Jail and Prison Comparison Case

Jail and Prison Comparison

This paper is about jails and prisons. I will describe the jails place in corrections, as well as, the jails role throughout history. I will also give a summary of the history of both state and federal prisons. I will compare the similarities and the differences between all the security levels in jails, state and federal prisons. Lastly, I will be explaining the factors that are influencing the growth in jails, state and federal prisons.

Jails Place in Corrections

“Jails are locally operated correctional facilities that confine people before or after adjudication” (Seiter, 2011). Jails are the first stop for criminal offenders. When a person is arrested, no matter what the charge is, they are booked into either a county or city jail. Jails are the holding facilities for those who are awaiting trial, those who are waiting transport to another facility, those whom the courts deem necessary either for their own safety, or so they do not flee the jurisdiction and show up for court. Lastly, those who are convicted of a crime but receive a short term sentence, usually a year or less, complete their sentence in a jail rather than a prison.

Jails throughout History

The first jails were designed for only one purpose, to lock individuals up. The first jails were also viewed as extremely cruel and inhumane. Not only were the first jails unhealthy with the lack of cleanliness, they also lacked the food supply to properly feed each prisoner. Instead of having individual cells, the prisoners were kept in one room. Criminals of all types were all put together. The operators of the first jails thought that if people knew how horrific the inside of a jail was, it would deter more crime. Unfortunately, that was not the case and people began committing more crimes. In those early periods of history, jails were often used as a temporary holding facility before sentencing to death or life of slavery. As time went on and things started to change and progress, and as civilization became more developed, jails began morphing more into correctional facilities that started implementing the concept of rehabilitation and reform of its prisoners. Prisoners began to be separated, keeping those who committed heinous crimes apart from those who committed minor crimes, keeping men and women apart from each other, as well as, keeping juveniles from adults. In today’s society, jails are for those who are sentenced to less than a year, those awaiting trial, those who are awaiting transfer to another facility, and those who have violated the conditions of their parole, probation or bond.

History of State Prisons

As the nation took form, each state maintained its own incarceration system. Prisons were managed by state authorities, which provided confinement for offenders who