Corrections

For other uses, see Corrections (disambiguation).
The Huntsville Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, Texas is a prison, a component of a correctional system
Qur'anic education for offenders at the Central Jail Faisalabad in Faisalabad, Pakistan

In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and supervision of persons who have been convicted of crimes.[1] These functions commonly include imprisonment, parole and probation.[2] A typical correctional institution is a prison. A correctional system, also known as a penal system, thus refers to a network of agencies that administer a jurisdiction's prisons and community-based programs like parole and probation boards;[3] this system is part of the larger criminal justice system, which additionally includes police, prosecution and courts.[4] Jurisdictions throughout Canada and the US have ministries or departments, respectively, of corrections, correctional services, or similarly named agencies.

Corrections is also the name of a field of academic study concerned with the theories, policies, and programs pertaining to the practice of corrections. Its object of study includes personnel training and management as well as the experiences of those on the other side of the fence — the unwilling subjects of the correctional process.[1] Stohr and colleagues write that "Earlier scholars were more honest, calling what we now call corrections by the name penology, which means the study of punishment for crime."[5]

The terminology change in US academia from "penology" to "corrections" occurred in the 1950s and 1960s, and it was driven by a new philosophy emphasizing rehabilitation. It was accompanied by concrete changes in some prisons, like giving more privileges to inmates, and attempting to instill a more communal atmosphere. At least nominally, most prisons became correctional institutions, and guards became correctional officers.[6] Although the corrections-related terminology continued thereafter in US correctional practice, the philosophical view on offenders' treatment took an opposite turn in the 1980s, when the "get tough" program was labeled by academics as "The New Penology".[7]

Sentences

Main article: Sentence (law)

In Canada, until 1972, the Criminal Code legislated that courts could impose a form of whipping on male offenders, to be administered on up to three occasions, but did not limit the number of strokes. Whipping of female offenders was not allowed. The whipping could be inflicted using a strap, cat-o'-nine-tails, or a paddle unless specified by the court.[8] The move to abolish corporal punishment in the Canadian penal system coincided with several reforms and a change from the Reform Institutions label to Corrections or Correctional.

Intermediate sanctions include sentences to a halfway house or community service program, home confinement, and electronic monitoring, but also financial sanctions like fines, forfeiture, and restitution; these are sometimes applied in combination.[9]

Theories

The use of sanctions, which can be either positive (rewarding) or negative (punishment) is the basis of all criminal theory, along with the main goals of social control, and deterrence of deviant behavior.

Many facilities operating in the United States adhere to particular correctional theories. Although often heavily modified, these theories determine the nature of the facilities' design and security operations. The two primary theories used today are the more traditional Remote Supervision and the more contemporary direct supervision model.[10] In the Remote Supervision Model, officers observe the inmate population from remote positions, e.g., towers or secure desk areas. The Direct Supervision Model positions prison officers within the inmate population, creating a more pronounced presence.

See also

Juvenile corrections

References

  1. 1 2 Mary Stohr; Anthony Walsh; Craig Hemmens (2008). Corrections: A Text/Reader. Sage. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4129-3773-3.
  2. ↑ Bryan A. Garner, editor, Black's Law Dictionary, 9th ed., West Group, 2009, ISBN 978-0-314-19949-2, OCLC 420487111 0-314-19949-7, p. 396 (or p. 424 depending on the volume)
  3. ↑ Correctional system is defined as "a network of governmental agencies that administer a jurisdiction's prisons and parole system" in Bryan A. Garner, editor, Black's Law Dictionary, 9th ed., West Group, 2009, ISBN 0-314-19949-7, p. 396, which does not define "penal system".
    The post-1940 US penal system is described as composed of "prisons, reformatories, parole, probation, juvenile courts [?], local jails, and a declining number of workhouses", and with added detail that "However the main focus of the system was on expanding and differentiating prisons, parole and probation" in Thomas G. Bloom berg; Karol Lucken (2010). American penology: a history of control. Transaction Publishers. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-202-36334-9.
    Stohr et al., p. 1 distinguish prisons from community-based correctional programs like parole and probation.
  4. ↑ Michael Cavadino; James Dignan (2007). The Penal System: An Introduction. SAGE Publications. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4129-2946-2.
  5. ↑ Mary Stohr; Anthony Walsh; Craig Hemmens (2008). Corrections: A Text/Reader. Sage. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-4129-3773-3.
  6. ↑ John T. Whitehead; Mark Jones; Michael Braswell (2008). Exploring Corrections in America (2 ed.). Elsevier. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-59345-512-5.
  7. ↑ John T. Whitehead; Mark Jones; Michael Braswell (2008). Exploring Corrections in America (2 ed.). Elsevier. pp. 8 and 54. ISBN 978-1-59345-512-5.
  8. ↑ Abolition of Corporal Punishment 1972, Correctional Service of Canada
  9. ↑ Gail A. Caputo (2004). Intermediate sanctions in corrections. University of North Texas Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-57441-186-7.
  10. ↑ Peter M. Carlson; Judith Simon Garrett (2008). Prison and Jail Administration: Practice and Theory. Jones & Bartlett Learning. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-0-7637-2862-5.

Further reading

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