1. Incarceration System: A Brief Overview
Sandra Rogers, PhD, OTR/L
Pacific University

2. Objective & Topics to be covered:
Following this presentation you will understand the overall process of the criminal justice system, a justice model, types of incarceration, and challenges within the incarceration system.
Overview of the criminal justice system/process
Descriptions of facilities within the correctional system including, prison, jail, community corrections at the state and federal levels.
Justice system model
A few challenges within the system

3. An Overview
A person enters the criminal justice system when they are given a citation or arrested for a crime.
This is handled by a policing arm of government
State police, city police, federal “police”, etc.
From entering the system to sentencing
This is handled by the judicial system
Attorney, representation, and sentencing if found guilty of crime, etc.
From sentencing to incarceration to release
Handled by Department of Corrections
The area about which we are most concerned in OT.
Prisons, jails, community corrections, parole, etc.

4. Bureau of Justice Statistics

5. Prisons
A prison is a state or federal confinement facility that has custodial authority over adults sentenced to confinement for a felony.
The use of prisons as a place to serve punishment is a relatively new way to handle offenders.
It is unknown when the first prison was established.
Punitive imprisonment was noted in Europe in the Middle Ages.
American prisons began in the late 1700s.
Early confinement facilities stressed reformation over punishment.

6. Stages of Prison Development in the United States
From Schamalleger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Test to the 21st Century. Pearson

7. Current: The Just Deserts Era
1995 to the present
Based on the Justice Model (see next slide)
Emphasis on individual responsibility and punishment.
Imprisonment is a proper consequence of criminal and irresponsible behavior.
Chain gangs, “three-strikes,” and reduced parole.

8. ‘Justice’ Model within Criminal Justice
The justice model embodies the concept that the criminal justice system should not be concerned with offender rehabilitation but should limit itself to the fair administration of punishments appropriate to the severity of the crime committed.
The justice model has been implemented in Great Britain and the United States through determinate sentencing laws, sentencing guidelines, and appeal court judgments.
A detailed review of the model's impact on blacks, women, unemployed persons, and juveniles indicates that it has done nothing to reduce discrimination in the penal system.
The model apparently coincides with repressive aims and is thus a questionable model for a democratic society.
Hudson, B. (1987) Justice Through Punishment: A Critique of the 'Justice' Model of Corrections. St Martin's Press Scholarly & Reference Division: New York.

9. Prisons Today: Race Statistics Disproportion
The rate of imprisonment for African American males is seven times that of white males.
Bureau of Justice Statistics states that a black male in America has a 32.3% lifetime chance of going to prison; white males have a 5.9% chance.
Need a graph
While blacks only make up 13% of the overall population, they represent 40% of those who are incarcerated, and by population numbers this is extremely disproportionate-2,400 per 100,000 vs. 500 for whites.

10. Prisons Today: State Usage
Use of imprisonment varies considerably between states.
Factors contributing to the variation:
Violent crime rate
Political environment
Funding for prisons
Employment rate
Percentage of African American males
Level of welfare support

11. Prisons Today: Facility Size
The size of prisons vary.
One out of every four prisons is a large, maximum-security prison and house almost 1,000 inmates.
The typical state prison is smaller.
It costs about 30, ($83.89 per day) in to house someone in prison.

12. Prisons Today: Typical System
The typical state prison system has:
1 high security
1 or more medium security
1 for adult women
1 or 2 for young adults
1 or two specialized mental hospital-type security prisons
1 or more open-type institutions

13. Overcrowded Prisons Overcrowding is a serious issue.
Prison capacity—The size of the correctional population an institution can effectively hold. There are three types of prison capacity:
Rated
Operational
Design
Rhodes v. Chapman (1981)—Overcrowding is not by itself cruel and unusual punishment.
Need a graph

14. U. S. Prison Population,
FIGURE 13–2 U.S. prison population, 1960–2008.
From Schamalleger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Test to the 21st Century. Pearson

15. Selective Incapacitation
Is a strategy to reduce prison population.
Seeks to identify the most dangerous offenders and remove them from society.
Is reflected by career offender statutes.

16. Security Levels in State Prison Systems
There are three security levels:
Maximum
Medium
Minimum
The typical American prison is medium or minimum custody.

17. Maximum Security
Most maximum security institutions tend to be massive old buildings with a large inmate population, including all death row inmates.
They provide a high level of security with:
High fences/walls of concrete
Several barriers between living area
Secure cells
Armed guards
Gun towers

18. Medium Security
Medium security prisons are similar in design to maximum security facilities; however, they:
Usually have more windows.
Tend to have barbed wire fences instead of large stone walls.
Sometimes use dormitory style housing.

19. Medium Security
Medium security prisons allow prisoners more freedom, such as:
Associating with other prisoners
Going to the prison yard or exercise room
Visiting the library
Showering and using bathroom facilities with less supervision
An important security tool is the count.

20. Minimum Security In minimum security prisons:
Housing tends to be dormitory style.
Prisoners usually have freedom of movement within the facility.
Work is done under general supervision only.
Guards are unarmed, and gun towers do not exist.
Fences, if they exist, are low and sometimes unlocked.
“Counts” are usually not taken.
Prisoners are sometimes allowed to wear their own clothes.

21. Prison Classification System
Classification systems determine which custody level to assign an inmate to. Assignments are based on:
Offense history
Assessed dangerousness
Perceived risk of escape
Other factors
Inmates may move among the security levels depending on their behavior.
Internal classification systems determine placement and program assignment within an institution.

22. Today’s Federal Prison System
Today’s federal prison system consists of:
103 institutions
6 regional offices
The Central office (headquarters)
2 staff training centers
28 community corrections offices

23. Federal BOP Facilities, 2009
FIGURE 13–3 Federal Bureau of Prison facilities by region, 2009.
From Schamalleger, F. (2011). Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Test to the 21st Century. Pearson

24. Federal Prison System
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) classifies its institutions according to five security levels.
Administrative maximum (ADMAX)
High security (U.S. penitentiaries)
Medium security (federal correctional institutions)
Low security (federal correctional institutions)
Minimum security (federal prison camps)
Additionally, there are administrative facilities, like metropolitan detention centers (MDCs) and medical centers for federal prisoners (MDFPs).

25. Federal Correctional Complexes
Federal correctional facilities exist either as single institutions or as federal correctional complexes (FCCs)—sites consisting of more than one type of correctional institution.
Example: FCC at Allenwood, PA. (consists of one U.S. penitentiary and two federal correctional institutions (one low and one medium security).

26. Federal Prison System: Administrative Facilities
The federal prison system’s administrative facilities are institutions with special missions.
Metropolitan Detention Centers (MDCs)
Generally located in large cities, close to federal courthouses
Hold inmates awaiting trial (like jails)
Medical Centers for Federal Prisoners (MCFP)

27. Administrative Maximum (ADMAX)
In 1995, the federal government opened its only ADMAX prison:
Located in Florence, Colorado
$60 million ultra-high security
575 bed capacity
Inmates confined to cells 23 hours per day
Only toughest 1% of federal prison population is confined there
Holds mob bosses, spies, terrorists, escape artists, murderers, etc.

28. Jails Jails—Locally operated, short-term confinement facilities.
Original purpose—confinement of suspects following arrest and awaiting trial.
Current use—confinement of those convicted of misdemeanors and some felonies, as well as holding suspects following arrest and awaiting trial.
Typically less than 2 years, often less than 2 year.

29. Jails There are 3,365 jails in the U.S.
Most jails are small, designed to hold 50 or fewer inmates.
Some jails are very big, like “mega-jails” in LA and NYC.
There are 207,600 correctional officers.
3:1 inmate/staff ratio
The average cost to jail a person for a year is $14,500.

30. Jails
Most people processed through jails are members of minority groups:
56% minority
38.6% African American
15.6% Hispanic
44% Caucasian
Typical charges:
12.1% drug trafficking
11.7% assault
10.8% drug possession
7% larceny

31. Women and Jail Women comprise 12.9% of the jail population.
They’re the largest growth group nationwide.
Women face a number of special problems, including:
Inadequate classification systems
Lack of separate housing
Low educational levels
Substance abuse
Pregnancy/Motherhood
Inadequate substantive medical programs

32. Women and Jail
Women make up 22% of correctional officer force in jails.
Female officers are committed to their careers and tend to be positively valued by male counterparts. However,
A disproportionate number of female personnel held lower ranking jobs.
60% of support staff is female
10% of chief administrators is female
Issues can arise when member of the opposite sex are assigned to watch over inmates.

33. Growth of Jails Many jails are old and overcrowded.
By the end of 1980s, many jails were so overcrowded that court- ordered caps forced some early releases.
By 2006, national jail occupancy was at 94% rated capacity. Larger jails are more crowded than smaller ones. Some individual facilities are desperately overcrowded.
Good news in 2015 is that jail populations are significantly reduced without an increase in public safety.
Numbers
2015
# OF JAIL INMATES
776,000
CAPACITY OF JAILS
900,000
% OF OCCUPIED
80%

34. Direct Supervision Jails
A new jail architecture and management strategy is called direct supervision. These jails:
Use a system of pods or modular self-contained housing areas
Have a more open environment, using Plexiglas instead of thick walls to separate areas
Use softer furniture
May use “rooms” instead of cells

35. Privatization of Prisons
Privatization refers to the handling of corrections by privately held companies.
Privatization started to increase in mid-1980’s
Many concerns have been raised with the privatization of prisons including:
Contracts that require prison and jail occupancy
Demonstrate focus on revenue at the expense of the welfare of those incarcerated
Lack of oversight, poor training of correctional officers
Overuse of isolation