In the field of criminal justice, corrections is an umbrella term that refers to what happens after an individual has been convicted of a crime, sentenced, and placed on supervision (probation) or incarcerated in a county, state, or federal jail or prison. It also includes the subsequent release (parole) from such a facility and a specific period of supervision after release. This process was set up as the best way to assist offenders correct their behavior. Since the mid-1950s, corrections has evolved into a broad field of research and practice that incorporates elements of community supervision, incarceration, rehabilitation, and community reintegration within the scope of the prevailing correctional philosophy and goals. This article explores the history and goals of corrections, explaining how prevailing sociopolitical thinking influences correctional approaches. In addition, this article examines the various career and job opportunities available within the correctional system, including challenges and associations for correctional officers.
Correctional Philosophy
The survival of a culture depends on the creation of rules of behavior and a means of maintaining a social order, typically by agents of the prevailing government. Historically, a society’s sociopolitical philosophy advocated punishing and deterring misbehavior that potentially threatened the social order. From the Code of Hammurabi (1750 BCE) to the current day, varying methods of correcting and deterring misbehavior by various means of punishment have served that function. For thousands of years, such punishment has included torture and branding, dismemberment, public humiliation, whipping, slave labor, imprisonment, and death by various means. The point of these interventions was to create sufficient fear among the citizens as well as those punished (criminals) to deter future misbehaving and instill more motivation to follow the established rules of government-imposed social order.
As civilizations became more complex, the use of extreme punitive methods declined in keeping with the social philosophies of the time (e.g., humanitarianism), and those brought under the jurisdiction of the government for crimes were subject to less brutal means of punishing their behavior and deterring others from committing crimes. Incarceration, rather than execution, became more widespread. By the 18th century, however, religion influenced the development of the idea that crime was a sin and that those incarcerated should be subject to opportunities to change their behaviors by following religious practices of prayer, meditation, obedience, and proper behavior. The concept of rehabilitation while incarcerated became more popular than just incarcerating criminals for punishment. This ideological shift contained the seeds that eventually grew into today’s field of corrections: a field that embodies the notions of incarceration as punishment, humane treatment, and rehabilitation.
Since the 18th century, correctional philosophies and goals have varied with the prevailing social and political times as well as the influences of the times on the prevailing criminal justice system. In a very general sense, these variances resulted in oscillations between more or less punishment and more or less rehabilitation and the development and implementation of rehabilitative methods and programs. When the focus was on more punishment, sentences were lengthened and criminals spent longer times incarcerated, often under very unpleasant conditions, with a strong emphasis on security and behavior control. With a focus on rehabilitation, more emphasis was placed on education, learning trade skills, and treatment for mental illness and drug addiction, to facilitate community adjustment following an inmate’s release back into the community.
Goals of Corrections
Four different goals of corrections are commonly espoused: deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retribution. Each has received varied levels of public, political, and professional support depending on the sociopolitical influences of the time. As the overarching goal of corrections, deterrence is achieved by various forms and degrees of punishment in keeping with the nature of the crime as well as the prevailing sociopolitical sense of appropriate retribution. The hope is that through retributive punishment and rehabilitation, the individual and others similarly inclined will either resist offending or be deterred from engaging in future criminal behaviors.
Incapacitation most often entails incarceration in a jail (for sentences of a year or less) or prison (for sentences longer than a year). It may also include a period of house arrest, during which an individual must stay in his or her own residence, generally under supervision by a government agency (e.g., police, probation officers). Incapacitation serves both as a means of punishment and contributes to public safety by removing dangerous individuals from society but requires such resources as secure facilities (e.g., jails, prisons, hospitals) and staff (e.g., prison guards, medical personnel).
Rehabilitation represents an attempt to provide an individual with the treatment and skills necessary to adjust to incarceration, take advantage of available treatment and educational programs, and to function more successfully in the community following release from incarceration. Rehabilitation may include the teaching of job skills, education, and treatment for mental illness and drug abuse, and the various types of therapy modalities necessary to implement them (e.g., individual and group therapies).
The fourth goal of corrections is retributive punishment which may include fines, community service, or a period of supervision by a government agent during which specific rules must be followed (i.e., probation). This may be court imposed in lieu of incarceration. However, a violation of a probationary rule may result in a period of incarceration.
Careers in Corrections
Corrections is a field with abundant opportunities for employment and a career. These opportunities have evolved and expanded since the 1970s as a result of increasing numbers of jails and prisons— both public and private. The United States is the world’s leading incarcerator, and employment and career opportunities have evolved to both manage and treat the more than 2 million individuals in today’s jails and prisons. These jobs include prison administrators, management positions, prison security, medical staff, mental health staff, social workers, probation and parole agents, teachers, religious staff, groundskeepers, cooks, secretaries, and administrative support staff. Many jobs are obtained and managed through state or federal departments of corrections or privatized institutions.
Challenges
The overarching goal of corrections is to assist the offender to correct his or her behavior so the offender no longer poses a threat to public safety and can be safely reintegrated back into the community. Since research has provided few guidelines regarding how best to meet this expectation, diverse opinions about how to accomplish this task are debated in sociopolitical arenas and contribute to the ideological pendulum swings between punishment and rehabilitation. Most of these opinions center on the levels of effectiveness of the various components of corrections— incarceration, rehabilitation, reintegration, and supervision services—in deterring individuals from initially offending or reoffending. Generally, however, research does not provide definitive answers to situations that are often complex. While incarcerating dangerous individuals removes their threats to public safety, for example, what is the most effective correctional action to take for those who do not clearly pose a threat to public safety, such as nonviolent drug offenders, individuals who do not pay child support, or those who are mentally ill? One of the significant legislative and economic consequences has been the increased need for more prisons and, another, the increased use of private prisons as a potential means of saving money. This has contributed to a growing private prison industry that is likely to continue to grow.
Working in a correctional facility or in the community as a corrections professional (e.g., probation or parole officer) can be challenging and stressful since the consequences of the prevailing social correctional ideology spills over into that arena. Regardless of one’s job or profession, one may work in a correctional system or facility that fails to meet established standards of professional care such as those established by the American Correctional Association, the National Institute of Correctional Health Care, or the international standards of the Nelson Mandela Rules or Bangkok Rules. One may work in an overcrowded facility with limited medical and mental health staff; an overuse of segregation and isolation; poorly trained and/or abusive security staff; and interact with individuals who may be angry, depressed, resentful, cognitively disabled or medically challenged, suicidal, and/or physically dangerous. There may be occasional assaults on both staff and inmates. The security level of a facility (e.g., super maximum, maximum, medium, or minimum), the classification of the inmates housed there, and how security and rehabilitative programs are administered have a large impact on working conditions such as levels of hostility and conflict among both staff and inmates. Another challenge is the potential for being sued for alleged negligence or deliberate indifference depending on one’s job role.
In addition to staff, administrators within the correctional system also face a number of challenges. Primary is the need to keep those within a facility—staff and inmates—safe and secure within the scope of applicable standards, while operating the facility or agency within a prescribed budget. Administrative positions are often politically sensitive and may entail occasional contact with political leaders, legislators, the news media, and the public.
With these challenges, a successful career in corrections often entails learning how to manage the impact of these various stressors in ways that minimize their negative impact on one’s physical or mental health and personal life (burnout) while at the same time contributing to the betterment of an offender in the interests of public safety.
Correctional and Professional Associations
There are a number of professional associations with which a correctional professional may affiliate that can provide collegial support, educational opportunities, and practice guidance, depending on one’s position and professional interest. Among them are the American Correctional Association, the International Corrections and Prisons Association, the International Community Corrections Association, and the International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology. There are also correctional and professional associations at the state and national levels, including the National Association of Social Workers, the National Association of Wardens, the National Association of Wardens and Sheriffs, the Prison Officers Association, and the American Psychological Association. Information regarding these and other related associations and agencies are widely available online.
Final Thoughts
Corrections is the field of study and practice within the criminal justice system that impacts an offender after having been found guilty and sentenced through the criminal court process. It includes offenders being incarcerated in a correctional facility, being provided rehabilitation services for problems such as drug addiction and mental illness, and/or being supervised in their communities by probation and parole agents. There are numerous opportunities for careers in the corrections field that include administration; providing medical, mental health, education, social work, and other rehabilitative services and programs; working in security, maintenance, and a variety of other support services in a facility. Although there are challenges associated with working within the corrections field, there are also rewards, from helping individuals better themselves in ways that contribute to a successful reintegration into their community consistent with the interests of public safety.
References:
- Beckett, K., & Sasson, T. (2000). The politics of injustice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
- Benson, E. (2003, July/August). Rehabilitate or punish? APA Monitor, 34, 7. Retrieved from http://apa.org/ monitor/julaug03/rehab.aspx
- Morris, N., & Rothman, D. J. (Eds.). (1995). Oxford history of the prison: The practice of punishment in Western society. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
- Petersilia, J. (2003). When prisoners come home: Parole and reentry. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
- Sullivan, L. E. (1990). The prison reform movement: Forlorn hope. Boston, MA: Twayne.
- Welch, M. (1999). Punishment in America: Social control and the ironies of imprisonment. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.