The U.S Correctional System

The U.S correctional system is tasked with the responsibility of protecting the population from

dangerous individuals. Throughout history member of society that failed to comply with or breaks

established laws of society have been penalized or punished. The system is designed to punish those

offenders that commit criminal acts. Three specific functions of the correctional system are separating

the innocent from criminals, punishing offenders and rehabilitation. The correctional system is designed

to keep society safe by separating them from individuals that committed crimes. This is achieved by

incarcerating the convicted criminal in prison or jails for a period of time depending of the type and

nature of the offence. Although there maybe some effects of incarceration on reducing recidivism, the

results are clear that, beyond some point; there is no added deterrence benefit of additional time in

prison (Ruback, 2015). The correctional systems have now used alternate means of incarceration for

some individuals who commits crimes of a less serious nature. This alternate means of incarceration is

known as house arrest whereby the offender is confined to his house and his monitored electronically.

Punishing wrongdoers is the main function of the correctional system. Offenders found guilty

and sentenced are subjected to a variety of punishments. This includes incarceration, death and

probation. Offender’s sentences to incarceration usually serve time in local jails or state prisons. Those

sentenced to less than a year generally goes to jail and those sentenced to more than a year go to

prison. Punishment is a means of ensuring that the convicted offender pays some sort of price for his or

her crimes and the loss of freedom and self-determination is a means of discouraging the offender from

committing future crimes. Offenders sentenced to probation are usually given second chances and are

allowed to live among society but he is supervised by a probation/parole officer as ordered by the

court. He is given some freedom on the condition that he or she is subjected to critical examination and

evaluation and there are certain stipulations that he must follow. Probation is reserved for persons

convicted of less serious offenses. Other means of punishment includes restitution which requires

offenders to pay society back for any injury, loss, and suffering they caused. However the primary

criticism of monetary