Essays on Behind Bars

Women the world over have had an influence on their societies. In Taking Root, Wangari Maathai sees the destruction of the Kenyan forests and takes steps to reclaim the forest with the help of the local women. In I will be a hummingbird, Wangari Maathai tells a story about how a fire consumed a forest. All the animals, both large and small, were frighten and did nothing to stop the fire with the exception of a small hummingbird. Both films show how women are thought to be insignificant in their societies yet can still make an enormous impact on ...

These authors primarily talk about gender, race, and class discrimination in the United States of America. For instance, Margret& Patricia titled their work, "why Race, Class, and Gender still matter." The discussion is based on how different people in the United States are affected by different types of discrimination based on where they live, their color and gender. Although America seems like one of the less discriminative countries in the world, there are still central areas and situations where it is practiced. Through electing, the first black president, Barrack Obama, the war on discrimination of color seems to be ...

Literature Review

The paper reviews the existing literature on the efficacy of incarcerating criminals in prisons and the associated expenses that the government incurs to jail them and maintain the prisons. According to Gilgan (2015), the expenses, which are substantial, are funded by the taxes collected from the citizens. His opinion is that a prison sentence for every criminal is neither rational nor an economically viable solution for the U.S. Government. The crucial question that the paper will explore is whether using tax dollars to imprison criminals is the ideal way to utilize the money gathered, and how might they be ...

Stanford Prison experiment took place at Stanford University in the year 1971 and it was conducted by Philip Zimbardo to find out the influence of social roles on our behavior. It was one of the landmarks of the human psychological study in response to subjected to captivity and to reveal to the world on the real circumstances of the prison life (Konnikovaet al., 2015). The intention of the experiment was to examine captivity, but the results it generated have proven useful in demonstrating the impression people’s obedience especially if provided with an idea that is legitimized and support ...

(Institution Name)

Abstract

The use of information technology in the matter of justice provision has enabled the law enforcement agencies to ensure that the criminals are effectively captured and put behind bars. The technological tools that have notably contributed towards the cause are surveillance and cameras, forensic equipment for detection of criminals and communication means. These technology items have helped in making the law supreme and to make the criminals afraid of the law. Gun control has been made possible largely with the help of these technology tools as the people are being monitored and managed much more effectively with ...

ABSTRACT

The juvenile crime rate has made a significant increase in America as children as young as eight years old are committing violent crimes. The juvenile justice system was first created to keep children out of adult prisons and to rehabilitate the children so that they will become productive non-criminal adults. This system has not been effective. Children are impacted by many factors when faced with decisions in today’s society. They are not as developed and lack the reasoning capability like adults. Thus, new approaches to juvenile justice must be instilled throughout the country in order to prevent more ...

Prisoners when in jail fall ill regularly and have to be tended to in the prison. The prisoners cannot be taken out of jail so that they can receive the medical attention required for their illness. However, they may at times get terminal illness when in jail. The terminal illnesses may at times restrict their movement to their cells or in the wards of the prison where they do not get any type of moral support (FAMM 53). Every patient in the world needs some form of moral support in his or her bid to get better and overcome ...

Literature Review

Prevalence of Absent Fathers In the United States, the number of absentee fathers has been increasing. Whether this trend is due to factors such as work, divorce, out-of-wedlock births, never-married mothers, incarceration, or new family dynamics like changing gender roles in the family, it is known that fatherless children experience much high risk factors than their peers. According to the National Center for Fathering (2016), in the United States there are an estimated 24.7 million children living without their biological fathers. In the 1960’s only 5.3% of children were born out-of-wedlock, in 2010 that percent has risen to ...

Causes of Wrongful Conviction

Law leading scholars argue that the courts are the most unexamined public institutions in the world. According to Gould and Leo (2010), nobody keeps track of the cases that are prosecuted on the court or the types of convictions made for whatever reason. This may be responsible to the rising number of wrongful convictions in the court system. Several years ago, the U. S Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stated that was satisfied with the rate at which innocent people were convicted of felonies. The rate was at 0.27% (Bach 2010). He debated that, for the justice system to ...

Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors That Explain The Decline And Six That Do Not. Experience by Steven D. Levitt

The entire criminal activities in almost all parts of United States experienced heartening drop in the late 1990’s. According to Levitt experience, the year 1999 witnessed the least rate of reported cases homicide for the past 35 years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports highlights that in 1998, property and violent crimes declined by 29% and 34% respectively. Levitt states, “homicide rates fell in nine of the ten years in the decade of ...

Gangs have continued to grow and spread in many American cities and counties. This occurrence has been paralleled by the growth of gangs in American prisons. Researchers reported that the boundaries between prison gangs and the community have become harder to identify because the gangs have become more sophisticated, and are a threat not only to the institutional security, but to the public safety, as well. According to a survey conducted by the National Gang Crime Research Center, in 1999, members of gangs in prisons and jails increased from 9.4%, in 1991, to 24.7%, in 1999. Other studies reported a smaller proportion ...

Prisoners' Right to Vote in the UK and the Need for the Current law Reforms

Voting is the most common way of choosing leaders in the continents. Voting rights are the privileges given to those who have acquired the requirements to vote, for example, attaining the required age of eighteen years. However, restrictions are placed on some people as prisoners and ex-members of parliament. A case in point is observed in the UK where prisoners are denied the right to vote. This may be a major setback to the social life of those citizens behind bars, but may also act as a control measure for security reasons in the state of UK. Issuing the inmates with a ...

Abstract

U.S. President Richard Nixon declares war on drugs June 17, 1971. Since then, the U.S. has spent on the war more than 1 trillion dollars, and produced more than 45 million arrests. Drug use remained the same. The U.S. population is 4.5 % of the world, and the number of people jailed in the U.S. - 25 % of the total number of prisoners around the world. Over 500,000 are jailed for drugs. 2.7 million Children have a parent behind bars. The probability that they will be behind bars are much higher than those whose parents escaped this fate. In this ...

Black Men Incarceration- why are they incarcerated more than other races?

According to this paperwork, I am going to respond to the following subject; the reason as to why the black men between the ages of 25 to 29 are more likely to be in jail than are people of white or Latino descent, therefore, I am going to conduct an intensive research depicting the incidents of criminal prosecution, convictions, prison sentences, and time served by race and ethnicity for all three- African America, Hispanic, and White men. The factors associated with who gets involved in crime, and the consequences of this lot in the Criminal Justice System will also ...

Question 1

African-Americans 45,003,665 (14.1% of the U.S. population), according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2013 Fertility rate: 2.0 births per woman (PRB 2012).

Life expectancy: 74.4 years (Reinberg 2014)

Literacy: the average African-American twelfth-grade student reads at the same level as the average white eighth grade student (Thompson 2013). Crime: African Americans are now about one million of the 2.3 million people in prison in the United States, and they are incarcerated at about six times as high a rate as white people (NAACP 2013). While there are many different theories that surround the performance gap that exists between African ...

Mandatory minimum sentencing laws are inflexible sentence that courts are forced to hand on a convicted individual. These laws do not factor in culpability and other mitigating elements surrounding the crime committed (Bjerk, 2005). These laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. These laws apply mainly in common law jurisdictions as in civil law each crime is prescribed minimum and maximum sentences (Gilpin, 2011). In scenarios where the mandatory minimum sentencing laws prevail, judges have only the core duty to determine whether an individual is guilty or innocent. The laws were formerly introduced in two countries, the United States, and ...

Valentin and Molino have been presented in the novel as two different characters that learn to cope with one another. When we meet them, the only similarity they share is being in prison. Molino has been jailed for molesting a child while Valentin has been charged on political grounds. We also learn that Molino is gay, which makes their staying together even more complex. It is quite difficult for the two to relate in their prison room considering the differences they share. They have no common stories or backgrounds they can relate with, yet since they have to be together, ...

Profiling is the recording and analysis of a person’s psychological behavioral characteristics in order to assess or predict their capabilities in a certain sphere or to assist in identifying a particular subgroup of people (Merriam Webster Online). This process is done according to a person’s age, culture, gender, race, occupation, and others. In criminal justice, police and psychologists develop a criminal’s profile by carefully studying the evidence gathered. Criminal investigators say that a criminal exhibits certain characteristics during the crime, and this can be observed through the evidence found in the crime scene (Penven). In the case of mistaken identity involving Ronald ...

The United States has a serious prison problem, and the problem is not the prisoners. The US locks up its citizens at rates higher than the rest of the world. Statistics show that time spent behind bars is not always effective in rehabilitating prisoners. One study showed that prisons were “failing to deter repeat criminals in 41 states” (Johnson, 1). California was included in this study as a state not doing a good job in rehabilitating criminals. In Orange County, the same problem exists. Orange County needs to reassess its prison system and find a way to do a better job in rehabilitation inmates ...

DEFINING DETERMINATE SENTENCING

Determinate sentencing is a when one is incarcerated for a definite length of time, i.e. five years or more. The jail time is fixed and cannot be altered by any parole board or agency. An example is when one is entitled to jail time of one-year. The prisoner will serve in the prison walls for one whole year. If the prisoner behaves well, he or she is given sometimes off as a token of appreciation. The maximum time for a determinate sentence is four years. Above that it becomes an indeterminate sentence. Judges are responsible for determining the period the prisoner will ...

Arguably the most controversial approach in public administration, Max Weber’s bureaucracy model is one that has been criticized by contemporary scholars in management. Bureaucracy, which is no doubt the most rigid approach to administration, has been blamed for a multiplicity of faults in many aspects of leadership, management, administration and governance (Stillman, 2009). Bureaucracy has many basic elements as explained by Weber. The most prominent element of bureaucratic administration is that it is characterized by stringent rules and procedures, which make administration some form of predictable, fixed routine that does not provide room for independent and innovative thinking. In ...

The fast growing increase of female in U.S. prisons

Introduction

According to the latest statistics from the Bureau of justice Statistics, US Department of Justice, American, the rate at which a number of women are getting detained and thrown behind bars is despicable. As opposed to their male counterparts, women face an uphill task when they are confined both in prison and jail cells. The major causes for their conviction include mental challenges, pregnancy, sexual abuse, property theft, prostitution, aggravated robbery, family violence, forgery, wanton endangerment, burglary and assault. The most controversial of them all are the convicts who have ...

The article Prison Yoga: Freedom Behind Bars provides a glimpse of a yoga program that is different from the typical audience of yoga. The yoga industry, as mentioned in the article continuously grow up to date, its increase popularity has spread across different states in the United States. Yoga is now being considered as a million-dollar industry. However, the topic showcases another side of yoga. Lu DiGrazia, a yoga teacher, brought another use to the popular meditation medium. It is inspiring to read about people creating effort to reach out to the people behind bars. The program helps people inside the prison and ...

Juvenile Delinquency Research Proposal

Juvenile delinquency refers to a crime perpetrated by a minor who has not yet reached maturity. Since it has been seen in many scientific studies that a person doesn't attain full maturity until he reaches 18 years of age, juvenile offenders are treated differently than adults by the court of justice. In US there is a separate justice system for juveniles to deal with juvenile offenders. Based on the principle of "parens patriae", juvenile courts function like a guardian or parent by taking decisions in favor of the wellbeing of the children. However, despite separate justice system for juveniles, USA prosecutes juvenile offenders, guilty ...

Juvenile justice system is designed to ensure appropriate treatment for offenders who are not adult. Separate norms, procedures, laws, provisions, and institutions are provisioned for juvenile offenders in almost every civilized society of the world. There are different provisions for adolescent offenders and they should be treated in different and not like other criminals. Missouri model has been emerged as a very effective model to treat such offenders. This paper intends to discuss juvenile justice system, Missouri model of juvenile justice and other related aspects. Thousands of teenagers are behind bars, facing very torturous conditions in different countries across ...

Film Studies

The House I Live In is a compelling account of the manner in which America’s War on Drugs has devastates families and individuals especially those belonging to the minority community. It has targeted the poor and the jobless. The film portrays touching anecdotes of those directly impacted by drugs – be it the grieving mother to the drug dealer, the senator to the narcotics officer, the federal judge to the prison inmate. The film highlights this as a serious human rights issue and urges people to speak against the injustice taking place in this country. The film in fact portrays ...

Several people are incarcerated in the United States prisons as well as several other correction facilities in the world. The number of prisoners is in fact increasing as activities that are more criminal continue to be reported. Even so, every person deserves equal treatment notwithstanding where he or she lives, or where he or she is staying. This has brought about the ethical concern that should prisoners be treated like other population outside custody? This ethical concern has elicited several views from different stakeholders including the prisoners, the prison authorities, and several interest groups. The ethics of caring for ...

Introduction

This article summarizes the report written by Susan Trossman (2013) that explored the scope and practice of correctional nurses in the USA. In the article “Ensuring standards are standard behind bars” the author premises on the argument that the primary role of nurses is “the protection, and optimization of health and abilities, prevention of illness and injury, alleviation of suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response, and advocacy in the care of individuals, families, communities, and populations”, correction nursing is the provision of the same services for individuals under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system. Nurse’ ...

Why are the mentally ill behind bars?

The mentally ill are considered a threat to society, especially because of the very nature of possessing the unstable mental stability which could potentially lead this segment of the population to inflict discomfort or harm to themselves and to other people. According to the study made by the Human Rights Watch, the mentally ill are placed behind bars at an increasingly disturbing rate “a consequence of under-funded, disorganized and fragmented community mental health services. Many people with mental illness, particularly those who are poor, homeless, or struggling with substance abuse – cannot get mental health treatment” (Human Rights Watch, 2006, par. 9).

What challenges do the mentally ill present to prison administrators and staff?

...

According to the office of national drug control policy, the United States government has spent over one trillion dollars on the war on drugs. In the year 1980, the government spent 1 billion dollars on the war on drugs. Twelve years later, the figure had hit 19 billion dollars. Currently, the government spends over 15.6 billion dollars every six months on the war. The war, which began during the time of President Richard Nixon, has not yielded much. The amounts of drugs that penetrate the borders of the United States are ever increasing, with the number of addicts on ...

1.0 Introduction Cannabis, commonly referred to as marijuana is the most commonly abused drug among Americans aged anywhere from 12years. In addition, it is significant to mention that marijuana is the only major illicit substance in the United States that has prospects of being legalized. As matter of fact some states in the country have already made this bold move and legalized recreational marijuana within their state jurisdictions. In fact Colorado electorates just voted pro recreational marijuana in the just concluded November elections. However, as far as medicinal marijuana is concerned, most states in the US have already ...

Incarceration of Women

The number of incarcerated women has increased at a dramatic rate in many US correctional institutions (Talvi, 2007). The increased rise in the number of women in prisons can be attributed to increased cases of minor property crime and change in sentencing policies such as mandatory prison sentences. The Bureau of Prisons is an arm of the Department of Justice in the United States. The bureau consists of 6 regional centers, nine divisions and the National Institute of Correction (Talvi, 2007). The jurisdiction of the Institute of Correction covers community correctional facilities, jails, prisons and the academy for training prison ...

Death penalty law provides for a legal Process for the killing of a person by a state, as a punishment for the crime committed. Death sentence refers to the judicial ruling against a person receiving this kind of punishment. Death penalty is a subject matter that creates a great controversy worldwide with varying opinions from one country to another (Muhlhausen, “Death Penalty Deters Crime, and Saves Lives”)

In the European Union member states, there is the prohibition of the use of Capital punishment. The UN General Assembly made an adoption of a non-binding resolution with a call for global suspension on executions. The aim of this declaration is ...

Part 1

Prison suicide is recognized as a serious yet underrated problem. In the United States, suicide is two times more common among prison inmates than in the general population (Arnaut, 2010). It is estimated that 200 prison suicides happen every year in the US (Suto & Arnaut, 2010). It is the third leading cause of deaths in the U.S. prisons after natural causes and AIDS (Metzner, 2002). The suicide rate in U.S. federal prisons is lower than the nationwide average (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2012).

According to White, Schimmel & Frickey (2002), the prison suicide rate is often compared with the ...

The traditional notion that the state is the source of security for its people is slowly disintegrating. Prison services have been open to private entrepreneurs for investment. Privatization has also increase the number of prison hosting facilities, which has created an influx in the number of inmates. This according to economists and socio-political forces has led to a prison industrial complex due to the holding of the labor force within prison units. This paper will discuss the prison/industrial complex and also look at factors that contributed to its development. Second, this paper will look at privatization and its association with ...

Introduction

Double jeopardy also referred to as non bis in idem is a rule that prohibits prosecution of an individual for a second time. The rule dictates that fugitives acquitted or convicted for same offenses should not be put under prosecution for the second time (Gracia, 15). However, it is important to note that different sovereigns hold differing stand points on prosecution of individuals for second time. As an example, United States of America and Jamaica are two countries that prohibit double jeopardy. Particularly, double jeopardy is prohibited by the 5th Amendment of the United States constitution (Rudstein, 11) . The Clause is ...