The Growth of American Correction System and its Advantages and Disadvantages

American Correction System
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American Correction System
The American correction system stays among the most controversial ones globally. Part of the challenge has been the fact that America has the most populated correction system in the world. Concerns are also increasing about the impacts of such a correction system on the victims. This review explores some of the chapters that deliver a better understanding of the system.
Chapter1
The role of crime with the role of politics in the growth of corrections
Politics and crime play contrasting roles in the growth of correctional facilities and systems. Crime remains a punishable unlawful act. The correction facilities are developed to rehabilitate those who partake in criminal activities. As such, an increase in the rate of crimes automatically triggers an increase in populations within correctional facilities. The growth in a correction system, however, extends beyond the number of incarcerated individuals. That is, growth should imply better outcomes in terms of the quality of rehabilitation that individuals achieve from such systems.
Conversely, politics takes the policy responsibility of public safety. Politicians make policies to ensure that the public is kept safe from various criminal activities. To that extent, politics plays a role in ensuring that individuals who are guilty of breaking the law are punished or rehabilitated as found necessary. Politicians must develop policies that ensure the elimination of criminal activities either through punishments or rehabilitation. The quality of the approaches undertaken in policymaking can lead to proper or ineffective rehabilitation initiatives in correction systems.
The contrast is important in various ways. The growth of corrections depends on the crime rates and the policies that politicians initiate. Hence, finding a balance of quality and quantity in correctional facilities depends on how much effort is put to tame crime and the policy inputs towards ensuring the proper correction of the victims.
Some of the advantages and disadvantages of the systems concept of corrections
The systems concept of corrections accommodates notable advantages and disadvantages. The first advantage of the systems is that they help in taming criminal activities. The systems are also beneficial because they have structures that help to rehabilitate criminals to become important members of society. The systems are also characterized by notable drawbacks. Primarily, the relapse rates in the systems concept of corrections are high, thereby rendering the rehabilitation claims questionable. The systems are also reactive rather than proactive to the challenges facing society. In a bureaucratic system that is driven by profitability, it can be challenging to steer genuine rehabilitation. In the US, the correction system has also proven expensive while it barely delivers the required quality of outcomes.
Technologies of uncertain validity
Technologies of uncertain validity come with dangers that the systems must prepare to encounter. Primary among the dangers is a breach of information in which unauthorized individuals can access information that they should not access. Also, such technologies can be prone to breakdown. Any technological breakdown can lead to inefficiency in operations or the loss of vital data. Ultimately, invalid technologies can be costly to implement and maintain. Running the correction systems through more costs can only lead to the poor achievement of the objectives of such systems.
Efforts can be put to protect correction systems from invalid technologies. Primarily, assessments should be conducted to ascertain the validity of the systems to the facilities. Additionally, more resources should be allocated to maintain and protect the systems from undue access. Professionals within the systems should as well be educated on the systems. With proper education, it becomes easy to adopt the right systems.
The Goal of Rehabilitation
Correction systems are normally initiated to rehabilitate or punish. The adoption of either strategy depends on factors including the existing policies as well as the available resources. Overall, rehabilitation is more expensive compared to punishment. Factors such as the development of facilities and the inclusion of better technologies are considerably expensive. If a legislature chooses to adopt rehabilitation alone, such a system could be displaced on the grounds that the constituency lacks the resources, including professionals and financial resources, to adopt such a system. Additionally, rehabilitation has often proven ineffective, which could be grounds for displacement.
Street-Level Bureaucrat
Street-level bureaucrats are a subset of a government institution or public agency in which the employed civil servants have direct contact with members of the general public. Such individuals implement and oversee the enforcement of policies initiated by their respective agencies or government institutions. Having street-level bureaucrats eases the coordination between government facilities and the individuals for which the policies are developed. Some of the street-level bureaucrats include prison guards, police officers, public school teachers, social workers, and border guards.
Correctional activities in the domain
As a commissioner of corrections, specific domains are worth considering and those that should be eliminated. Primary among the considerations is according the incarcerated individuals their rights in the right way. While more correctional facilities are abandoning the traditional punishment policies such as capital punishment, the change has not been holistic and more inputs are needed. The domain must focus on rehabilitating individuals. As such, it must intend to eliminate is corporal punishment, which is highly inhumane. The use of new technologies should be adopted in the new domains. There are significant advancements in wearable technologies that could revitalize emphasis on incarceration that majorly renders individuals unviable both socially and economically upon incarceration.
Chapter 2
Why the penitentiary first caught on in Pennsylvania and New York
A penitentiary is a correctional facility whose role is to isolate individuals who are convicted of crimes. Such facilities are developed to isolate criminals from other members of the public or other criminals. The objectives initially were to accord the individuals an opportunity to reflect on their past in isolation and reform to become important members of society. The growth of penitentiary facilities attracted the attention of the world around 1830. New York and Pennsylvania were caught on considering the harsh treatment by the prison officers and wardens. The increasing amount of crime in the locations and the prevalent punishment practices meant that th...