Organizational Structure
The debate regarding which form of protocol is more appropriate, custodial vs. treatment, is indeed one of the more controversial subjects in criminal justice today. Custodial treatment refers to the act of putting the convicted criminal in an institution of some sort, such as a jail or prison (hence the term, "custody"). Those who are in favor of this option stress the pros of this type of method, stressing that it is one of society's oldest forms of punishment: "When someone is sentenced to jail or prison, that individual is physically separated from society (the modern version of banishment- society's first form of punishment. In doing so, the person is quite literally deterred from committing any further crimes against the general public because (due to their incarceration) they simply no longer have physical access to the community" (Bayley, 2009). Bayley stresses one of the obvious advantages of custodial punishment which is that society has now regained control over the prisoner. Another advantage is that some argue that the prisoner in custodial custody also acts as a deterrent to others from committing the same crime. However, institutions are expensive to maintain, and drain the tax dollars and resources of society. Treatment organizations believe in the fundamental value of human life and believe that all human beings deserve a chance to become productive members of society, often taking into consideration the rough hand in life that many prisoners have been dealt, coming from backgrounds of untold abuse. The advantages of treatment organizations are that they can work; they can give former criminals...
The drawbacks are that they don't always work; time and money can be spent on prisoners who just end up reoffending.
Discussion Question 2: Probation and Parole
A judge at trial determines whether an inmate gets probation, an option that can be given instead of time in jail: "It allows the convicted person to live in the community for a specified period of time under the supervision of a probation officer" (doj.wisconsin.org). The role of community corrections in this case is that they're in charge of keeping this individual under surveillance while they're in the community. On the other hand, parole refers to the discharge of a prisoner before the originally scheduled time; meaning, the prisoner has only served part of his or her prison sentence (doj.wisconsin.org). A parole officer supervises the prisoner when on parole; this is under the department of corrections. Parole sentences generally last three years and the offenders are generally in drug related crimes (Warren, 2010). The probation and parole system should fall under the department of corrections as they have the best records of the individual's history and firsthand knowledge of the individual's past and recent behavior; thus, this department is most qualified to determine if probation or parole is appropriate.
Discussion Question 3: Leadership Position
A GS-7 correctional officer and a GS-8 correctional officer would be most likely to advance to higher positions of leadership within the prison, to a field training officer or higher (opm.gov). This is most likely due to the fact…
