Correctional Institutions Have Enhanced in Quality and Term Paper

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Correctional institutions have enhanced in quality and condition over the years. What started out as dungeons and sewers in Rome, the conditions for correctional institutions have improved to quite an extent. In the 1980s, overcrowding became a renowned problem as it also went against the eighth amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment. (Carter & Glaser, 1977, p. 1) Increased crowdedness causes mental and physical damage to the inmates in the prison according to a research done by Paulus, Cox and McCain. The Iowa department of corrections takes control of the public, workers and the offenders by keeping them under punishment yet away from cruel behaviors as well. All the correctional measures taken under the criminals are done under proper supervision to ensure that their safety is not compromised.

Community-based correctional institutions.

Community-based corrections are a substitute measure to punish criminal without sending them to jail. The Iowa department of Corrections is different form others because it doesn't look over the offenders who are given some other sort of punishment by the court. To supervise this form of punishment, the Community-Based correctional program looks over the different punishments. (Hudik, Adkins, Wilson, Stageberge & Moore 2001) The major goal of community-based corrections are that these set ups increase the social behavior of the offenders. It sets up an environment for them that causes them to become better people and don't get involved in more criminal activities in the future. This measure is also carried out when a person repeats an offense while on probation. Even though a residential facility is not a jail, the fact that they were locked down was because they kept on repeating the offenses. The Major goal for community-based corrections is to target the attitude, value and belief of the offenders. Many a times, the offender does not want to rot in jail but go on to live a better life. These programs provide better role models for these individuals and alter their behavior. (Lyon, 2004) Even though there is force used, it appears fair and firm. Along with altering their psychological health, these programs aim to prevent any repeat of offenses as well. (Lyon 2004)

The Residential facilities program started out in the year 1972 and has increased in number. This is a basically rehab center and provides home to different group of offenders. The biggest group that this program accommodates to is probationers. In 2000, 49.4% of the residents of the facility were probationers. (Hudik, 2001)The facilities have certain rules and regulations that need to be followed. The visitors are searched before hand and can be punished if any illegal substances are found. The rooms of the residents are test for substances. Even the subjects themselves are tested regularly to check if they have used any substance. (Hudik, 2001) Other major programs for community-based corrections are probation and parole. In this form, the community basically supervises the offender. Residential Supervision as talked about earlier is an environment in which the offender lives and attains special treatment. There is also Day programming in which a lot of crucial life skills are taught to the individual throughout the day. Drug court is another tactic in which there is an amalgamation of treatment, rehabilitation and punishment as well. The Youthful offender program is made especially for 16 to 21-year-olds who have been charged guilty for the first time. These individuals are provided for substance abuse treatment is required and they are also taught other important skills. (Lyon, 2004)

A study was carried out to check the effectives of the Residential facilities program. The study conducted by Hudik and others in 2001 was done on the residential facilities for offenders. Different judicial districts were studied in a certain period of time. More than one third of the study population were arrested before and were convicted of other crimes before this arrest took place.

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In general, it was seen that this sort of correctional measure was taken against those who had recurrent felonies and misdemeanors. (Hudik, 2001) At the end of the study, it was seen that almost three out of four of the residents in the population went onto successfully completes their period. (Hudik, 2001) During their stay, the offenders were told to live with strict rules. They had to go out and look for a job and also stay off limits form illegal activities. Seeing how most of the residents did not get sentenced again and were not sent to jail, this form of correctional measure could be seen as a successful one.

As of the offender count of July 1, 2011, there have been a total of 8004 women offenders in Iowa. 7,317 offenders out of these women are located in community-based corrections and the otter 687 are present in Prison. There are total of 29,881 male offenders as of now. Out of the aforementioned number, 21,790 males are present in CBCs and the rest of 8,091 are resent in prisons. (Iowa DOC, 2011 Annual Report) The dual diagnosis offender program was also initiated in Iowa and studied thoroughly to see how it affected the community overall. The major objective was so the offenders could learn to live tightly regulated environment. This environment was set so the offenders would get stabilized mentally and would be free from the dependence on drugs or alcohol. (Craig, 2004) The outcome of the study revealed, that after six years of the start of the plan, 179 offended had completed the program successfully. The compliance rate for this measure was 62% showing that improvement was possibly.

It has been stated that without proper treatment, the offenders become a part of the "revolving door syndrome." (Craig, 2004) that is to say that they keep on repeating their offenses and thus keep putting the community at more risk. They can never return from their negative self and don't even realize their potential to be a better person. Proper monitoring with adequate training can help these individuals at an intellectual level and also go on to secure the community at a much lower cost. (Craig, 2004)

Correctional Institutions

There are a total of nine institutions that are under the control of Iowa Department of Corrections. ("Iowa department of Corrections" (DOC)" Out of all of them, there is one which is strictly for women, there is one which is both men and women and lastly, there is also an institution present that is known as maximum security. There are penitentiaries which basically house offenders under maximum to medium security. In this sort of institution, the offenders still have a chance to take up course and learn new things. In this institution, they can also be hired to work in forests or other areas under supervision. The Clarinda Correctional facility is established only for males. This is the example of an institution that targets mentally ill offenders. Surely, a person would be convicted if they have done something wrong. However, some of them have disorders that provoke them to illegal acts. Another type of institution is present merely to increase cooperation amongst the offenders. This is characteristic of Fort Dodge Correctional facility in which double occupancy celled environments are present. These sorts of institution detain the offenders in a prison environment but also focus on rebuilding the individual values and relationships. The correctional institution for women is presented as dorm like celled units. This provides services like education and vocal training to the offenders there. These sorts of institutions focus more on the self-esteem, thinking patterns and health education. The medical correctional institution present is there to offer psychiatric a psychological help to the patients. These patients are both physically and mentally sick. So these patients are.....

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