Modern Correctional Philosophy - Understanding and Fulfilling Roles of Correctional Officers

1. Modern Correctional Philosophy

2. Goal • To provide knowledge of modern correctional philosophy

3. Performance Objectives • Describe the prison philosophies throughout history and pass a written test at 80% • Explain the expected roles of correction/detention officers, to include: 1. Supervision of inmates 2. Maintaining good order and the security of the facility 3. Ensuring safety of staff, inmates, visitors, and volunteers

4. Performance Objectives cont.. • Compare and contrast the concept of direct and indirect supervision facilities • Identify alternatives to incarceration • State the philosophies of the different areas of incarceration

5. Philosophy of Prison

6. Philosophy of Incarceration • Retribution • Punishment for its own sake (to pay back society) • Rehabilitation • correct, challenge behavior, emphasis on reforming • Incarceration • “house” people to prevent offenders from committing more crimes. Take away their freedom. • Deterrence • to deter an individual from committing future crimes

7. History • Ancient societies • Revenge • Retribution for those wronged • Debt to be paid to individuals • Egyptian and Mesopotamian archeological sites prove the existence of the earliest prisons in the world. • Revenge still used today • Gang Killings • Eye for an Eye

8. Colonial America Corporal Punishment • Public flogging • Branding • Dunking • Placement in stocks • Keel hauling • Walk the plank

9. First Long-Term Confinement1790 in Philadelphia • Walnut Street Jail • Quakers convinced legislature to set aside one wing of jail for long-term confinement • First attempt at reforming • Inmate lived alone • Ate alone • Worked alone • Solitary confinement • To think about offenses and become penitent

10. Auburn Prison New York1816 • Confinement to punish was first adopted • Discipline was enforced by whipping • Prisoners were not allowed to talk • Silence used to control prisoners • Ate and worked together in silence

11. Jails and Prisons were separated - 1850 • Jails to hold persons not yet convicted and some minor sentences • Prisons housed convicted felons • Person sentenced to prison for punishment • Conditions were harsh

12. 1864 • Taxpayers reluctant to spend money to house and feed inmates • Hire out inmates to private companies • Some companies built factories on prison grounds and paid inmates a state fee • Inmates were leased to private contractors • Work amounted to slavery • Work and living conditions causes thousands of deaths • Many inmates escaped

13. 1870 • National Prison Association (now American Correctional Association) was founded • Adopted the principle of reformation • Prison reform • Community treatment programs started • Ultimate goal return inmates to society as better citizens • Shift towards Rehabilitation

14. Early 20th Century • Simple Warehousing • Little Focus on Rehabilitation • Little programming, most just manual labor

15. 1960’s and 1970’s • Medical Model • Programming become important for the first time. • Education, Drug Treatment, Mental Health Services.

16. 1990’s • The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 • America gets tough on crime • Prison Populations Explode • Until very recently, crime rates fall to lowest in the 20th century

17. Prisons Today • Mass Incarceration • Punitive Shifting to Rehabilitative • Issues with: • Overcrowding • Insufficient health system(Especially Mental Health Care) • Gang Populated • Insufficient Funding

18. Philosophy for Today • Classification system • Specialized facilities for classified groups • Education/vocational training • Religious guidance • Prisoner counseling • Prisoner pay for their work • Individual cells • Community treatment program • Probation and Parole

19. Prison VS Jail

20. Prison • State/federally Operated • Usually house inmate with over 1 year sentence • Prisons are usually predominately one custody level • Minimum • Medium • Maximum

21. Jails / Detention Facilities • Usually operated by Local Law Enforcement • House Misdemeanors & Gross Misdemeanors • House Accused Awaiting Trial • Housed for less than one year

22. Role of Correctional Officer 3 Main Roles • Supervision of inmates • Maintaining good order and the security of the facility • Ensuring safety of staff, inmates, visitors, and volunteers

23. Supervision of inmates • Oversight of all movement and actions of inmates • Observing and reporting inmate behavior, and the procedures that are involved. • Ensure Medical Needs are Met • You are responsible for the inmate at all times in every aspect

24. Maintaining good order and the security of the facility

25. Maintaining good order and the security of the facility • As Officers, you are out numbered often by 100 to 1 within prisons. Jail facilities are often 20 to 1. • If control and order is not established chaos like Delaware prison incident • Keep Inmates In and the ensure they do not threaten the general public.

26. Ensuring safety of staff, inmates, visitors, and volunteers • Safety is Number 1 priority • Safety of Officers/Staff • Safety of Prisoners • Safety of visitors • For comparison, there were 1.2 million violent crimes reported to the FBI by police departments across the country in 2012, and a little more than 5.8 million self-reported by inmates that same year, according to the BJS survey.

27. Methods of Supervision • Direct Supervision VS • Indirect Supervision

28. Direct Supervision • Direct Supervision – Jail / Prison • Constant supervision by custody staff • The term “direct supervision” has been used loosely to describe a variety of jail designs and management styles. • Usually, jails described as operating with direct supervision share the basic element of a correctional officer having some non-barrier, face-to-face contact. • Inmates’ cells are arranged around a common area, usually called a “dayroom.” There is no secure control booth for the supervising officer, and there are no physical barriers between the officer and the inmates

29. Indirect Supervision • Indirect Supervision includes jails/prisons with cells/housing units arranged along the sides of a cell block. Officers come into the housing unit on scheduled rounds or as needed to interact with inmates. Inmate supervision is also provided by remote monitoring at a console. • Can also be considered Probation / Parole in some locations • Must check in and meet requirements but not under constant supervision.

30. Alternatives to Incarceration • An “alternative to incarceration” is any kind of punishment other than time in prison or jail that can be given to a person who commits a crime. • Movement towards these resources in the last couple of years to help with overcrowding and recidivism rates

31. Alternatives • Alternative Sentencing • Probation • Drug Courts • Halfway Houses • Home Confinement/Electronic Monitoring • Fines and Restitution • Community Service • Sex Offender Treatment • Mental Health Programs

32. The importance to Alternatives

33. Areas of Incarceration • minimum • medium • maximum-security prisons

34. Minimum • Minimum security facilities, typically house criminals who need the least amount of supervision and management. They have dormitory-like housing where inmates are able to coexist in the same space and interact regularly. There is usually a low staff-to-inmate ratio and there is typically a double-fence around the perimeter.

35. Medium • Inmates who end up at medium security prisons are typically housed in cell-type housing. Their facilities are within double fences with electronic detection systems in place. A variety of work and treatment programs are available to these inmates as well if they comply and make efforts to improve their behavior. Prison guards have more internal controls in medium security facilities. • Prisoners at this level are viewed as escape-risks and are potentially dangerous to other inmates and staff. There is usually constant and direct supervision of all inmates.

36. Maximum • Maximum security facilities are prisons that are usually behind heavy-duty perimeters, including walls and reinforced fences. Inmates are house in single or multiple cell housing with the highest staff-to-inmate ratios. There are cameras situated throughout the buildings for close monitoring of inmate actions. • Inmates secured in high security facilities cannot often be trusted to work out in the field in any community programs. They have very little opportunity to socialize with other inmates. They are considered to be the most dangerous of them all.

37. Questions?