The Jamaican prison system is different from the American prison system. In Jamaica, the inmates can stay in the jail for more than three hundred and sixty five days depending on their cases. Once they are transferred to the prison, the family can visit them during the week and on the weekends. The families are allowed to bring food and clothing for their family members. In order for these items to enter the prison, the prison guards have to make sure that the foods are in plastic containers and be searched properly. However, in U.S. they are not allowed to bring food for inmates in addition to that they provide them medicals care and other social
People expect a penitentiary to hold inmates, especially dangerous ones, for as long as the court determines they should serve. Kingston Penitentiary has been doing that for many years. But it has also dedicated to the reform of inmates. What that means has changed dramatically over time. (Curtis et al, 1985)
Being a prisoner has more restrictions than one may believe. Prisoners are told when they should participate in daily activities and what they are allowed to say or do on a daily basis. This is not a life anyone is determined to experience during any period of time. However, all though for most prison life is just a depiction in a movie or on television, it is a reality for many. Their crimes and behaviors brought them into a world of being stripped of their freedom. Those who oversee the prisoners must control order within the brick walls. An article discussing the duties of a prison officer, defines it as one who “...has responsibility for the security, supervision, training and rehabilitation of people committed to prison by the courts”
The Kingston Penitentiary is known for its grueling forms of punishment and high levels of social control. For
Furthermore, when our offenders reach prison, they are escorted to a room where they are stripped of all outside clothing, searched and given a prison suit. Next they are then taken to their cell, whether it is by themselves or bunking with one or more prison mates. Depending on the time of the day they enter, they will then be taken to the next meal, then afterwards maybe they return back to their cell or they have an activity of some sort. They get to sleep on a bunk, oftentimes, have a toilet and a sink in their rooms sometimes, and get to have pictures, buy from the canteen where they can buy anything from cigarettes to magazines, to even personal TVs or radios. Anything to make their life comfortable while they are there. Meanwhile, there are those in the US who work hard, never commit crimes,
Prisons exist in this country as a means to administer retributive justice for those that break the laws in our society or to state it simply prisons punish criminals that are to receive a sentence of incarceration for more than one year. There are two main sub-cultures within the walls of prison the sub-culture of the Department of Corrections (which consists of the corrections officer, administrators, and all of the staff that work at the prison and go home at the end of their day) and the actual prisoners themselves. As you can imagine these two sub-cultures are dualistic in nature and this makes for a very stressful environment for both sides of the fence. While in prison, the inmates experience the same conditions as described in the previous
...sons have higher rates of positive detection rates for unauthorized substances compared to public prisons (Camp & Gaes, 2002). This is likely to indicate a pattern of poor security practices within private prisons. Escapes from prison are often a rare occurrence. In 1999, BOP had one escape from their facility while private prisons accounted for 23 escapes. When an escape does occur, it is likely to indicate loopholes in security practices. In Ohio, five murders escaped a maximum-security private prison. The food budget can easily be manipulated compared to other parts of the budget. As a result, it is important to examine the food quality in prisons. In a case study of Taft Correctional Institution (a private prison), this private institution ranked the worst in quality of food, variety of food, and amount of food compared to all BOP facilities (Camp et al., 2002).
In jail, prisoners consume two meals a day, not by choice but by law. Officer Candelario of the Lower Buckeye jail shared what a typical morning meal looks like for her inmates. Breakfast consists of "One apple or orange, a carton of milk, one piece of bread, and a small serving of Peanut butter
The cells in which inmates are kept are very small; they have a toilet, a shelf, a desk and a bed that contains a thin mattress (Shalev, 2011). Inmates are not allowed to have physical contact with their visitors. In fact, they cannot even see them face to face in certain facilities. Inmates cannot participate in any work activities, and only if the facility offers it can they receive small amounts of educational programs on a television on a secured circuit (Shalev, 2011). The only time inmates are permitted to leave their cell is to exercise inside a caged enclosure for about an hour a day. Most cells contain a solid door with a single slot so that inmates may be cuffed or received their meals. Also, depending on the facility they may have a small rectangular window in their cell that is extremely small. The most common way that inmates communicate is through shouting because the cells are set up so that no contact can be made to other inmates.
Throughout the history of the United States and including the western world. Corrections have served the country by convicting and sentencing offenders depending on the seriousness of the crime. Along with that today, offenders are either placed in probation, incarcerated or taken to community-based corrections. Even though, corrections have always tried to find ways to deter crime by correcting criminals, the poor economy in our country has been the cause for struggles in the correctional system. Some of the causes of economic issues are the cut of budget, over crowing, lack of programs for people with mental illnesses, and lack of innovation.
Families are often forced to choose between supporting an incarcerated loved one and meeting basic needs for their families and themselves. For many families the loss of income from the relative who goes to jail or prison results in deep poverty and can last for generations to come. Alongside physical separation, the
Three walls. One toilet seat. Bars made of mild steel and a lock only accessible to men who government calls authority figures. Prison systems are known for three things: to protect the people, to punish the criminal and to rehabilitate the prisoner so that a crime will not be further committed. However, it has been causing ongoing controversy on whether or not it has been stripping away the earned rights of citizens or indeed helping them become “better” for society.
Throughout history into today, there have been many problems with our prison system. Prisons are overcrowded, underfunded, rape rates are off the charts, and we as Americans have no idea how to fix it. We need to have shorter sentences and try to rehabilitate prisoners back to where they can function in society. Many prisoners barely have a high school education and do not receive further education in jail. Guards need to pay more attention to the well being of the inmates and start to notice signs of abuse and address them. These are just a few of the many problems in our prison systems that need to be addressed.
The prison system in the United States was not always like it is today. It took mistakes and changes in order to get it to the point it is at. Some people think that prisons should still be being changed while others feel that they are fine the way they are. It is hard to make an argument for one side or the other if one does not know about the history of prisons as well as the differences between prisons structures and differences in prison management. Knowledge of private prisons is also needed to make this difficult decision.
But there are people who also disagree with changing the way the prison system works right now. As I found in the article called: "Our Money to Educate Minds behind Bars Is a Terrible Thing to Waste" which appeared in the Chicago Now, the author, Masaki Araya, points to reasons why prisons shouldn 't offer educational programs to inmates. "Why should any money, private and public, be wasted on ‘free’ education to those confined behind bars when we already have law abiding citizens, especially families, struggling and barely getting by trying to pay to attend college?" is one of the points Masaki brings up. Masaki believes that these people have no right to be given free education and rehabilitation programs because they have committed crimes
In final analysis, this research project looks to provide a new way of understanding the current prison situation and its various manifestations. A comprehensive report of how things might be for those closely involved in the punishment and rehabilitation process might enable policy-makers and the public alike to change their ideas and help them perceive what it might mean to be in the position of officers or prisoners. The higher objective of this project will be to bring, through new knowledge, the necessary reforms that could leave both the taxpayer and those in the prison system more satisfied.