CHAPTER 1
What is Corrections?
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Describe the growth of the U.S. corrections system in the last 40 years and identify at least
three issues raised by that growth.
2. Define the systems framework and explain why it is useful.
1. Name the various components of the corrections system today and describe their functions.
2. Discuss what we can learn from the “great experiment of social control.”
3. Distinguish the basic assumptions of the penitentiary systems of Pennsylvania and New
York.
4. Discuss the elements of the Cincinnati Declaration.
7. Understand the reforms advocated by the Progressives.
8. Discuss the forces and events that led to the present crime control model.
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
Learning Objective 1: Describe the growth of the U.S. corrections system in the last 40
years and identify at least three issues raised by that growth.
A. Growth of the system has changed how much people know about
corrections
1. In 1973 the prison incarceration rate was 96 per 100,000 Americans
2. By 2008, after 37 years of steady growth, the U.S. imprisonment rate
2
reached 506 per 100,000
3. Correctional population growth continued throughout the 1990s, although
crime rates fell by more than 50 percent between 1993 and 2007
4. Prison budgets, by far the most expensive portion of the overall penal
system, grow even when monies for education and others services lag
, 5. A stunning 1 percent of all adults are incarcerated
II. American Corrections Today
3-4
A. Patterns
1. Signs that a long-term pattern of prison population increases may be
beginning to change
a. As of 2011, state prison populations have been dropping for three years
b. Correctional costs are also declining
c. Probation and jail inmate totals have dropped as well
Discussion Questions
Discuss what changes have led to the decrease in prison populations over the last few years
and if these changes are so effective, what has prevented correctional agencies and state
administrators from adopting these philosophies in the past.
, 2. History
a. Prison populations have stabilized before in 2000 but quickly resumed
b. Well some states saw a reduction, half the states and the federal
system increased
B. Expansion of Corrections
1. Liberals and Conservatives worry that expansion has affected some groups
a. Nearly 1/3 of all African American men in their twenties are under form
of correctional control
5 b. Correctional costs are out of control
c. Prison budgets increase even as educational budgets lag
d. Probation and jail populations have also grown
2. Topic for public debate
a. Prison were alien in the past and the average American had no direct
contact
b. Now, 7.5 million Americans are in the system or about 1 in 28 men in
their thirties
c. If rates continue, 11 percent of male and 2 percent of female children
born this year will go to prison
Media Tool
“Italy Passes Bill to Ease Overcrowding”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/26/us-italy-prisons-idUSBRE95P11520130626
o Rueters reports on the overcrowding in Italian prisons
o Discussion: Could these same philosophies work in the United States? Explain.
See Assignment 1
, 6-7
III. The Purpose of Corrections
A. Punishment
1. From the earliest accounts of humankind, punishment has been used as
one means of social control, of compelling people to behave according to
the norms and rules of society
2. Protecting society by defining limits of behavior
B. Three basic concepts of Western criminal law define the purpose
and procedure of criminal justice
1. Offense
2. Guilt
3. Punishment
C. The central purpose of corrections is to carry out the criminal
sentence
1. Corrections—the variety of programs, services, facilities, and organizations
responsible for the management of individuals who have been accused or
convicted of criminal acts
a. Corrections encompasses all the legal responses of society to some
prohibited behavior
b. Correctional activities are performed by public and private
organizations
IV. A Systems Framework for Studying Corrections
Learning Objective 2: Define the systems framework and explain why it is useful.
What is Corrections?
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Describe the growth of the U.S. corrections system in the last 40 years and identify at least
three issues raised by that growth.
2. Define the systems framework and explain why it is useful.
1. Name the various components of the corrections system today and describe their functions.
2. Discuss what we can learn from the “great experiment of social control.”
3. Distinguish the basic assumptions of the penitentiary systems of Pennsylvania and New
York.
4. Discuss the elements of the Cincinnati Declaration.
7. Understand the reforms advocated by the Progressives.
8. Discuss the forces and events that led to the present crime control model.
Chapter Outline
I. Introduction
Learning Objective 1: Describe the growth of the U.S. corrections system in the last 40
years and identify at least three issues raised by that growth.
A. Growth of the system has changed how much people know about
corrections
1. In 1973 the prison incarceration rate was 96 per 100,000 Americans
2. By 2008, after 37 years of steady growth, the U.S. imprisonment rate
2
reached 506 per 100,000
3. Correctional population growth continued throughout the 1990s, although
crime rates fell by more than 50 percent between 1993 and 2007
4. Prison budgets, by far the most expensive portion of the overall penal
system, grow even when monies for education and others services lag
, 5. A stunning 1 percent of all adults are incarcerated
II. American Corrections Today
3-4
A. Patterns
1. Signs that a long-term pattern of prison population increases may be
beginning to change
a. As of 2011, state prison populations have been dropping for three years
b. Correctional costs are also declining
c. Probation and jail inmate totals have dropped as well
Discussion Questions
Discuss what changes have led to the decrease in prison populations over the last few years
and if these changes are so effective, what has prevented correctional agencies and state
administrators from adopting these philosophies in the past.
, 2. History
a. Prison populations have stabilized before in 2000 but quickly resumed
b. Well some states saw a reduction, half the states and the federal
system increased
B. Expansion of Corrections
1. Liberals and Conservatives worry that expansion has affected some groups
a. Nearly 1/3 of all African American men in their twenties are under form
of correctional control
5 b. Correctional costs are out of control
c. Prison budgets increase even as educational budgets lag
d. Probation and jail populations have also grown
2. Topic for public debate
a. Prison were alien in the past and the average American had no direct
contact
b. Now, 7.5 million Americans are in the system or about 1 in 28 men in
their thirties
c. If rates continue, 11 percent of male and 2 percent of female children
born this year will go to prison
Media Tool
“Italy Passes Bill to Ease Overcrowding”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/26/us-italy-prisons-idUSBRE95P11520130626
o Rueters reports on the overcrowding in Italian prisons
o Discussion: Could these same philosophies work in the United States? Explain.
See Assignment 1
, 6-7
III. The Purpose of Corrections
A. Punishment
1. From the earliest accounts of humankind, punishment has been used as
one means of social control, of compelling people to behave according to
the norms and rules of society
2. Protecting society by defining limits of behavior
B. Three basic concepts of Western criminal law define the purpose
and procedure of criminal justice
1. Offense
2. Guilt
3. Punishment
C. The central purpose of corrections is to carry out the criminal
sentence
1. Corrections—the variety of programs, services, facilities, and organizations
responsible for the management of individuals who have been accused or
convicted of criminal acts
a. Corrections encompasses all the legal responses of society to some
prohibited behavior
b. Correctional activities are performed by public and private
organizations
IV. A Systems Framework for Studying Corrections
Learning Objective 2: Define the systems framework and explain why it is useful.
