Give A Brief History Of Correction Systems In America (Essay Sample)

Correction System
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Correction System
The correction system is one of the umbrella sections of criminal justice that is mandated to deal with lawbreakers and offenders. Primarily, the correction system serves three main functions of punishing, protecting and correcting the crime offender. In America, the government agencies work together with correction systems to ensure that these responsibilities are met. Also referred to as the penal system, the correctional system is charged with the duty of administering jurisdictions, especially to community based programs, parole and probation victims. This paper is a description of the history of correction systems in America and discusses two needs that require to be fixed so that correction systems run more safely and efficient.
History of correction systems in America
The history of the correctional system in the United States dates back to the 17th century during which imprisonment as a form of punishment had began to become popular (Roth, 2006). 
The American Revolution largely contributed to the efforts of initializing a system that would deal with law offenders. During this period, prisons in the form of detention facilities and dungeons were commonly used in different parts of America. The efforts of building prisons in and around America began in three major waves where the first wave began during the infamous Jacksonian Era (Stanko et al, 2004). This era lead to extensive use of imprisonment and heavy labour as a way of punishing penalty for most crimes, especially in the wake of the civil war. The second wave began soon after the civil war and brought many new mechanisms in the criminal justice and correctional system. This changes involved the inclusion of parole, uncertain sentencing of criminals and probation. The final wave occurred during the early 1970’s that saw the United States emerge with an unexpected expansion of imprisonment facilities and systems both at the state and at federal levels (Stanko et al, 2004).  Many people and citizens of America have since been incarcerated through this correctional or penal system. These three periods of prison reconstruction have seen very major changes made to the missions and structure of prison systems (Stanko et al, 2004). 
Two needs that require to be fixed so that correction systems run more safely and efficient
The size and cost of correctional systems have grown tremendously over the last couple of years in the United States. This has largely increased the number of criminals and law offenders that have been incarcerated and imprisoned. One major reason that contributes to the increasing number of criminals is the high rate of crime and violence in most states in America (Roth, 2006).  This leads to a huge burden that is bore by the correction systems. However, this reduces the efficiency at which these systems are run. In order for the correction systems to run more safely and efficiently, there are certain needs that require to be fixed. One of these needs is the manner in which law offenders and criminals are convicted. The criminal justice system should come up with laws that punish offenders through other ways apart from imprisonment. This will help a lot in decentralizing and reducing the number of convicts and prisoners in correctional facilities (Roth, 2006). The second need that requires to be fixed and addressed is the way in which law offenders are corrected while in this facilities (Roth, 2006).  Correctional facilities should allow for changes that will transform a criminal in addition to punishing them. Th...