What do you think is the most significant change in correctional Essay - 1

What do you think is the most significant change in correctional policy in the last 100 year and why important - Essay Example In this system, culprits were sentenced to a fortification in a city square. â€Å"Punishments ranged from physical torture to corporal infliction of pain which were executed in public† (Latessa). However, in the southern states of America convicts were used to provide labor for the state and to the rich private entrepreneurs. Duffee asserts â€Å"Inmates were often held in chains where they worked together in private sector while living in poorly managed camps owned by rich businessmen†. The suffering, torture and other forms of mistreatment inflicted on the prisoners prompted political and human rights activists into action and immediately called for observance of human rights. This effort saw stoppage of prisoners’ labor in private firms. In addition, correctional facilities had to be established at a central location to ensure that basic facilities were availed in response to the convicts’ demands and reasons for the riot. Prisoners were subjected to a fairly just treatment and allowed to wear clothes though chained onto rings around their ankles. Several other changes in policies have taken place since then, with the most outstanding change in policy taking place after the First World War. Currently, the new prisons structures in the world have a provision for inmates’ education as well as other important facilities. But what goal should education serve in the prisoner’s life? Sutherland asserts thus â€Å"the objective of prison education in its broadcast sense should be socialization of inmates through varied impression and expressional activities, with emphasis on individual inmate needs†. Therefore the aim of educational programs in penal institutions should be to equip prisoners with necessary skills and the ability to view life in a positive attitude. The changes witnessed today is a product of political and human rights activism that