Correctional Systems in the United States

1. As most of us are aware, correctional systems in the United States can definitely use some work. They are overcrowded, not cared (very well) for, and cause a number of mental and physical issues for those inmates who are locked up. The United States hasmany State Systems of correctional facilities. Out of all fifty states within this country, California, Florida, New York, and Texas account for the most inmates, with Texas holding the title for having the most inmates within prisons at 172,224 (Clear et. al., 2016). Along with these many facilities comes recidivism. One of the biggest differences between the United States correctional systems and other countries, like European ones, is that the United States uses these facilities as a form of punishment rather than a form of rehabilitation.Because these European countries have one federal correctional system rather than many, I almost feel like that reiterates one of the main purposes of these systems, which is that idea of rehabilitation. “Germany’s Prison Act even states ‘the sole aim of incarceration is to enable prisoners to lead a life of social responsibility free of crime upon release’” (Fuchs, 2014). Also, correctional systems in the United States can be harsh, giving nonviolent crimes extremely lengthy sentences, which is definitely more focus on the idea of punishing an individual rather than rehabilitating them. Of course, there must be rules put into place for punishing people who break society’s rules and it is unfortunate, but a necessary part of social life (Clear et. al., 2016). However, certain crimes are worse than others. With all of this being said, I think that the United States should and could learn a thing or two from European countries, especially when it comes to actually rehabilitating inmates to lower reincarceration rates. I believe the United States should decrease the amount of correctional systems put into place to work towards a better future, like possibly having one federal correctional system, because it seems to work so well for other countries. I strongly believe rehabilitation is the key and the United States has a bad habit of jumping to the idea of punishment rather than helping.Prisons in the United States need a lot of work, and I really believe there needs to be a stronger focus on the idea of rehabilitating over the idea of punishing. (I also found an interesting video I will link that does a great job explaining the United States prisons vs. the rest of the world, if anyone is interested!)

2. Should the United States abondon the State Systems of correctional and intstead have one Federal Correctional System similar to European Countries? There are many factors when talking about this subject and many equations and varibles that also have to be take into consideration but in the long run I personally think that the United States should abondon the system we have now in favor for one Federal correctional system and here are the reasons why.To say that the correctional system we have now isn’t doing what it’s meant to be doing would be telling you a lie, but there are major issues that the system faces on a day to day basis such as political shifts, society changes, and many other problems that either stem from inside of the prison, or from outside of it as well. to many it’s a fifty fifty split down the lie on how people feel about it due to Acts that were passed and other forces as well. But lets ignore all of these facts and go just based on stats and see which system is better and hopefully by showing you these stats it will help open your eyes, and see if for your self the far better system. If we look at the rate of reoffending in both Europe and America you will see to massively big differences in numbers. In Europe that “38.4 of young offerender reoffended, and 28.5 percent of adults reoffended” , now if you look at americas you will see that we have one of the highest percentages at 76.6 percent of crimials reoffending. these are to vastly different numbers and it has a lot to do with how the prisoners are treated as well. If you look at prison is Europe the prisoners are treated like how they are in america they are treated like human beings and are rehabilitated and get the proper help they need to go back into society and not be a crimainal anymore, and become a functioning member to there respected society. On the other hand if you look at America they treat many of the prisoners inhumanly and treat them like if they were wild animals and don’t properly rehabilatae them so once they get out the go back straight to comminting crimes.

So in my personal opinion I do belive that we should abonden the system that we have now in favor for a Federal Correctional system similar to the ones in Euoprean countries because I personally feel that it would benefit the prioners that are in prisons because it will help them be properaly rehabliated, and would lead to a lot of more people not reoffending as well.

3. The American correctional system is very complex, having layers of facilities such as county, state, and federal jails/prisons. Over the past 40 years, the US correctional budget has grown 600% (Clear, Reisig & Cole, 2016, p. 7). One would think that with such an extensive budget, positive changes would be seen, as well as a more successful prison system. However, that is not even remotely close to reality. In 1973, the incarceration rate was 96 per 100,000 (Clear, Reisig & Cole, 2016, p. 5). In 2020, the incarceration rate had grown exponentially to be around 639 per 100,000 (worldpopulationreview.com, 2021). I compared these same statistics with those of Germany, whose prisons are entirely federally run. In 2020, Germany saw an incarceration rate of 76 per 100,000, which is lower than US incarceration rates 40 years ago. (Clark, 2021). The question is: why does Germany have such dramatically lower incarceration rates?In 2011, the Vera Institute for Justice conducted a research project about the differences between European and American prison systems. The group took leaders from Colorado, Georgia, and Pennsylvania correctional systems, and traveled to Germany and the Netherlands to interview correctional officials, inmates, and to tour the prisons, to learn how we can improve our own system. This study, called the European-American Prison Project, found extreme differences across the board. In Europe, prisons focus less on punishment and more on rehabilitation. The Germany Prison Act explains that “the sole aim of incarceration is to enable prisoners to lead a life of social responsibility free of crime upon release, requiring that prison life be as similar as possible to live in the community (sometimes referred to as ‘the principle of normalization’) and organized in such a way as to facilitate reintegration into society” (Subramanian & Shames, 2013). The Netherlands has a similar policy, encouraging inmates to maintain their relationships from both within the prison and outside. Further, European countries use incarceration much more sparingly than the US, and for much shorter lengths of time. Instead, they focus much more on fines and community service. In the instance that an individual is incarcerated in these countries, they are treated as human beings, given privacy and personal freedom to wear their own clothes and cook their own meals. Perhaps the most interesting finding of this study was the education of the correctional officers. In Europe, correctional officers are trained to a similar equivalency to American social workers or behavioral specialists. In Germany, correctional officers go through two years of training and education before being placed in prison. The European-American Prison Project highlighted the fact that European prisons are essentially the complete opposite of American prisons, and yield much more successful inmates and communities as a whole. By having a federalist correctional system, you are essentially giving free rein to every state, and allowing them to do whatever they choose. If we want to see an overall safer and less crime-ridden country, every state needs to be on the same page about how we tackle incarceration. I truly believe that the US would benefit greatly by following European standards for incarceration and correctional systems as a whole. If not implementing European practices, somethinghas to be done because, based on the statistics, our current system is extremely broken.

4. There are many reasons why the United States both should and should not change from a State System of corrections to a Federal Correctional System.  First off, the United States has separate systems of corrections including local, state and federal systems.  Each of these systems provides corrections to different severities of crime.  State prisons and local prisons are often recognized as the same.  “State Prison is where people who have violated or have been accused of violating state laws are incarcerated. These violations are committed in a single state and are usually handled by the state police. Examples of crimes that can land a person in state prisons include murder, rape and gun-related offenses.” (10 Difference Between Federal Prison And State Prison, 2020).  Federal prison is for the most severe types of crime you can commit.  “Federal prison is where people who have committed federal crimes or have been accused of violating federal laws are incarcerated.  Federal crimes include crimes committed across state borders and against government officials, institutions and agents.  Also, federal prisons incarcerate people charged with white collar crimes such as money laundering, racketeering and fraud.” (10 Difference Between Federal Prison And State Prison, 2020).  There are many pros as to why the United States should move to a Federal Correctional System.  One reason is that Federal Correctional Systems are typically run better than state prisons.  Also if you have a federal correctional system prisoners can be sent to any prison in the country.  “Individuals sentenced to federal prison may be sent to any prison in the country, whereas individuals sentenced to state prison serve their sentences in the state where they are convicted.” (Maxwell, 2019).  This can help with overcrowding in many prisons that exist today.  Oftentimes prisons can become overcrowded and there is not too much that can be done about it.  But if the United States changes to a federal correctional system, when one prison becomes overcrowded some inmates can then be sent to other prisons that are not as full in any part of the country.  There are also some cons to the United States changing to a federal correctional system.  One negative is that federal prisons are oftentimes costly.  Today’s prisons do not even receive adequate funding, so it would not make sense to add even more costs to the correctional system when it cannot even afford what we already have.  “Understandably, corrections does not always receive the funding it needs; people may want garbage collected regularly more than they want quality correctional work performed.  Recall, too, that corrections is largely invisible until a problem occurs, such as when a parolee commits a heinous crime or a prison riot breaks out” (Clear et al., 2016, 20-21).

5. The United States should abandon the State Systems of correctional and instead have one Federal Correctional System similar to European Countries for more reasons than one. To begin, the United States is known for having over populated correctional facilities. For example, “The united states has about 159,000 inmates serving life sentences” (Clear, Reisig & Cole, 2016). That number does not include the other thousands of inmates who are also in a correctional facility serving their time. Another reason why the U.S. should abandon the State Systems of correctional facilities is that many of these people who finally get released from prison end up being sent right back. This is mainly due to the “war of drugs” (Clear et al., 2016). The inmates in the states are not receiving the rehabilitation that they need in order to come off of the drugs they are using, therefore, they are getting right back into using the minute they step foot on free land. In Europe, “both the German and Dutch prison systems are focused on the ultimate goal of rehabilitating inmates” (Fuchs, 2014). This is very important because this will allow for more inmates to essentially get clean of their drug problems and not feel the need to begin using again once they are releases. This also will allow for more of an understanding to the inmates on how to better their lives’ once released. In addition to creating one Federal Correctional System in the states, funding can be very difficult. “Understandably, corrections does not always receive the funding it needs; people may want garbage collected regularly more than they want quality correctional work performed” (Clear et al., 2016). This can make things hard for the States to be able to fund a whole new idea of creating one giant Federal Correctional System. Thinking positively, if the money can be raised or saved some how, this idea would be a great way to enhance and better the way for a correctional facility to be run. Overall, there are a lot of things to think about when eliminating what our Nation is used to and creating some so different. Many people have a hard time when it comes to “change”, so there would have to be a lot of information figured out before this were to become relevant. The best way for this to be brought into play, would be to have correctional facilities all across the United States to host meetings on the idea of creating one large Federal Correctional System. Then, there should be a vote that takes place to see how the citizens feel about the idea. This would be the best way to make this plan a reality. It would not only help correctional facilities all over, but it would also help the inmates who serve their time each and every day they are there.

6. Response to my initial discussion———You wrote, “Policymakers need to reexamine the criminal justice system and the set sentencing policies and maybe replace them with the Federal Correctional System”. Would these mean also abolishing state criminal laws in favor of federal laws only?