Institutional Corrections Positions Described

Local jails contain a population of people who are either awaiting trial (about 60% of the population of the jail) or who are serving time for misdemeanors. Jails hold both men and women and, if they are abiding by the law, never house juveniles. Juveniles are usually held in special facilities (called detention centers). Unlike detention centers, jails seldom offer treatment or rehabilitative programs. New generation jails are now appearing on the correctional scene.

Due to their expense, they are more often found at the county level where they may hold people from a number of municipalities. These jails provide more secure and safer living quarters, a much more pleasant working environment, and some efforts at treatment. Jails are staffed with officers, case workers, and administrators. The officers maintain security, the case workers aid inmates in day-to-day concerns or issues, and administrators are responsible for the overall functioning of the facility.

State prisons are staffed by the state government. Prisons refer to various secure facilities called farms, camps, ranches, reformatories, penitentiaries, and workhouses. Prisons hold individuals convicted of felony offenses who have been given sentences of one or more years. Training is often provided for all personnel working within the prison. These positions include correctional officers, recreation supervisors, case managers, and administrative staff, just to name a few.

Students interested in entering the field of institutional corrections will find the job market expanding over the next ten years. Hundreds of new prisons are currently under construction or being planned. Opportunities for upward mobility into positions with added responsibility and pay are readily available.

Our nation's federal prisons hold offenders who have violated federal laws (such as kidnapping, interstate drug trafficking, violations of federal gun control laws, etc.). The United States Federal Bureau of Prisons is responsible for operating this system of prisons. Pay within the federal system of prisons is generally higher than in the state prisons.

Recently, the private sector has become involved in the building and management of detention centers and prisons. Perhaps the most well known and largest private corporation in this field is the Corrections Corporation of America. The private sector offers employment opportunities for college graduates roughly similar to those provided by state prisons although it is not certain as to whether the benefits are as attractive as they are in state facilities.

In addition to the forms of institutional corrections discussed above, city, county, state, and the federal governments offer a mixture of services to people touched by the justice system. Included are services as varied as vocational rehabilitation, health care, youth service agencies, tutoring, and drug counseling. It is difficult to create a list of such agencies because every community has a different mixture of services. The most efficient way to determine what city and county services are offered is to check "social services" in the community you wish to work.

Probation and parole services are offered at the federal, state, county, and city levels. Many students want to be probation or parole officers. Such a desire is understandable given the treatment orientation of such a career. Probation officers work with offenders (both juveniles and adults) who have been convicted by a court and placed on probation instead of being sent to jail or prison. People on parole have served time for their most recent offense and are released from prison before the official end of their sentence if it was believed (by the Parole Board) that they may be released to be supervised by a parole officer in the community.

Services provided by a probation and parole officer depend upon the needs of each client and may include individual and family counseling, assisting clients in finding tutoring services, housing and employment, and a regular routine of checking-up on clients, writing reports, making recommendations, including pre-sentence investigations, to the court.

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