Correctional systems can be considered to be a form of interconnection between institutions prescribing the limits within which authority can be exercised within the prisons and programs initiated in the community such as probation and parole boards. The system forms a section of the broader system of criminal justice which also entails the courts, police and prosecution. In the United States and other nations such as Canada, jurisdictions have departments or ministries, respectively, of institutions that bear the same name or corrections and services of correction.
For a long time, prisons have been perceived to be institutions put in place to keep men under custody, an action that was carried out regardless of their consent. Throughout the history, we meet suggestions that the prisons were a place where religious and political offenders were confined. However, the contemporary systems have been realized better method to punish criminal behaviors. (Connor, 2014) It is difficult to pick the date when imprisonment began except in the metaphysical comprehension. In the eighteenth century, corporal punishment was transformed into imprisonment though the programs that were put in place to guarantee the change gain momentum in the years after 1775. Without any doubt, the entire movements were proceeding during this point in time.
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In the colonial periods, there existed two agencies that whose efforts led to the development of the modern prison systems. Prison and jails of those days were used to put into custody those people who had been accused of criminal activities and waiting for trial. There also existed the work house which started to emerge in the mid sixteenth century and were used to prevent upheaval from the paupers and vagrants. (Barnes, 1921).In the current correctional system, the has been various elements that have transformed., For instance, characteristic of offenders have drastically change, for example, the inmates have legal rights in specific competition.. There has also been an underlying focus in the prison system where it is believed that incarceration by using methods of incapacitation and deterrence could effectively prevent criminal activities. (Adams, 1999)
While looking at the current practice used in the correctional system, we make a comparison that suggest that the traditional ones focused more on unleashing punishments to the offenders. These criteria have been replaced by methods that heed to human dignity. For us to discuss the future of correctional systems we need to focus on the crucial problems in correctional facilities as this will help us to enhance how the society responds to criminal activities. In the next fifty years we look forward to have a reformed system of judiciary by imposing a kind of mandatory sentencing where the power of the judges will be reduced or removed completely. This will go a long way to ensure that effectiveness in the sense that most offenders engaging in property and person offence are not apprehended. (Flynn & Edith Elisabeth) On another hand, looking at the correctional facilities in the next one hundred years, we expect an over flood in the correctional facilities if the current available ones are not expanded due to the ever increasing population of inmates in prisons. (MacKenzie, 2001)
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can summarily assert that the changes in correctional systems are crucial in the sense that they emphasize on different objectives. All this attempts are meant to modify behavior in the most effective way.
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Adams, K. G. (1999). Current Trends in Correctional Programming in the USA.
Barnes, H. E. (1921). The Historical Origin of the Prison System in America. Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, 12(1), 35. doi:10.2307/1133652
Connor, R. (2014). The United States Prison System: A Comparative Analysis.
Flynn, & Edith Elisabeth. (n.d.). The Correctional Facility: The Environment Today and in the Future. Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
MacKenzie, D. L. (2001). Corrections and Sentencing in the 21st Century: Evidence-Based Corrections and Sentencing. The Prison Journal, 81(3), 299-312. doi:10.1177/0032885501081003001