This assignment supports the following Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and Marketable Skills:
SLO 1: Describe the organization and operation of correctional systems and alternatives to institutionalization.
SLO 2: Describe treatment and rehabilitative programs.
SLO 3: Differentiate between the short-term incarceration and long-term institutional environments.
SLO 4: Evaluate current and future correctional issues.
SLO 5: Identify the constitutional rights applicable to the correctional setting.
Marketable Skills:
Communication: Written (SLO 2 & SLO 3)
Critical Thinking: Synthesis (SLO 1)
Critical Thinking: Evaluation (SLO 4)
Social Responsibility: Social Justice (SLO 5)
Assignment Overview: Corrections, along with law enforcement and the courts, are the subsets of the criminal justice system. These three are found within legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government. More than seven million individuals are under some form of corrections supervision. Elements of the corrections system include probation, parole, jail, and prison. The capacity of the corrections system is strained due to record numbers who are sentenced to probation and placed on parole with more than two million in jail or long-term institutions. Corrections has become big business. The prison building boom is referred to as the prison-industrial complex. In this complex, prisoners are transformed into profits and prisons are cemented into local economics by providing jobs and bolstering the community.
Recently, the U.S. has created a period of mass incarceration that has led to prison overcrowding. The costs of corrections are extremely high. Not only personnel, but capital costs are rising substantially. Training for staff is necessary but also costly as are the programs offered to offenders.
Using the knowledge you have learned in this course about the organization and operation of correctional systems and alternatives to institutionalization, the treatment and rehabilitative programs, current and future correctional issues and constitutional rights applicable to the correctional setting, address the following questions:
Of the various goals/philosophy of sentencing, which one do you favor? Why? (SLO 1)
Do you believe the punishment should fit the crime or the needs of the offender? Explain your reasoning. (SLO 1 & 2)
“Because you have voluntarily agreed to the terms of your probation, I hereby suspend the imposition of your punishment and place you on 18 months of probation/community supervision.” the judge says. What benefits do you expect from serving out your 18 months of probation in the community? Why is probation considered a second chance? (SLO 2)
In some prisons, inmates receive excellent care. Is it fair for them to receive better medical care than many citizens in the community? Why or why not? (SLO 3)
Do you think that prisoners should have to pay for their food, board, medical care, and other services? Why or why not? (SLO 5)
There are many types of offenders that populate the prison system. The prison populations are represented by a wide variety of offenders that have an array of issues and needs. There are three categories of inmates in the prison system that bring on challenges and require resources. These categories are the special offense inmates (substance-involved inmates, sex offender inmates, Terrorists inmates), the special needs inmates (HIV infected inmates, HIV/Aids inmates, inmates with disabilities, chronic mental illness inmates, and special populations’ prisoners (elderly inmates, transgender inmates, illegal immigrant inmates, and previously homeless inmates).
Which group of inmates do you think poses the greatest problem for staff? Why? (SLO 4)
Which group of inmates do you think has the greatest problem with prison life? Why? (SLO 4)
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|