Historical developments in corrections and what impact they have on corrections today.

Answer

   Most individuals are attracted to the study of crime control, punishments, and other ways of responding to crime and social anomaly. Historically, there have been developments in the Correction Sectors worldwide, such as government justice and psychological punishment (2021). For better comprehension of how Prisons and Punishment have evolved, the study of developments in the correctional departments, the impacts on today’s corrections, exploring American prison models, and analyzing the effectiveness of corrective methods, hold a significant depth to researchers and learners.

There have been two significant historical developments in the Correction Departments that have influenced the corrections in today’s world. One of the developments is the introduction of Government Justice to replace the Vigilante Justice, which was commonly used in our society. Earlier, punishments of crimes were done through retribution; justice by revenge based on the proverb “an eye for an eye” (2021). The introduction of government justice made the punishment of crime to be a government’s responsibility. Today, the government is the sole body that punishes criminal acts committed by its citizens.

The other significant development in the history of corrections is the establishment of psychological punishment from corporal punishment, which was earlier used to punish criminals.  Corporal punishment involved physical punishment; criminals were tortured for their offenses (2021). There existed brutal ways of punishing the criminals, such as beheading, crucifixion, flogging, stoning, and blinding. However, most of the societies settled on caning as a form of punishment. Eventually, the introduction of psychological punishment through government justice freed criminals from the barbaric torture forms; for example, prisons freed criminals from physical torture as they were imprisoned instead of the latter.

Today, the use of prisons has reduced the crime rate in society due to shortcomings such as incapacitation as a result of imprisonment. The shift is now to research why crime is committed. As a result of the change, the development of rehabilitation centers for criminals is witnessed in today’s correction departments with the idea that criminal punishment is a way to change a criminal’s behavior, thus reducing crime. Consequently, we see a more humanitarian approach, kindness, order, and a serene routine in our prisons resulting from the involvement of government  in punishing criminals.

Prisons are built to house people who have committed a crime in society. There are two types of prison models in America: the “Medical Model” and  the “Balanced Model.” The medical model is a correctional model built on the inference that criminal behavior is caused by psychological, biological, or social scantiness, which calls for treatment (Reitz & Rhine, 2020). The model is focused on treating criminal’s illnesses, hoping that the offenders will be relieved from their ailment, thus will not engage in crime again (“BOP: Timeline”, n.d).  This model’s program was to stop criminality in society by treating the ill. It had various shortcomings, majorly on how to evaluate a criminal’s illness. Some crimes are committed as a result of hunger, not an illness; thus the model is not totally effective.