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Jails and Prisons History and Development Final

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Jails and Prisons History and Development
Introduction
Jails and prisons lay at the heart of the Criminal Justice System. These facilities helped forge the concept of rehabilitation. These institutions have changed over time and now reflect the modern methods of housing convicted individuals who need to be reformed or punished.
Description of jails
The clear concise difference between a jail and a prison is the time limit a convicted person is sentenced to and what offenses were committed. In a jail, prisoners are usually confined because they were convicted of a lesser or petty offense. Examples of petty offenses are driving without a license or a misdemeanor drug possession charge. Most of these offenses come with a sentence of a …show more content…

Here the ratio is reversed and the staff greatly outnumbers the inmates.
The strictest of prison facilities is the high or maximum security institution. Within its walls are some of the most severe criminals who have committed some of the most heinous acts. This final type of institution is comprised of reinforced fences and walls. Prisoners are contained in solitary cells and their movements are controlled and monitored extremely closely. Because of the severity of the crimes committed by the convicted individuals that are incarcerated in these maximum security facilities, there is an extremely high ratio of staff to inmates (Prison Types General Information, 2012).
For prisons to be safe and secure there must be sufficient physical security, consistent implementation of security practices, established methods to control inmate behavior, and adequate preparation to reduce the likelihood or to respond to inmate unrest. For prison staff to provide effective rehabilitative services there must be an assessment of the needs and best practices of a programs focusing on substance abuse, mental health, religious services, education recreation, rehabilitation, and work opportunities. Fully understanding the importance of these programs and implementing them effectively is crucial for prisons to accomplish their dual mission of confinement and rehabilitation.
Factors that influence

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