Prisons Today

 

Today, prisons range from minimal security prisons and juvenile halls,  tomaximum-security prisons and mental institutions. One of the most organized  aswell as most famous prison-system is that of the United States. However,  mostprisons in the U.S. are facing the threat of overcrowding. By the end of  1988,the number of convicted criminals reached a total in excess of 628,000,  thelargest amount ever to be incarcerated.Overcrowding in prisons is not only a  problem in the states though. In fact,the Don jail of Toronto, Ontario was  threatened by overcrowding not to long ago,thus causing prison riots.Until the  18th century, the most common forms of punishment were execution andexile  (banishment i.e. from one's country). Nowadays there are many alternatives such  as fines and probation. The government doesn't kill you for stealing an apple,  however, at one time they probably would have. It just goes to show that times  change!

Mission is to develop and implement effective and innovative correctional  policy, create a coordinated correctional system which is responsive to the  citizen's right to public safety and governmental accountability, and maintain a  reputation for excellence and integrity.

To protect the citizens of the Commonwealth and to provide a safe, secure, and  humane environment for staff and offenders.

 

"The American Federal Sentencing guidelines state  that a prison's purpose is to provide retribution, to educate, to deter, and to  incapacitate"

while prisoners are serving their sentences, they should receive rehabilitation,  so that when they are released from prison, they are ready to become productive  members of society once again.

Prison as an effective punishment?

 

There is no question that prison is  seen as a severe punishment for most people. The critical question is whether it  is an effective punishment for potential offenders.  This depends on what  motivates potential offenders. The deterrence argument is based on the arguments  of economic rational choice theory and the classical assumption that offenders  are self-interested, reasoning, rational cost-benefit calculators. However, much  of the criminological literature has demonstrated that there are a variety of  motivations that shape criminal activity ranging from biological  predispositions, psychological personality traits, social learning, cognitive  thinking, geographical location and the ecology of place, relative deprivation  and the strain of capitalist society, political conflict and social and  sub-cultural meaning.  The result is that most criminologists reject the  arguments of pure rationality contained in Ehrlich and Becker’s utility and  wealth maximization theories. Even those like Clarke and Cornish, who favor the  rational choice argument, advocate the idea of “limited rationality.”   Indeed, as supporters of Murray’s argument are forced to concede: “The economic  theory of crime that has developed out of Becker. . .recognizes that different  individuals break the law for different reasons, that not all law breakers are  rational utility maximizers, and that different offenders will weight the risks  of benefits in different ways.” (Saunders and Billante, 2003: 4). So, who are  the offenders who are supposedly influenced to reduce their commission of crime  by deterrence through the severity of prison as a punishment?  To answer  this question we need to examine who are prisoners, and what are their  crimes.

 

 

Punishment effectiveness

 

The effectiveness of punishment  relates to how far it is successful in suppressing the undesired behavior.  Effectiveness depends upon practices that work in general, and those that work  with specific populations; the effects are not necessarily the same.

 

Psychological  research on punishment in has shown that mild punishment can be effective  in changing behavior, but the evidence is less clear about the effectiveness of  severe punishment. Effectiveness of punishment is increased by:

 

1.       Frequency of application

 

2.       Immediacy of application

 

3.       Punishment used in conjunction with positive reinforcement of pro-social  behavior

 

 

 

However,  punishment, especially in its severe form has several negative effects:

 

1.       Avoidance or escape

 

2.       Alienation of those punished, to the point of inaction

 

3.       Aggressiveness, both targeted and generalized, by those punished

 

4.       Conditioning of the punishers through rewarding them for behavioral  change

 

5.       Reproducing punishment behavior in those punished