Essay Example on The criminal justice system was created to manage our society’s Citizens

Correctional System Analysis Kaplan University Introduction to the Criminal Justice System CJ101 January 19 2018 The criminal justice system was created to manage our society’s citizens who break the law If members of society choose to break the law the criminal justice system is there to hold them accountable Holding citizens accountable for crime is how we deter crime and to rehabilitate those who need it Crime is very common in our society and it is a burden on the victims as well as taxpayers The criminal justice system is by no means perfect but a way to help the problem of crime There are 2 ways that criminals are handled Correctional systems punish offenders and they also help to rehabilitate them I will discuss the methods of punishment in correctional facilities and types of rehabilitation I will also discuss which method is more effective in reducing crime and which one I feel is a better method The four primary methods used to punish and or rehabilitate offenders in the United States are incarceration sanctions and controls community programs and services and treatment The U S is well known for its use of prisons as a form of punishment for criminals In 2007 the Pew Foundation reported there were over 2 2 million adults about one per 100 in prisons and jails each day 

Our nation houses more criminals than any other country in the world Removal from society is a form of punishment given to the convicted by limiting civil liberties and by restricting the person's ability to make independent decisions Prisons deliver punishment over individuals by controlling their daily routines which includes their opportunities and choices as well as their physical movement While incarceration is the most severe restriction of a convicted person s liberty community controls and sanctions also use methods for limiting convicted mobility Official probation and parole practices create a prison scenario that is just missing the cells where individual behavior is controlled and subjected to a number requirements The requirements range on a cases by case basis and give conditions as to which the convicted is held accountable These controls use traditional supervision which includes face to face contact with a parole officer the reason for direct contact is to ensure adherence to release conditions Another type of control comes in the form of programs or services offered by community correctional or judicial intervention 

Conditions set by courts or parole boards dictate if individuals are required to participate in any treatment programs Approximately 50 percent of those in supervised release have such requirements an increasing trend is to include conditions addressing mental health substance abuse including alcohol and other social problems This trend suggests a movement in the punishment system toward encouraging the convicted to change their behavior as part of a strategy to reduce recidivism Punishment is one of the ways to help keep criminals off the streets and it lets offenders know that they will be held accountable for their misdoings Rehabilitation is intended to adjust individual behavior Treatment is a form of restriction that typically serves the goal of rehabilitation Offender treatment generally keys in on behaviors attitudes and values being in treatment changes the daily life of an individual through requirements and by requesting that the individual change his behavior Behavior change requires a commitment to a new lifestyle and creation of new habits and behaviors Treatment itself involves several processes that affect liberties Awareness is where an individual learns about the anti social criminal and other unhealthy aspects of his behavior action is where the individual participates in an assortment of activities that assists in learning new skills to manage behavior and attitudes and maintenance where the individual participates in activities to support the change in attitudes behaviors and values 

The treatment process involves individuals addressing a variety of issues affecting their engagement in criminal behavior Liberty restriction tools require attention to the quantity and quality of daily activity s available to inmates GPS and electronic monitoring limits individual s physical movements while helping individuals to understand movements or patterns that may be problematic the same is true of required meeting for service or treatment where individual liberties are constricted based on treatment requirements either educational or vocational Face to face contact is another sanctioning tool that requires offenders to visit with supervising officers frequently during these interactions probation or correctional officers can communicate with offenders using change language pro social or therapeutically driven or motivational enhancement therapies combined with surveillance and monitoring In fact it is possible through these contacts to use brief interventions that can be designed to change the offender Rehabilitation or punishment Depending on the severity of the crime I believe determines the best possible route The fact that some crime is solvable while others are unspeakable Convicted felons should in my opinion only include violent offenders Punishment is the best method for a violent criminal to include murder rape armed robbery kidnappers child molesters etc These convicted individuals should be behind bars and not able to live in our society I believe that rehabilitation is only available for these crimes in small percentages Low level crime is where I believe rehab is the best option If you can prevent crime further through rehabilitation I think that is the optimum solution Some low level criminals do not apply to this scenario because crime is their way of life After so many convictions jail is sometimes the only answer First time offenders who can be persuaded to remove themselves from the criminal element is the best case scenario I don t think that there is a clear cut answer to this question I think that if there is a better way to balance the two which is the best option