Crisis in the American Correctional System

Term Paper # 95487

Criminology > Criminal Justice and Corrections
Criminology > Public and Crime

An examination of challenges in the U.S. correctional system, such as overcrowding and high client caseloads.

1,805 words () | 11 sources | MLA | 2006 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes key issues preventing the correctional system in the United States from being effective in its goals to reduce crime and recidivism rates. It describes the problems with overcrowding, high client caseloads and the lack of offender change resulting from a lack of effective educational, vocational and rehabilitative programs available to inmates during their incarceration. The paper focuses on potential solutions to these problems, such as the possible benefits of a shift to a more rehabilitative model of corrections.

From the Paper:

"The "crisis in corrections" is not due to one single issue but rather the culmination of several, interrelated issues that have persisted in the field of corrections. Each of these issues is precipitated by the others, in a cycle of ignorance and misguided acceptance. Historical changes in sentencing policies and prison procedures and a current lack of awareness and motivation for change have resulted in a systemic crisis of serious overcrowding, a lack of effective programming and assistance for current and released inmates, and a high rate of recidivism."

Sample of Sources Used:

Andrews, D.A., Zinger, I., Hoge, R.D., Bonta, J., Gendreau, P., Cullen, F. (1990). Does Correctional Treatment Work? Criminology, 28(3), 369-404.
Gainsborough, J., Mauer, M. (2000). Diminishing Returns: Crime and Incarceration in the 1990s. The Sentencing Project.
Gendreau, P. (1996). The Principles of Effective Intervention with Offenders. Choosing Correctional Options That Work: Defining and Evaluating the Supply. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Pp 117-130
Geraghty, T. (2004). Book Review: Prisons and After Prison. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 94(4), 1149-1162.
Huey, M., McNulty, T. (2005). Instittutional Conditions and Prison Suicide: Conditional Effects of Deprivation and Overcrowding. The Prison Journal, 85(4), 490-514.

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APA Citation:

Crisis in the American Correctional System (2012, January 15). Retrieved February 14, 2012, from http://www.academon.com/Term-Paper-Crisis-in-the-American-Correctional-System/95487

MLA Citation:

"Crisis in the American Correctional System" 15 January 2012. Web. 14 Feb. 2012. <http://www.academon.com/Term-Paper-Crisis-in-the-American-Correctional-System/95487>