In the United States, over one-and-one-half million people are incarcerated.
Internet Exercise: Access the following web site and provide statistical information on how many inmates are being held in state correctional institutions:
(www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cpus9805.pdf)
In this chapter of your text, there is a mention
of a trend across the U.S. to start privatizing jails and prisons.
Internet Exercise:
Go to the website (www.ucc.uconn.edu/~logan/)
and briefly outline the arguments for and against private prisons and jails.
According to your text, constant training for
corrections officers is essential to the safety of these officers and the
inmates they oversee.
Internet Exercise:
Go to the website (www.nlectc.org),
The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center. Obtain five
different areas that correction officers are trained in, and briefly discuss
them.
Gangs are prevalent throughout our correctional
system. Your text mentions some information about gang membership in the prisons.
Internet Exercise:
Go to the website (www.corrections.com)
and find out how many prisons have special programs in place for the "Gang
Problem" in their state prisons.
According to your text in this chapter, juvenile
delinquency and juvenile presence in the correctional system is on the upswing.
Internet Exercise: Go
to the website (www.ncjrs.org/html/ojjdp/nationalreport99/toc.html)
, and look at the 1999 National Report. List five different reasons mentioned
in the report that are causing the juvenile prison population to increase
in large numbers.
During the 1990s, "correctional boot camps" became an increasingly popular sentencing option for juvenile offenders, in contrast to traditional juvenile correctional facilities. Despite this increasing popularity, controversy has continued, with critics questioning whether the military-style methods used in these "boot camp" programs are appropriate and useful in treating juvenile offenders. The following link provides access to a recent National Institute of Justice-sponsored investigation, which compares "correctional boot camps" with traditional correctional facilities for juvenile offenders:
(www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/nij/187680.pdf)
Internet Exercise: After you have read the research report (note: at the left-hand side of your screen, there appears a synopsis of the issues and finding in this report), respond to the following questions:
What were the overall reactions of juvenile offenders to "boot camp programs?"
What were the findings of this investigation regarding the effectiveness of "boot camp programs?"
Internet Exercise: The death penalty continues to be extremely controversial as a technique for dealing with the most serious and violent criminal offenders. The following web links mirror a "pro" and a "con" stance on the death penalty:
"National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty" (www.ncadp.org/)
Explore these two web sites in order to develop a "feel" for the major issues surrounding the use of the death penalty. Then, respond to the following questions:
Prior to having enrolled in this course, did you favor or oppose the death penalty?
After reading the textbook and examining the two web links just cited, has your point of view about the death penalty changed? Why or why not?
