The Precautions, Steps, and Measures Taken to Control Gangs and Security Threat Groups in Prison Overview Gangs in America have multiplied at such an extreme that even the smallest counties have reported some forms of gang activity in their communities. When members of these gangs are arrested and convicted on felony charges; they are put into our correctional system and disregarded by the public. However, many of these gang members stay together in prison putting themselves, staff, and other inmates at risk of violence. The troubles presented by gang affiliated inmates until recently have not been widely researched. Due to increasing violence and gang activity numerous steps are now being implemented address gain affiliation in our prison system.
This was the prison system in the 1700’s. Prisoners were punished by beheading, hung, whipped, and stoned. In the late 1700’s, Benjamin Henry Latrobe built the Walnut Street Jail it was used to reform prisoners instead of harsh punishment (Goodban, 2006). Prisoners received the bare necessities to sit, sleep, and eat were their only luxuries. When the death penalty was no more the jail suffered overcrowding which led to riots, escapes, and prison guards were attacked.
They don’t want to become known as the “snitch”. In recent studies, it has been found out that in the United States prisons alone, an estimated 364,000 males and female inmates were sexually assaulted in one year. Any young inmates that are physically small or weak, have a mental illness, are known as the “snitches”, are not in a gang, or convicted of any sexual crimes are at a higher risk of being the victim of sexual assault. Inmate suicide has been going on for years and is a problem that has not decreased. Newly arrested people who have been taken to a local jail
‘ Prisoners Reentry into Society By: Kimberly Miller Introduction to Corrections -1 There were 688,394 offenders who were released from both federal and state institutions in 2011 and according to the Bureau of Justice there were approximately 4.8 million offenders that were released to the community supervision at the end of 2011. When offenders are reentering into the community it can become a very complicated transition for the offender, the offender and victim’s families and the community in which they are reentering into. When prisoners leave prison this becomes one of the most effective time period and is often full of disappointments and often can leave the offender as if nothing can go right. Prisoners whom are reentering the community can often feel different emotions such as confusion. Once and offender opens and allows the freeness to sink in and accept it they of often start focusing on their goals and faith that they can succeed without reoffending.
Racism in Prisons As much as the criminal justice system tries to disguise racism the writing is on the wall. There are more African Americans that receive prison time than White Americans, even though many times the same crime is committed (CBSCharlotte, 2013). People often times think that the days of racism are over ,when in fact is many people still experience it daily; in places that we think they would not to be subjected to and that is the prison and jails across the United States (CBSCharlotte, 2013). In fact, studies show that one African American male out of three will go to prison (McGivern, 2012). It was also visible that racism is present in prison and the justice system .A study was also conducted that surveyed 1,729 individuals who applied for pardons; 189 of those that applied actually received a pardon; 12 percent of those pardoned were White Americans, 10 percent were Hispanics, and not one African American
Prisoners also often live with their parents or siblings after release. Also with recidivism rates in the United States upwards of 69% it is quite clear that released prisoners are having difficulty readjusting and returning to normative lives in society (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2008). Prisons aim to serve retribution, incapacitate, deter, and rehabilitate offenders, but much of the research on recidivism rates deny the idea that “prison works” (Dhami, 2006). With so many prisoners returning to prison within a year of being released, it seems that the prison system is not providing inmates with the rehabilitation and therapy needed to function once they return into society. Families also play a large role in the reentry process for formal prisoners after their release, many of them relied on their families for emotional and financial support.
The Wisconsin Prison System is currently so overcrowded that many offenders often do not have a long enough sentence to overcome the waiting list for needed programing. With inmates getting released and more often than not committing a new crime or violation of the supervision and returning to prison overcrowding is continuing to be a problem. As of May 2011 Wisconsin had a recidivism rate of 46-percent rate which was a little above the national average at that time. Luckily recidivism rates have decreased and prospects are looking better for inmates to receive the treatment they need. I have done additional research and just stumbled upon a very interesting article titled, "Stopping the Revolving Door: Reform of Community Corrections in Wisconsin" by Kate Lind.
The time spent waiting in jail can be counted by months, years or even decade, especially in the USA where an average prisoner stays on death row for 15 years. It is a great suffering to watch the days passing by, wondering when they will end. Is it right to couple this sufferings with more physical pain? If the complications from the medical testing are dire, the helpless people have no way to escape from this torture. No therapy will be provided to alleviate their condition.
Prison Environment Shelly Collins CJS/230 5/15/2013 David Foltzer Prison Environment A prison environment is a place where inmates are physically confined and deprived of a range of personal freedoms. It is cold and unfeeling place to be. There are many levels of conflict and tension. The prison environment influences the institutional management and custody by the growing population and the gangs within the facility. Overcrowding aggravates the natural conflicts that rely within the prison walls which then escalate violence.
It's difficult to judge how effective Virginia's system is when it comes to juveniles punished as adults, because no state agency keeps track of how these cases turn out. The Virginia State Crime Commission is trying to fill that knowledge gap. In its preliminary study, the commission found that most teenagers sent to adult prison in Virginia end up there because of robbery convictions. An earlier study conducted by an advocacy group asserts that a disproportionate number of those teens are black. One Virginia teenager who served adult time for a carjacking in which no one was injured -- and who spent most of his sentence in the Red Onion supermax prison in Wise County -- bucked the trend documented