Development of Corrections

There have been many reforms to the prison system in the many years. Prior to the 1800’s the prisons were not separated. The females were also with the males, with male guards to watch over them. The issues that this brought up was the ability to abuse the females by the other inmates and the guards as well. There are many arguments concerning the separation of the juveniles from the adult inmates incarcerated. The prison system is simply too violent to keep the juveniles from seeing and being involved in that much violence. The violence can cause severe anxiety and do harm to their psyche. The juvenile offenders are still being formed cognitively speaking, and this could be used against them in the event that the juveniles being preyed upon by the adult inmates (Austin Ph.D., 2000). The size and life experience that the juvenile offenders are lacking can also make them victims to the adult inmates. Prison labor was initially meant to work in a twofold capacity in the aspect that the inmates could work to absolve their debt against society by working to help the societal needs, and to work for the community with a cheaper cost for labor. These aspects were the good intention at the base, but there are always individuals that will use these aspects and abuse these aspects. There has been many a dollar made from the back of the inmate labor for those that are less than scrupulous in their manner of business. That is one of the reasons that the outside prison labor had to be more controlled.

References:

Austin PhD, J. (2000). Juveniles in Adult Prisons and Jails. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/bja/182503.pdf