In this assignment, the criminal justice agency that I have chosen to discuss is that of Louis Deberry Special Needs Facility where I was employed at for nine years, up until I left in March of this year. I am a current volunteer at the prison in the training and education department. The prisons command of the staff is built on a paramilitary structure that is hierarchical from bottle level staff working its way up to the administration top level of the structure with the warden at the top. This paramilitary structure is one that can be found in almost every United States law enforcement department that requires the absolute obedience of those that are in the low ranks of the structure (Hill & Beger, 2009).
As a person that has worked at this prison, and under this paramilitary, I have seen the advantages and disadvantages of this system of command that operates this prison. The advantage of the paramilitary structure in the prison setting is that it attempts to ensure that the directives of the top level of the organization are put into place and followed by all members of the team (Cronkhite, 2013). The disadvantage of the paramilitary structure is that the bottom of the structure ability and job effectiveness is based on capacity and effectiveness of
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We see that with the large number of law enforcement departments across the United States unitizing the same paramilitary structure that there is little ability for those that are in the lower brackets of the structure to make changes or even at time use their own judgements when challenging events take place (Hill & Beger, 2009). There is a requirement for the upper levels of these brackets to be fair, ethical, and educated to make the correct judgment calls for those that are in the lower brackets of the
This article discusses how badly the corrections officers treat the inmates at Mid-State Correctional Facility in New York. The inmates are beaten and penetrated by foreign objects by the officers that are supposed protect them. Not only are they mistreating the inmates but they are getting away with it as well. There are many instances and examples of inmates from this specific facility, Mid-State Correctional Facility, getting beaten by guards. These allegations of brutality against the inmates are going more viral now than ever.
Case Study Shane Bauer, an investigative journalist with Mother Jones, spent four months as a guard at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, LA from November 2014 to February 2015. Winn Correctional is a private, for-profit prison that is owned and operated by Corrections Corporation of America (CCA). It is also the oldest privately operated medium-security facility in the country (Bauer, 2016). During his time there, Bauer discovered just how terribly some of these prisons are run and the awful conditions that inmates are forced to suffer through. Bauer discusses his experiences at Winn, the horrible conditions of the prison that he witnessed, as well as the nonchalance of the other guards when it came to the prisoners and their safety.
The Yuma Territorial Prison opened in 1875, but the first prisoners were not moved to the prison, in till 1876. Over three thousand prisoners were housed during the thirty-three years the prison was operational. Yuma Territorial Prison is perceived throughout its many roles as a luxury for the community in Yuma, Arizona. The community in Yuma, Arizona might think this because of the many benefits the prison gave the inmate’s and the town people. In view of the community the prison played many roles other than just being a prison.
Leadership, decision-making processes can sometimes result in dilemmas. The dilemmas are often the result of contradictions between personal perceptions and biases on the one hand and the application of legal principles and best practices on the other (Bergesen & Max, 1998). The Roy King Riots case study is a prime example of how conflicts between personal perceptions and set rules can clash resulting in ethical dilemmas. In the case, a Los Angeles jury had acquitted four officers caught on camera brutally assaulting a suspect, Roy King, until he was unable to move before arresting him (Bergesen & Max, 1998). Television stations aired the tape, which sparked uproar within the Los Angeles African-American and Latin American communities claiming the incessant use of brutal force by police officers from the LAPD and constant lack of response from the institution’s top leadership.
These examples clearly show the mistreatment and mishandling of prisoners and knowledgeable children endured while serving their sentences. In conclusion, inmates were not properly cared for in
As a result of these privileges given to the inmates upon their arrival, the prisoner have no real incentive to follow the rules and regulations therefore prison officials must bribe and coerced them. A way to fix the defects of total power, prison officials should change or eliminate the reward system. Instead of providing inmates with rewards upon their arrivals at the prison, guards should use a positive reinforcement system where inmates get to enjoy certain privileges if and only if they follow the rules and regulations of the prison. Another structural defects are the inadequacies of the prison staff. Almost half of all the guards at the New Jersey State prison were temporary employees.
Thesis: It is very important for the sake of Americans tax dollars that we change the way that prisons are run and increase the productivity of inmates so when they are released from jail they are ready to be a productive member in society and have the confidence to achieve new goals. Introduction: Day after day, millions of inmates sit in jail doing nothing productive with their lives. We are paying to house inmates that may not even have a good reason to be there. For example, drug offenders are being kept with murderers and other violent offenders.
In order to do this they need to make new centers to help prisoners inside better themselves. In Alabama prisons may soon shut down 14 of its prisons for overcrowding, neglect, and violence in the state’s correction systems. In the prison St. Clair Holman in Alabama the prison system makes prisoners act different. There is no safety, security or supervision. “We have people being killed, sexually assaulted, raped, stabbed on daily basis at St. Clair, Holman, and multiple facilities; it’s a systemwide problem,” said Charlotte Morrison, a senior attorney at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), which represents Alabama prisoner.”
V. PRISON REFORMS The main part of this research paper is the reforms for the conditions of prison and make prison a better place for prisoner and make an alternative for incarceration. The prison Reform for prevention of overcrowding in prisons: A ten-point method for reducing the overcrowding in the prisons all over the world, these points are1: 1. Collect and use data to inform a rational, humane and cost-effective use of prison.
Prison gangs have been and are a growing problem. Prison organizations throughout the United States have tried many different strategies to address the issue of prison gang members. One of the problems is that gang members are more of a threat to the staff and other inmates than regular inmates who are not in a gang. The prisons have problems begin able to house certain serious offenders that need to be kept separate because of the limited spacing. Gangs in the prison have a higher disruption and incident rate then non gang members.
The Georgia Department of Corrections was established with the main purpose of protecting and serving the public by managing offenders and ensuring all of the state's residents live in a safe and secure environment. To this date, The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) is responsible for just over fifty thousand (50,000) state prisoners, with it being recorded as the largest prison system in America. With such a large capacity one can draft that the GDC has a large scope of operation and organizational structure having employed over ten thousand (10000) members of staff. Outlined further in this article will be a detailed description of the Georgia Department of Corrections organizational structure, funding sources, goals, objectives, roles
Implications for this book include Santos’s desire to help fix the prison system and the mass incarceration issue the U.S is facing. Santos is also helping other that are being prosecuted by the failing system. Upon being released and piecing his life back together, Santos started his own foundation called the Michael G Santos foundation. Through this foundation, Santos is helping bring awareness to the socials issues that result from mass incarceration while also helping former prisoner transition and integrate successfully back into the work force. Through Santos’s hard work and commitment, Santos successfully helped Maine’s department of corrections enhance their prison system by the virtue of his own programs that he has developed post
The thorough analysis of text leaves no doubt that a prison is a model of a whole society, containing its own relations of subjugation and leadership. As well as in real life, the leadership can be either formal or informal. Prison guards and wardens represent the first one. They have formal legal appointment and
The second aspect that should be highlighted from the author’s hypothesis is that guards themselves, the authority was in a specific mind-set which comes with the role, and most significantly the uniform which played a major role. This enabled them, psychology to commit the negative acts against the prisoners in the experiment. What reinforces this idea the uniforms enabled this is the experiment encouraged negative as well as positive engagement with the prisoners. However most of those involved in the guard roles engaged almost entirely in negative behavior.
‘’Most officers enter law enforcement with minimal experience in the field or in handling the moral dilemmas that officers typically encounter. They learn how to perform their jobs, as well as recognize the organizational norms, values, and culture, from their peers and supervisors. While supervisors provide direct, formal reinforcement, officers’ peers offer friendship and informal rewards that, in many cases, hold greater influence than official recognition from the agency’’ (Fitch, 2011). Officers who come across situations where they are unsure what is morally and ethically best to do often turn to their peers for assurance and guidance. Good ethical behavior can easily be influenced by officers and those in law enforcement.