments, sentencing, or conviction. Jails also hold accused persons who are unable to pay the required bails or those who are not eligible for the bails. Jails are also used for the detention of violators of bail-bonds, probation and parole terms as well as the absconders (Pellow, 2021). However, the main goals of the contemporary correctional systems include deterrence of crimes, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retribution of delinquents.

            Depending on the individual offender’s mental state and the kind of crime committed, prisoners receive mental health therapies for rehabilitation and change of behavior (Blankenship et al. 2018). The functions of the contemporary correctional system may be considered as probation, parole, and imprisonment of the offenders. In the United States, there are juvenile and adult criminal incarceration centers. Retribution is aimed to prevent the occurrence of a particular crime by eliminating the desire to revenge against the defendant. As such, the innocent is protected and the guilty are punished according to their crimes. All medically and physically able prisoners are required to work. Some of the tasks assigned to the inmates include plumbing, painting, grounds-keeping, or work in the warehouse or foodservice sector.

Although a significant population in prisons spends a lot of their time in lone confinement, mass incarceration in the United States is significantly changing the operations and activities in the incarceration centers (Pellow, 2021). Based on the Federal Bureau of Prisons, populations in the prisons earn between 12 cents and 40cents for every hour of work in prison service, and from 23 cents to $1.15 for every hour of work done in factories managed by the Federal Prison Industries. Prisoners strictly follow a prescribed schedule of activities ranging from morning exercises to studying and working in various designated areas.

Correctional Staff Issues and Constitutional Rights of Offenders

1. Overcrowding

The modern-day correctional systems, especially the United States, are facing various concerns relating to the punishment, supervision, treatment, and rehabilitation of the offenders. The corrections personnel in the criminal justice systems are also facing a lot of challenges (Singer et al., 2019). One of the main concerns in the current criminal justice system is the overcrowding of the inmates. With the passing and enactment of various laws in the United States such as the Zero Torelance rule, there has been mass incarceration in the united states. Racial discrimination in the U.S criminal justice system also influences the high number of inmates in correctional facilities. Most of the people of color continue to suffer from long-term imprisonment for offenses that could have otherwise attracted lesser jail terms. As a result, the offenders continue to remain in correctional centers while other offenders are arrested and put in the same facilities, denied bails, or asked for high bails that are sometimes not able to pay. Some of the inmates are not employed and some continually become violent while in the facilities.

1. Staff Safety and Violence

            Correctional staff often encounter offenders of different kinds including offenders of sexual assault, substance abuse, violent crimes, theft, and murderers among other crimes. Handling these groups of felonies is often an uphill task that leaves the correctional personnel in stress, anxieties, and other mental challenges (Zhao et al., 2019). Correctional officers are at high risk of hypertension, chronic injuries due to confrontations with the offenders, heart diseases, and fatigue. The supervision of high populations in the prison also increases correction personnel workload and hence poor performance at the workplace. In light of this, many officers are quitting the job for their safety. The recruitment of correctional personnel is overly becoming a great concern in the United States.

• Funding Gaps

            The cost of running a single correctional center is rising each day. In light of this, the federal government and the states are not able to fully fund all the services and purchase all the required equipment to run the centers. Lack of necessary tools of work is hampering the efficacy of the correction officers. For instance, some of the rehabilitation programs are underfunded leaving the officers with no alternatives apart from leaving the programs to roll with the available budgets (Henry, 2020).

Constitutional Rights of the Felonies

            Although the U.S constitution does do not provide for full constitutional rights to the prisoners, it protects most of their rights. For instance, the constitution safeguards the prisoners from unusual and cruel punishment. The eighth amendment prohibits the officers from using unusual punishments or cruelty when supervising the prisoners (Singer et al., 2019). The amendment requires the correction center to provide the inmates with the minimum standard of living. As such, starving the inmates is a violation of the U.S constitution. Besides, the first amendment also protects their right to be present whenever the officers open their legitimate mails. The amendment prohibits prison personnel from reading the emails of inmates. Instead, the officers may only open the mail to check if there are any contrabands. The same amendment also provides for the right to a public hearing without any unwarranted delays, the right to know the accusers, the right to an unbiased jury as well as the right to a lawyer.  As such, the supervision of the inmates must adhere to the constitution by upholding their constitutional rights.          

Impacts of Incarceration and Social Justice Issues

            Incarceration of the offenders has a significant impact on society and correctional institutions. Social justice is the primary concern of society on what is wrong or right as well as fair and unfair treatment of the population. As such, the criminal justice system is one of the social justice subsets (Henry, 2020). It focuses on fairness and justice in the application of criminal law. Incarceration and social justice issues including mental health challenges, unemployment, injuries, and the development of uncontrolled social behavior impact the correctional institutions across the United States.

            One of the impacts of incarceration and social justice concerns for a correctional institution is recidivism in prisons. In many cases, offenders in the correctional institutions lack the necessary programs for behavior change, mainly due to the funding gap and overcrowding as well as victimization by other inmates (Singer et al., 2019). Besides, the inmates are often not well prepared for community reintegration. Community reentry programs often help the offender to transform and be ready to incorporate with the society. However, some communities are not ready to accept back offenders from jails and prisons. The poor criminal record also affects the offenders and hence can hardly secure employment opportunities (Zhao et al., 2019). These factors send the offender back to the criminal gangs, substance offenders, or engage in violence and theft. Delinquents end up being arrested and taken back to the correctional institutions for the same or different crimes.

            Social justice issues such as racial discrimination in the criminal justice system and overcrowding have impacts on the private correctional institutions.  According to the data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, private correctional institutions holds approximately 130,000 inmates or 8.3% of the entire prison population in the United States. The Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics claims that close to 2 million delinquents are confined in jails and prisons across the United States. The amount of violence in the private prisons may trigger the facing out of the private prisons despite the higher budgets sent to these private institutions. The giant private prison companies such as the GEO Group Inc. and the CoreCivic companies received a lot of funds from the government to run the institutions. As such, incarceration continues to utilize excessive federal budgets while increasing mental health concerns and other vices. Private prisons charge at least $150 per inmate each day. For the 2018 financial year alone, the Department of Homeland Security received a budget of $3 billion to run the operations of the correctional institutions where a significant amount was directed to the private prisons. However, detainees and other inmates continue to complain about the violation of their rights and other conditions in private institutions.

Cultural Sensitivity and Diversity Awareness Issues Relevant to Prisons

                        Cultural awareness is a critical aspect of correctional education and approaches. Cultural diversity is increasingly becoming a justice and social concern as it could promote the conditions and treatment of the inmates from diverse cultures. Correctional institutions officers need cultural awareness to ensure that they respect other cultures. Cultural awareness involves understanding the existence of other cultures and respect for their demands. One of the major cultural sensitivity concerns about prisons is the language mistreatments. Although most of the people living in the United States can express themselves in English, a considerable population still struggle with English as some are English Language Students or undocumented immigrants. Discrimination or mistreatment of prison officers, especially in private prisons is a major concern that continues to harm the inmates. The management of Native American juveniles, African Americans, and the Hispanic cultures has recently been of great concern.

Methods of Alternative Sentencing

            Alternative sentencing approaches are credibly effective and embraced methods of handling the offenders in society. There are various alternative methods of sentencing that can help the criminal justice system to overcome some of the discussed justice and social concerns. Some of these methods include probation, community service, fines, pretrial diversion or deferred adjudication and restitution as well as suspended sentencing. The two alternative methods utilized in the case file are electronic monitoring and community service.

In community service sentencing, an offender is rehabilitated through the community. As such, this method is a form of prison diversion with the aim to handle various challenges of criminals and chemically dependent persons. In this alternative sentencing, offenders may perform various community jobs without pay such as cleaning a specific area in the community. Electronic monitoring or sometimes called house arrest is an intermediate sanction that involves house confinement of the felony. The movements of the felonies are electronically monitored to ensure that they do not go beyond certain points. This alternative method is viewed to be one of the highly effective alternative sentencing approaches.

Effectiveness of a Correctional Institution and a Private Institution

            The effectiveness of prisons is very low. It is observed that inmates are increasingly suffering mental health disorders for various reasons (Zhao et al., 2019). Overcrowding has constantly resulted in poor conditions in prisons and that the supervisions have been wanting. Besides, overpopulation in prisons is influencing the spread of certain communicable diseases. Most of the offenders are also not employed and hence increased the chances of committing crimes upon release (Pellow, 2021). Recidivism is also high due to a lack of preparedness for community reintegration. Although the levels of crime may seem to have decreased, homicide cases have sprung up.

Conclusion

            The history of corrections or confinement of offenders is very broad. In medieval times, persons who acted in ways that contradicted the societal norms were confined in cold rooms and starved until they confessed their offenses. In the contemporary state correctional systems of the United States, the constitution protects certain rights of the offenders such as the right to a lawyer, unbiased jury, and swift trials. Besides, various alternative sentencing methods are incorporated to reduce the chances of committing a crime. Despite these milestones, correctional institutions are yet to achieve the most preferred state of handling offenders. For instance, offenders are humans and must be treated so by acknowledging their cultures. The development of culturally sensitive and aware officers in the correction institutions is still wanting in various centers in the United States and beyond. Mass incarceration contributes to high government expenditure on corrections.