CRIMINOLOGY 2
RUNNING HEAD: CRIMINOLOGY
Idaho Correctional System
Sarah Rich
Professor Breach
College of Western Idaho
Current correctional system in Idaho
The correction department in Idaho has its location in Boise and envisions to take good care and ensure that staff members develop professionally, ensure that logical security practices are undertaken and as well make sure that there is existence of a reentry system which promotes the safety of the public. In addition, it envisions to promote a safe city with very few individuals in the correctional system. Its projected mission is to ensure that the general public is protected at all costs as well as the staff members and any other individual within their supervision and custody through partnerships, providing various opportunities to the offenders, safety and accountability. This department is mandated with the task of managing offenders of felony who are held in prisons while being under supervision on parole and probation. The department accommodates prisoners in 4 community reentry centers and ten prisons. It uses jail beds from the county and some facilities out of the state to accommodate inmates. Parolees and probationers are under supervision by parole and probation officers around the state. The Agency has employed around 1,960 members of the staff most of whom are correctional, parole and probation officers. It has also employed a variety staff who are non-uniform who include health practitioners, teachers, and rehabilitation specialists.
The Department of Corrections has a Constituent services office which serves as a link connecting the community to the department by at large by distributing information to deal with the issues and concerns that regard confinement conditions in the facilities, offenders on probation and parole, and community reentry centers. This office aims at building relationships with the community and improve public knowledge and create much needed awareness while at the same time promoting positive change. This office affirms the interaction between the public and the department as a whole by enhancing its communication with advocacy groups, families of the inmates as well as other citizens who are concerned. It also provides reliable and timely information as allowed by the law in regards to offenders as well as departmental activities and results and ensures an active interaction with the population which has offended. This office also analyzes, reports and collects information to executive staff which regards to issues and resolutions of concerns made by the relatives, friends and immediate families of inmates and the public in general. Any individual with a general query or a concern that regards custody, supervision and care of inmates contact this office.
The Prisons division in Idaho accommodates around 8,000incarcerated persons in nine prisons which are state-owned prisons and 5 community reentry centers. Some individuals are also housed in county jails and when found necessary, they are held in out-of-state contract facilities. The contract facility monitoring division supervises and oversees contract facilities and jails in the county. In terms of providing opportunities to offenders, the prisons work with volunteers to facilitate, specialized training, religious training and unique teaching chances. Volunteer mentors come from all walks of life, all ages, and from a variety of economic, social, and educational backgrounds. Mentors are important as they provide new perspectives for offenders that return to Idaho communities from incarceration. Free 2succeed aims at providing offenders with the willingness to participate in the program with a mentor who works will work with them while ensuring a smooth successful transition is achieved and also helping to reduce the chances of recidivism.
The pardons and parole commission in Idaho is made up of commissioners who make various decisions such as granting, denying or even revoking parole, it also makes decisions regarding the granting of petitions for pardon, restoring the rights to firearms and commutation, Another commission in Idaho is the Criminal justice commission mandated with the task of addressing crucial criminal justice concerns and difficulties and come up with and propose balanced ,cost-effective best practice solutions to achieve a better and safer Idaho where everyone can thrive without any interference.
Recommendations
As a special consultant appointed to serve in the Idaho Department of Corrections, I would recommend some changes and improvements in the current system. The first recommendation would be on increasing the opportunities for the offenders, currently, the Idaho correctional system depends on volunteers to give skills to the offenders, but the main question would be what if the volunteers withdrew their volunteering services, would it mean that the offenders stay unskilled without opportunity? That’s why I would recommend the training of members of staff in skills regarding basic relations, communication, humane relationships, anger management, basic hands-on skills, teaching skills, and conflict mediation. This will enhance both staff and offender mutual relationships and avoid at all costs an environment where the offenders and staff do not relate at all. Trained probation officers could demonstrate a greater use of skills taught during training and impact it on the offenders in the correctional system. (Robinson, Lowenkamp, Holsinger, VanBenschoten, Alexander, & Oleson, 2012).
The second recommendation is on reducing crowding in prisons. The Idaho department Prisons division houses around 8,000 incarcerated persons in nine prisons owned by the state and 5 community centers of reentry. Some individuals are also held in jails around the county jails and contract facilities out-of-state when required contract facilities. This sounds like congestion; it is not quite a good idea to have so many prisoners to an extent of holding them in out-of-state contract facilities and instead I would recommend some approaches to reduce the number of relieving prison crowding. There are three basic approaches that exist for solving prison crowding. Firstly, the offenders can be sentenced to nonincarcerated punishments meaning that they are not sent to prison thereby reducing the number of prisoners by seeking alternative ways of punishment. This approach is known as the ‘front-door’ approach. Secondly, prison sentences can be reduced, by a variety of mechanisms which can be achieved through the use of the’back-door’approach. Thirdly, prison capacities can be raised through the construction of more accommodative facilities and improving existing prisons infrastructure. (Blumstein,1988).
The third recommendation is on an improvement in the constituent services office. The office for a fact is doing a great job in ensuring that a good relationship is established with the surrounding community but I think that there should be also a platform in this office that allows mothers who are imprisoned to interact with their kids from time to time. The extreme increase in the number of women who are incarcerated ensures that many children must live without their mothers for some time. Most women in prison do not get a chance to even meet with their kids let alone maintain the bond since there is no day created to get such visitations. Would recommend that the system allows mothers to get frequent visitations from their kids as it will help them psychologically while relieving them of emotional distress. This recommendation is meant to enhance opportunities for incarcerated mothers to foster positive connections with their children. (Mignon, & Ransford,2012).
References
Blumstein, A. (1988). Prison populations: A system out of control? Crime and justice, 10, 231-266.
Robinson, C. R., Lowenkamp, C. T., Holsinger, A. M., VanBenschoten, S., Alexander, M., & Oleson, J. C. (2012). A random study of Staff Training Aimed at Reducing Re-arrest (STARR): Using core correctional practices in probation interactions. Journal of Crime and Justice, 35(2), 167-188.
Mignon, S. I., & Ransford, P. (2012). Mothers in prison: Maintaining connections with children. Social Work in Public Health, 27(1-2), 69-88.
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