Crime and Corrections
Historically crime has been a concern for the public, and by extension policy makers because of the ways in which it can change and shape society. Criminal activity has the potential to influence social and economic environments within a society thus it is critical to identify measures that reduce outcomes of crime and support the reintegration of offenders into society. Consequently, crime and corrections have become big business in the United States (Smith). The money from the public purse that is expended to deal with crime is increasing in all of the states. More money is being moved from other areas of the budget to address the challenge of crime and criminal behavior. This increase in expenditure occurs in multiple areas of the criminal justice system and in spite of cost control measures. Additionally, there are fewer prisoners in within the system. This reduction in prisoners has not translated into a reduction of fear and feelings of safety within communities. Big cities remain the bastion of major criminal activity with drugs and gangs providing the largest volume of additions to the system. Ultimately, however the privatization of the corrections system is the major force that may shape all aspects of the system.
Measuring crime is a difficult prospect and the discussion should begin here (Zimring, and Hawkins 44). The measurement of crime focuses on the statistics related to arrests and incarceration of individuals. The challenge is that this picture is incomplete since arrests themselves are based not only on the existing laws, but as has been demonstrated over time there...
I thought it was very interesting to read the section on the misconceptions in regards to the Florida State Prisons. There is always talk about how prisoners have cable TV and don't do a lot of work. It was nice to see that these things are not really true. I also like the idea that they are helping to grow part of the food that it takes to sustain
Corrections Describe the social, political, and economic factors which are expected to impact correctional hiring in the next few years. There has been an explosion of hiring in corrections. "In addition to exploding inmate and offender populations, the number of employees in corrections, albeit often undereducated, undertrained, and underpaid for their work, has grown astronomically in the last 30 years. From 1982 to 2006, there was almost a 600% increase in direct
Corrections Gius, Mark. (1999). The Economics of the Criminal Behavior of Young Adults: Estimation of an Economic Model of Crime with a Correction for Aggregate Market and Public Policy Variables. The American Journal of Economics and Sociology. October 01. Retrieved November 07, 2005 from HighBeam Research Library Web site. Mark Gius uses a combination of individual-level and county-level data to estimate an economic model of crime for young adults. This data is similar
356). To date, there has been a great deal of reluctance to adopt a harm reduction approach in the United States for two fundamental reasons: The first reason stems from the argument that if harm were reduced for users the result would be an increase in the prevalence of drug use and, therefore, increased harm to society in terms of health care costs and violent crime. Those taking this position present
It is difficult and almost impossible to determine whether or not punishment is effective, considering that it can actually influence felons to adopt harsher attitudes with the purpose of getting revenge for being punished. The idea of capital punishment is especially controversial, as there were a series of cases throughout history involving such measures being taken for crimes that were not necessarily severe. As a consequence, some individuals did not
A major concern regarding crime today that exists within prisons as well as on the streets is the formation of gangs. "Prison gangs are flourishing across the country. Organized, stealthy and deadly, they are reaching out from their cells to organize and control crime in America's streets.... prison disturbances soared by about 400% in the early nineties, which authorities say indicated that gangs were becoming more active... As much as
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