Corruption in the Correctional System - Essay Example

Corruption in the Correctional System Corruption in the Correctional System Deviance plays the role of violating social norms in the correction system. Culprits are imprisoned each year for theft, embezzlement, drug trafficking and other ill behaviors in the correctional system. Ironically, offenders sentenced for their crime against the social norms. Correctional programs and institutions in our modern society have become overcrowded with inmates, underfunded by the government and little follow up has been done as to how they are performing. Therefore, the practice of deviance has prevailed in the correctional system as those representing the authority (management body) want to earn more money since most of the time they are poorly paid by the government by accepting gifts from the inmates so that they can practice drug trafficking inside the jail. This kind of deviance practice is referred to as malfeasance. On the other hand, the inmates practice deviance by any means possible such as misfeasance that may include offering themselves for sex with officers in order to seek gratuities for preferential treatment and special privileges. History of the Correctional System Correctional systems were early formed to serve as facilities for galley slavery, transportation, jails and prisons for community correction. Moreover, prisons and community corrections were formed to prevent the use of violence or coercive responses to slaves. For example, prisons were created in 1700s in the United States as a form of physical punishment to the wrongdoers. In terms of hierarchy, the underlying goal of a hierarchy on the correction facility is to ensure physical control. Correctional facility favors custody and security and differentiates between security levels. First, there is prison administrator who is at the head of hierarchy. The administrator ensures control is by reaching an agreement with the inmates and utilizes the inmate power structure by overlooking rule infractions in exchange for support to the status quo. On the other hand, correction facilities are categorized as minimum, medium or maximum society categories. Maximum-security correction acts as punishment centers for practicing the maximum order and do n act as rehabilitation and treatment center. The main purpose that maximum correction facilities observe as a daily routine is to keep inmate occupied with intensive inspection. Moreover, segregating inmates for the security purpose makes other inmates unable to access treatment programs. Medium security correctional facility has external security on the inmates as tight as in supermax or maximum correctional facility. However, inmates have more opportunities such as attending school, treatment and church programs and to work in many numbers of capacities just like in minimum correctional facility. There is greater diversity of rooming options and visits by outsiders such as relatives and friends. Minimum correction facility, keep the inmates under more pleasant environment such that, the inmates are allocated honor units or work farm to punish them. This hierarchy system serves as a resource to prison administrators to utilize as a reward for inmates who obey prison regulations and shows cooperation with prison staff. Rewards can be used as a system of maintain order among the inmates in the jail. Those inmates that comply with the rule and participate in formal programs are moved rapidly through the prison system as the prison administrator view the reward as a system that provide control measures on the inmates. Therefore, a correction facility practices this form of hierarchical model to prevent further criminal activity in the jail by the inmates and provide security so that the inmates cannot break out of the jail. On the other hand, by the practice of reward and punishment by the correction facility ensures that inmates conform to prison rules maintain the status quo hence inmates progress with the prison system in an orderly and peaceful manner. On the other hand, hierarchy shows the prison use a military style to control inmates in order to maintain security within the prison. Lastly, hierarchy system has the advantage that there is good control and security and minimizes inmate escapes. Contrary, it has a disadvantage that there is high tension of riots and psychological and physical trauma to inmates (Steele, 1975). Gang Involvement inside the Correctional System It is very ironical that majority of the inmates are jailed to inculcate and reform from anti-social behavior such as robbery yet when they get to the jail, they operate as gangs inside the jail. The blame is inevitable from the prison authority as their reluctant and ignorance has encouraged them to practice corruption giving a chance for operation of prison gang that usually operates in secrecy and has its goal to conduct gang activities by controlling their prison environment through intimidation and violence directed towards non-members. Prison gang as social group operate inside prisons with the support from street gangs and collaboration of deviant prison authorities who in return receives a share of the ant-social activity conducted by the prison gang such as drug trafficking that is common in many correction system all over the world. Such groups will always enjoy their life in prison as they end up getting every pleasure that they require. As a result, instead of correctional system acting as a reforming or rehabilitation place for them, the prison makes them even worst compared to how they were in the past. Prison gangs, just like any other gang in the streets operates with a motto, unique symbols of membership and a constitution prescribing group behavior. Such groups are always responsible for often chaos of rioting in the correction facility (Morningstar, 1997). Relationship of Correctional Officers/Staff and Inmates In many prisons, correctional officers and inmates have a relationship that is based on favors for each party. The favor is based on corruption because it is not legal for any authority practitioner in the correctional facility is supposed to have a relationship beyond the professional with the inmates. However, due to forms of prison corruption that include misfeasance, malfeasance and nonfeasance forms of corruption. For example, misfeasance corruption occur when correctional officer improperly perform a duty in a way that may unlawfully engage in deviance behavior such as accepting gratuities for preferential treatment to a certain inmate or giving special privileges to inmate in return of money. Additionally, correctional officers may get to an extent of involving in misconduct activities such as obtaining sexual services from female inmates while others also sodomize the male inmates something that has been found very irritating in the public. Malfeasance corruption occur when correctional officer engage in deviance activities such as theft, embezzlement, trafficking contrabands and entering into criminal conspiracies with inmates for drug sales, forgery or counterfeiting. On the other hand, nonfeasance occurs when correctional officer fails to act in accordance with official responsibilities. For example, ignoring to take action when inmate violates the correctional rules and regulations or failing to stop other employees from misconduct. On the other hand, the relationship of inmates and correctional staff has been contributing to deviance behavior in the correctional facilities. Their relationship has also involved favor return between them. Staff and inmates corruption has involved three main specific aspects. First, correctional staffs are always implicated. Second, many are the time they act in violation of the official rules and regulation such as NEVER speak with inmates but often these staffs are engaged in conversation with inmates. In is through their conversations where the inmates start getting connections of using the staff to traffic in contrabands. Third, they always do it in a secret and hidden manner to avoid consequences that the correctional officers can pose to both the inmate and the employing in case they are caught in the process of conservation (McCarthy, 2002).. Cases and prosecutions that have come about over the years that prove practices of deviance in correctional officer include demotions of a senior correctional officer to an ordinary employee; some of the officers are being fired from work when their misconduct is known. Moreover, the media has played a vital role in embarrassing deviance behavior in correctional system that has led to social movements in some parts of the world. Other officers are sentenced to death or spend their whole life in prison when they are caught in a misconduct action with their inmates. A recent scenario of prison misconduct involved a female officer in North Carolina who was providing personal sexual services to a man inmate in exchange for money. The officer was fired after a certain inmate patron made it public. The First Day in Life of an Inmate The first day of an inmate in prison is the determinant of an inmate’s life in prison. What he saw while being incarcerated in the prison will influence his life in prison and determine whether the correctional facility will help him to reform from misconduct or will make him to be worst compared to his past life by the time he will be moving out of jail. For example, if the first day an inmate by a deviance practices such as contraband trafficking inside the jail, he results joining the prison gang Drug use within the prison has been at an alarming pace because of reluctance and ignorance found with the management of the prisons. This has given the inmates a chance of becoming trafficker of contrabands such as drugs in the prison. Moreover, use of drugs in prison has been accelerated by the formation of prison gangs that get outside support from the street gangs in the society. Therefore, through the corrupt prison officers, drugs are easily trafficked into the prison at a high rate. As a result, corrupt prison officers get their share in form of money hence allowing the activity to take roots. On the other hand, prison gangs have also increased the number of inmate who are taking drugs in the prison through their coercion and harassing those inmates that o not take drugs in the jail while the new inmates get to the jail in the first day and are introduced to drugs by force. On the other hand, prison staffs have been used to traffic drugs in the prison using the items they bring in the prison to be used by inmates such as books to be read by inmates during their leisure and food to be consumed by the inmates. Moreover, due to the developing relationship between prison staffs and inmates, they former are sent drugs outside the prison and are promised some rewards. Therefore, due to continued unprofessional relationship between prison officers and staffs with the inmates, there is a result of increased drug use within the prison (Johnson, 1996). From the corruption incidences that have prevailed in the correctional system, we can conclude that standards of decency need to be incarcerated to the inmates today in a way that does not violate basic human rights. There is the need of the inmate to come out of their dormant hiding place and speak out their hard life in prison that is not really to make them reform but making them even more vulnerable to misconduct. There should be rules that cover everything from personal hygiene to discipline and punishment of an inmate. On the hand, the government should embark vigorous evaluation of prison officers and staffs demote fire and arrest those tolerating misconduct in the correctional system so that we can have a transparency correctional facilities that are really concern to reform, rehabilitate and educate inmates. When the correctional system is reformed, we are assured that the inmates will have no other option rather than change from worst to best and by the time they complete their imprisonment duration, the society will be happy to welcome back one of their own and a reformed person. References Johnson, Robert. (1996). Hard Times: Understanding and Reforming the Prison, New York: Wadsworth Publishers. McCarthy, B. J. (2002). Keeping an Eye on the Keeper: Prison Corruption and its Control, London: Cincinnati publishers. Read More