Criminal Justice, Psychology of Imprisonment - Essay Example

Essay: Criminal justice English submitted: Reflection Paper Psychology of imprisonment Overview The term imprisonment, according to law is confinement to prison or to a house, usually ordered by a court as punishment to a crime committed. Basically, imprisonment came from the idea of punishing somebody who had committed wrongs in the society. Purpose of imprisonment is to remove the criminal from the society where he/she may continue the criminal behavior, place them into an institution to reform his behavior or mold them into some kind of psychological conditioning for later re-integration to society. Being in prison requires major behavioral adjustments and that necessarily involves psychological changes Relationship of psychological problems to correction. In the correction, responsibilities of prison are the safekeeping of inmates, maintenance and improving welfare of inmates. Safekeeping requires that inmates are controlled; securely locked away, while giving them some moments for recreation, counseling, and education. Despite welfare efforts, inmates feel dehumanized and suffer condemnation and rejection by society and as a result breed ill feelings. When subjected to solitary confinement, which is one of prison’s recourse, psychological effects results to “dissatisfactions in life, delusions, panic feelings, claustrophobia, depression and madness”. Imprisonment is a host to other related psychological problems that results to trauma, mental and physical illnesses to some. As of 2006, the Bureau of Justice System estimated that there are about 705,000 jailed persons who are mentally ill, and that its growing number affects the correction policy of the government(Pollard, Anita, n.d.) How are psychological problems Handled/Addressed In Correction/Policy Practice? Inmates receive health care while incarcerated, but the problem begins when they are released. Many of them, after spending years in prison are unemployed, have no means of livelihood, experience difficulties in reintegration to society, and lack health care insurance. As psychological problems become statewide occurrences, and reintegration to society even becomes more difficult upon their release from prison, the government is looking for possibilities that they be covered by Medicaid to access health care. Likewise, as a standard procedure, inmates go into various forms of counseling and physical activities while in prison. Provide A Critical Evaluation Including Information That Supports And Or/ Disputes Current Policy and Practice As trauma becomes a psychological problem by many of the inmates, researches have been done by medical practitioners on how to address psychological problems of inmates. Trauma, that has been tangled with experiences of mental illness, substance abuse, and behavioral problems often results to psychiatric disorder. (Wallace, B.C and P. Dass Brailford (20ll) Accordingly, there is a high incidence of trauma among women inmates than male offenders, and so there is a need to reduce this incidence . Suggestions coming from their studies are to include therapy and to improve service delivery to inmates in correctional facilities and former prisoners in community-based programs. Provide Thoughts On How Best To Improve The Problems Inherent In The Topic. Improving service delivery requires additional funding from the government, and special assistance from concerned institutions. Additional funding is needed for expenses to be incurred in training practitioners who will be involved in the therapy program. Proposals are: skills training as one way of motivating inmates to gain self-confidence.; Livelihood training as an earning opportunity, while teaching them arts is a way of expression. Keeping their minds busy and hours occupied while incarcerated will keep their thoughts away from depression and recalling traumatic experiences. Reflection Paper # 2 Probation Overview Probation is a kind of court order whereby an offender is not incarcerated, but rather, allowed to remain in the community under the supervision of a parole officer, and has to go prevailing conditions of fines, jail time, community service and other court sanctions. Relationship to Correction – When an offender is under probation, he has to undergo counseling. Offender should follow restrictions such as alcohol, drugs and weapons. At anytime that an offender fails to follow the rules, he/she may be sent to jail. How Is Probation Handled/Addressed In Correction/Policy Practice? An offender may be placed into either an active status, inactive status probation, or into a split sentence, that requires an offender to go into a short term incarceration immediately after the probation. An active status requires the offender to report regularly to the authorized probation officer either by mail or telephone. One who is under an inactive status in exempted from regular reporting because the offense committed was not considered severe. Others who tried to run away and have existing warrants, are required to fulfill the conditions of his/her supervision like paying fines, court costs, and participation in treatment programs, and to stick on to the rules of conduct while in community service. Provide A Critical Evaluation Including Information That Supports And Or/ Disputes Current Policy And Practice It is the policy of the State prescribed under the 2011 Federal Sentencing Manual to give offenders an ample opportunity in case of disputes, to present relevant information before a sentence is made. Whereupon, on court hearings witnesses are necessary under the rules of evidence. The probation officer is required to submit to the court relevant report that is admissible. For example, Chris Brown, a well known singer, files a dispute in court due to claims that he has not completed the required hours of community service in his home town in Virginia. His community service work includes cleaning up of graffiti, and roadside clean up. He was sentenced to community service due to his beating of Rihanna, his girl friend in 2009. He was sentenced to 5 years probation and ix months of community service. Because he was a popular figure, his case was a media blitz that negatively affected his career. Providing an opportunity to verify disputes is a compelling move to justify violations in probations. It gives the offender a chance to justify allegations against him. The burden of proof lies on him as against probation officer’s report. The problem seen here is underperformance or not completing the terms of offenders which might be a prevalent case, and the tail-end of court litigations and cost to incarcerate an offender is a burden to government expenditures. Provide Thoughts On How Best To Improve The Problems Inherent In The Topic. As every county has established probations office, manning, funding, and training of officers should be properly maintained by the supervising court. Regular reporting of cases should be properly submitted and best practices be followed. In return for the effort, incentives should be given to a county that has successfully reduced probation cases on per year basis. Work Cited Chapter Six. Sentencing Procedures, Plea Agreements, and Crime Victim’ Rights. 2011 Federal Sentencing Guidelines Manual. Pollard, Anita. Mentally Ill Persons in Corrections. NIC National Institute for Corrections Wallace, B.C. and P. Dass-Brailford. Addressing Trauma among Incarcerated people. Corrections and Mental Health. An update of National Institute of Corrections. (2011) Read More