American Prison System

American Prison System

Introduction

In many countries national prisons are operated and supplemented by provinces and state counterparts. Prisoners are held in prisons and jails throughout the country and globally convicted of various crimes and offenses. The nature of the offense determines where the prisoner is held and the lengths of times. There are institutions that vary in level of security in both the state and federal prison system. However, the majority of prisoners are sentenced and housed in state facilities in high security facilities.

State Prison System- History and Purpose

Sanctions are available in the courts the deal with those who commit criminal offences and are sentenced to correctional facilities including jails and prisons. Today's sanctions are harsh; however, in early prison history the sanctions were harder. State prison systems were based on legal reforms of the eighteenth century, but were actually founded in the nineteenth century. Racism and the human right movements caused many rioted in prisons and formed new alliances.

By 1980, prisons were considered to be out of control and more than 40 states were forced to come under a federal court control. One major issue of America prison system that is rarely published is the way that prisoners are treated. The Prison Industrial Complex and United Sates International Prisons are forces that deal with these issues. The United States incarcerates more people than any other country globally each year. America uses prisons as a solution to reduce crime, however the situation continues to deteriorate instead of rehabilitate and combat the problem. State prison systems have incorporated and designed some programs to help convicts with social skills, education, and developing a trade.

Growth

By 2011 one in every 179 U. S. residents are expected to have lived in prison this is according to a report released by the Public Safety Performance Project of The Pew Charitable Trusts. While forecasting into America's Prison Population by 2011 America will have more than 1.7 million women and men residing in prison. Taxpayers will experience an increase of approximately $27.5 billion over the next five years that will be spent on prison and the prison system. (Riordan 2007).

Overcrowding in the state prison system is a continuing problem and is increasingly uncomfortable. Capacity levels have risen in both operating and capacity in both state and federal prison systems. This has caused local and state facilities to make inmates double up in prison cells. In other words, cells that would normally hold to inmates at a time are now holding more convicts. This causes even more tension and friction between inmates.

Types of Institutions

There are two types of institutions in the United States, that is private and government ran institutions. The privately ran institutions are paid for from the states government and commonly a lower cost to the state. The down side however, is that these facilities can choose who comes in as an inmate or employee. The state ran facilities are a little more expensive than privately run facilities.

Security Levels- Types of Criminals

Identify the five state prison systems

There are five state prison systems in which exist in today's penitentiary systems and they are maximum-security prisons, close-high security prisons, medium-security prisons, and open security facilities. Variations between these five systems are common and uncommon