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Issues with correctional administration
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What are some challenges that correctional administrators are faced with regarding the population of inmates? This may be a question that many people do not consider. Correctional administrators have to work very hard and be creative to ensure that all inmates, regardless of their challenges, needs are being met. The challenges of typical inmates are characterized by those that are mentally ill, elderly, and female inmates. Correctional administrators face a host of challenges when it comes to mentally ill inmates. Mentally ill inmates require more supervision and more care in regards to their well-being in the facility that they are housed in. In most facilities, mentally ill inmates are limited to less than substantial counseling services which may lead to disruptive behaviors. According to the Napa Valley Register, (2013), “Mentally ill inmates cannot be forced to take their medication by authorities.” (para. 6). Even though being incarcerated can be hard on the healthiest person, it’s harder on mentally ill inmates. When it comes to the mentally ill inmates, they are faced ...
The following issue stated above can lead to over-crowding. Similar to the prisons that confronted the shutdown, available prisons have to be aware that the inmates from the other facilities will transfer. As a result this means that correctional facilities must deal with a bigger population of inmates and will need more ...
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and of that over sixty percent of jail inmates reported having a mental health issue and 316,000 of them are severely mentally ill (Raphael & Stoll, 2013). Correctional facilities in the United States have become the primary mental health institutions today (Adams & Ferrandino, 2008). This imprisonment of the mentally ill in the United States has increased the incarceration rate and has left those individuals medically untreated and emotionally unstable while in jail and after being released. Better housing facilities, medical treatment and psychiatric counseling can be helpful in alleviating their illness as well as upon their release. This paper will explore the increasing incarceration rate of the mentally ill in the jails and prisons of the United States, the lack of medical services available to the mentally ill, the roles of the police, the correctional officers and the community and the revolving door phenomenon (Soderstrom, 2007). It will also review some of the existing and present policies that have been ineffective and present new policies that can be effective with the proper resources and training. The main objective of this paper is to illustrate that the criminalization of the mentally ill has become a public health problem and that our policy should focus more on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
Wouldn’t it be completely irrational to sentence every mentally ill individual to jail purely because they suffered from a mental illness? Often, mentally ill people behave in an eccentric manner and allure the attention of police officers who do not differentiate the mentally ill from mentally stable people and immediately charge them with misdemeanors. There are approximately 300,000 inmates, with the number increasing every year, which suffer from a mental illness and do not receive proper treatment. Jails are not adequately equipped to care for mentally ill inmates, which can lead to an escalation of an inmate’s illness. Society has failed to provide enough social resources for citizens suffering from psychiatric illnesses in its community, transferring mentally unstable individuals between mental institutions and jails, when in fact adequate aid such as providing proper medication, rehabilitation opportunities, and more psychiatric hospitals in communities is a necessity to reconstitute these individuals.
Thousands of people statewide are in prisons, all for different reasons. However, the amount of mental illness within prisons seems to go unaddressed and ignored throughout the country. This is a serious problem, and the therapy/rehabilitation that prison systems have do not always help those who are mentally ill. Prison involvement itself can contribute to increased suicide (Hills, Holly). One ‘therapy’ that has increased throughout the years has been the use of solitary confinement, which has many negative effects on the inmates. When an inmate has a current mental illness, prior to entering into the prison, and it goes undiagnosed and untreated, the illness can just be worsened and aggravated.
They have a special service provided in prison. Ruiz v. Estelle (1980) established components needed to deliver adequate mental health treatment in prison. On jail, they don't have the right to force them to take medications or services. In 2009, Two Inmates committed suicide and three others attempted suicide. One inmate had a psychotic breakdown assaulted a corrections officer. Some jails back then didn't had special cells designed for the mentally ill but when they are brought out of a cell some are separated from other inmates, while others are not. Mentally ill inmates need a special housing, jails have a fewer options for handling inmates from the other inmates population who have disciplinary problems. Mentally ill inmates often stay in the jail longer than they should because of the overcrowding at state hospitals or they don't have who to take care of them. I think we can safely say there is no doubt that jails and prisons have become America's Major mental health facilities. For Example, 60 percent of males and 80 percent of female inmates in state prisons, and 65 percent of female and 60 percent of the male in jail will experience a mental health problem requiring mental health services in jail. U.S courts have clearly said that prisoners have that right to receive medical and mental
The purpose of jail is to control criminals, decrease crime rates, decrease recidivism, and by the end of the inmate 's sentencing individuals are expected to return to society as if everything were “normal”. However, the majority of individuals who are incarcerated is because they did not pay fines, they were not able to post bail, or because they have a mental health diagnosis. Who knew jails were the new models of psychiatric facilities. It’s been proven that people with mental illness often experience worsened symptoms, recidivism, and abuse while incarcerated. Which poses the question of is jail the place individuals with a mental health diagnosis should be?
Prior to taking this course, I generally believed that people were rightly in prison due to their actions. Now, I have become aware of the discrepancies and flaws within the Criminal Justice system. One of the biggest discrepancies aside from the imprisonment rate between black and white men, is mental illness. Something I wished we covered more in class. The conversation about mental illness is one that we are just recently beginning to have. For quite a while, mental illness was not something people talked about publicly. This conversation has a shorter history in American prisons. Throughout the semester I have read articles regarding the Criminal Justice system and mental illness in the United States. Below I will attempt to describe how the Criminal Justice system fails when they are encountered by people with mental illnesses.
Correctional ideologies have contributed greatly to the present correctional trends in the United States. With all of the correctional ideologies contributing in some way, some greater than others, the United States corrections has seen many problems. One such problem is the steady increase in incarceration rates. In result, the prison facilities have become overcrowded and hard to manage. As Dawe from New York City’s Department of Corrections said, “We are so understaffed and so overcrowded across our prisons, it’s miraculous that we can handle it,”(New Week Global, 2014). In fact, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, Federally-operated facilities have grown by 41% while correctional workers have only increased by 19% (New Week Global, 2014). The increase in the prison population rates is due to five contributing factors: (1) increased arrests and more likely incarceration, (2) tougher sentencing, (3) prison construction, (4) the war on drugs, and (5) state and local politics.
There is roughly 2.4 million people locked up in the United states. This statistic surprises everyone and automatically makes them think about the conditions of the prisoners. Even though prisoners have to deal with harsh conditions, most people do not think about the effects of prisons on correctional officers. Even though some may argue that prison conditions are too harsh, correctional officers still have to endure the same conditions as prisoners even though they are not the ones that are locked up. Correctional officers have to endure violence from inmates, intense stress that can cause psychological problems, and stress on families.
The “Tough on Crime” and “War on Drugs” policies of the 1970s – 1980s have caused an over populated prison system where incarceration is policy and assistance for prevention was placed on the back burner. As of 2005, a little fewer than 2,000 prisoners are being released every day. These individuals have not gone through treatment or been properly assisted in reentering society. This has caused individuals to reenter the prison system after only a year of being release and this problem will not go away, but will get worst if current thinking does not change. This change must be bigger than putting in place some under funded programs that do not provide support. As the current cost of incarceration is around $30,000 a year per inmate, change to the system/procedure must prevent recidivism and the current problem of over-crowed prisons.
Mental illness is a prevalent issue in our country today. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimated that 20-25% of our nations homeless suffer from mental illness (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009). Many people with mental illness end up in prison without proper care and supportive housing (NAMI, 2011). Without proper care, people with severe mental illness cannot function as productive members of society (HCH Clinician’s Network, 2000). Proper housing, care, and professionals to guide them, the quality of life for people with severe mental illness is poor. In this paper, I will review and analyze three journal studies regarding policies about homelessness, and guardianship by public administrators for people with severe mental illness.
Firstly, in order to gain a better understanding of the problems that plague or correctional system we must fully understand the enormous overcrowding problem that exist in the majority of or state and federal prisons. Since 1980 the prison population has quadrupled and only the numb...
A correctional officer is apart of a staff in a detention center, prison, or a jail that sets to accomplish the goals of the institution’s objectives by maintaining control and order within the prison (Seiter, 2011). While the role of a correctional officer is very crucial within a prison, depending on the unique role to a specific location, it is important that we understand that these humble and quiet guardians are in the correction facilities. Between the different criminal justice facilities, the mission and goals between them are vastly different, although there is very little contrast in the roles that correctional officers play in these facilities. Correctional officers are solely in charge of the direct and constant supervision of prisoners and administering the security procedures and protocols within a facility. These officers also need to be extremely well informed in the technical and interactive realm of the prison system as daily interactions with the inmate population requires them to have strict adherence to policies and a sharp attention to
The first issue that I would like to address is the overcrowding issues in prisons. In my opinion, overcrowding issues are the biggest issues in our correctional system that concerns every citizen. Running a prison required money, resources and manpower, with overcrowding issues, the government would have no choice but to increase the number of correctional facilities, privatized prisons and increasing manpower. According to (Levitt, 1996), “The incarceration rate in the United States has more than tripled in the last two decades. At year-end 1994 the United States prison population exceeded one million. Annual government outlays on prisons are roughly $40 billion per year. The rate of imprisonment in the United States is three to four times greater than most European countries.” (p.1). Overcrowding issues are not only affect prisons but the society as a whole as well. The reason is simply because prison population directly refl...
Above all, there is the prison administration disciplinary policy. In many correctional facilities around the country, the infractions are divided among classes. For example, Class A is the most serious, because this is one means that a prisoner assaulted another inmate or guard. and the attack left the corrections officer in serious condition. The specific codes and classes will vary with each state. In New Jersey, there is a cancellation on good time if you have a pending disciplinary infraction, which is known as Code 10. This is means that violence involving the use of a foreign objects that causes serious injury.