![HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX.jpg)
In
criminal justice
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
, particularly in
North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are
umbrella term
In linguistics, semantics, general semantics, and ontologies, hyponymy () is a semantic relation between a hyponym denoting a subtype and a hypernym or hyperonym (sometimes called umbrella term or blanket term) denoting a supertype. In other wor ...
s describing a variety of functions typically carried out by
government agencies
A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administratio ...
, and involving the
punishment,
treatment, and
supervision of persons who have been
convicted
In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is co ...
of
crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
s.
These functions commonly include
imprisonment,
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
, and
probation
Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration.
In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...
.
[ Bryan A. Garner, editor, '' Black's Law Dictionary'', 9th ed., West Group, 2009, , 0-314-19949-7, p. 396 (or p. 424 depending on the volume)] A typical ''correctional institution'' is a
prison
A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...
. A ''correctional system'', also known as a ''penal system'', thus refers to a network of agencies that administer a
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
J ...
's prisons, and community-based programs like parole, and probation boards. This system is part of the larger
criminal justice system
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
, which additionally includes
police
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
,
prosecution
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...
and
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in acco ...
s.
Jurisdictions throughout
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the
US have ministries or departments, respectively, of corrections, correctional services, or similarly-named agencies.
![Taliban beating woman in public RAWA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Taliban_beating_woman_in_public_RAWA.jpg)
"Corrections" is also the name of a
field of academic study concerned with the theories, policies, and programs pertaining to the practice of corrections. Its object of study includes personnel training and management as well as the experiences of those on the other side of the fence — the unwilling subjects of the correctional process.
Stohr and colleagues (2008) write that "Earlier scholars were more honest, calling what we now call corrections by the name
penology
Penology (from "penal", Latin '' poena'', "punishment" and the Greek suffix '' -logia'', "study of") is a sub-component of criminology that deals with the philosophy and practice of various societies in their attempts to repress criminal activiti ...
, which means the study of punishment for crime."
[
]
Terminology
The idea of "corrective labor" ( ru , исправительные работы) in
Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
dates back as far as December 1917.
From 1929 the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
started using the terminology
"corrective-labor camps" (russian: исправительно-трудовые лагеря (ИТЛ))
and
"corrective labor colonies" (russian: исправительно-трудовые колонии (ИТК)).
The terminology change in US academia from "penology" to "corrections" occurred in the 1950s and 1960s which was driven by a new philosophy emphasizing
rehabilitation. It was accompanied by concrete changes in some prisons, like giving more privileges to inmates, and attempting to instill a more communal atmosphere. At least nominally, most prisons became "correctional institutions", and guards became "correctional officers".
Although the corrections-related terminology continued thereafter in US correctional practice, the philosophical view on offenders' treatment took an opposite turn in the 1980s, when academics labeled th
"get tough"program a
"The New Penology"
Community Based Corrections
Community Based Corrections are sanctions imposed on convicted adults or adjudicated juveniles that occur in a residential or community setting outside of jail or prison. The sanctions are enforced by agencies or courts with legal authority over the adult or juvenile offenders.
Community Based Corrections can focus on both of adults and juveniles, attempting to rehabilitate them back into the community. In contrary to the "
tough on crime" mindset which expresses harsh punishment, this community based correctional method seeks to
transition offenders back into the community.
Sentences
In Canada, until 1972, the Criminal Code legislated that courts could impose a form of whipping on male offenders, to be administered on up to three occasions, but did not limit the number of strokes. Whipping of female offenders was not allowed. The whipping could be inflicted using a strap,
cat-o'-nine-tails, or a paddle unless specified by the court.
Abolition of Corporal Punishment 1972
Correctional Service of Canada
The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC; french: Service correctionnel du Canada), also known as Correctional Service Canada or Corrections Canada, is the Canadian federal government agency responsible for the incarceration and rehabilitation of ...
The move to abolish corporal punishment in the Canadian penal system coincided with several reforms and a change from the ''Reform Institutions'' label to ''Corrections'' or ''Correctional''.
Intermediate sanctions may include sentences to a halfway house
A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves.
As well as serving as a ...
or community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...
program, home confinement
In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allo ...
, and electronic monitoring. Additional sanctions may be financial and may include fines Fines may refer to:
* Fines, Andalusia, Spanish municipality
* Fine (penalty)
* Fine, a dated term for a premium on a lease of land, a large sum the tenant pays to commute (lessen) the rent throughout the term
*Fines, ore or other products with a s ...
, forfeiture, and restitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court ...
; these are sometimes applied in combination.
Theories
The use of sanctions, which can be either positive (rewarding) or negative ( punishment) is the basis of all criminal theory, along with the main goals of social control, and deterrence of deviant behavior.
Many facilities operating in the United States adhere to particular correctional theories. Although often heavily modified, these theories determine the nature of the facilities' design and security operations. The two primary theories used today are the more traditional Remote Supervision and the more contemporary direct supervision model. In the Remote Supervision Model, officers observe the inmate population from remote positions, e.g., towers or secure desk areas. The Direct Supervision Model positions prison officers within the inmate population, creating a more pronounced presence.
List of Departments of Corrections
United States
* Alabama Department of Corrections
* Alaska Department of Corrections
* Arizona Department of Corrections
*Arkansas Department of Correction
The Arkansas Department of Corrections (DOC), formerly the Arkansas Department of Correction, is the state law enforcement agency that oversees inmates and operates state prisons within the U.S. state of Arkansas. DOC consists of two divisions, t ...
*California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the penal law enforcement agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacram ...
*Colorado Department of Corrections
The Colorado Department of Corrections is the principal department of the Colorado state government that operates the state prisons. It has its headquarters in the Springs Office Park in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado, near Colorado Sp ...
*Connecticut Department of Correction
The Connecticut Department of Correction (DOC) is the agency responsible for corrections in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The agency operates 18 correctional facilities. It has its headquarters in Wethersfield.
History
The correctional syste ...
*Delaware Department of Correction
The Delaware Department of Correction is a state agency of Delaware that manages state prisons. It has its headquarters in the Central Administration Building in Dover. At one time the headquarters was located in Smyrna.
Prisons
* Delores J. B ...
*District of Columbia Department of Corrections The District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DCDC) is a correctional agency responsible for the adult jails and other adult correctional institutions for the District of Columbia, in the United States.http://doc.dc.gov/doc/cwp/view,a,3,q,491 ...
* Florida Department of Corrections
*Georgia Department of Corrections
The Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) is an agency of the U.S. state of Georgia operating state prisons. The agency is headquartered in Forsyth, on the former campus of Tift College.
Headquarters
The GDC has its offices in Gibson Hall, ...
*Guam Department of Corrections The Guam Department of Corrections (DEPCOR, Chamorro: Depattamenton Mangngurihi) is an agency of the government of the United States territory of Guam that operates the island's correctional facilities.
The facility headquarters and main facility a ...
* Hawaii Department of Public Safety
*Idaho Department of Correction
The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) operates nine prisons, four community release centers and 20 probation and parole offices in seven districts located throughout the state of Idaho. The agency has its headquarters in Boise.
IDOC employs a ...
*Illinois Department of Corrections
The Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the adult state prison system. The IDOC is led by a director appointed by the Governor of Illinois, and its headquarters are in Sp ...
*Indiana Department of Correction
The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) operates state prisons in Indiana. It has its headquarters in Indianapolis.
As of 2019, the Indiana Department of Correction housed 27,140 adult Inmates, 388 juvenile Inmates, employed 5,937 State Empl ...
*Iowa Department of Corrections
The Iowa Department of Corrections is a state agency operating prisons in Iowa. It has its headquarters in Des Moines.
Facilities
The Iowa Department of Corrections operates nine adult facilities through the state. Iowa does not contract with ...
*Kansas Department of Corrections
The Kansas Department of Corrections is a cabinet-level agency of Kansas that operates the state's correctional facilities, both juvenile and adult; the state's parole system; and the state's Prisoner Review Board. It is headquartered in Topeka ...
*Kentucky Department of Corrections
The Kentucky Department of Corrections is a state agency of the Kentucky Justice & Public Safety Cabinet that operates state-owned adult correctional facilities and provides oversight for and sets standards for county jails. They also provide trai ...
*Louisiana Department of Public Safety & Corrections
The Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C) (French: ) is a state law enforcement agency responsible for the incarceration of inmates and management of facilities at state prisons within the state of Louisiana. The agency is headquart ...
*Maine Department of Corrections
The Maine Department of Corrections is a state agency of Maine that is responsible for the direction and general administrative supervision, guidance and planning of both adult and juvenile correctional facilities and programs within the state. T ...
*Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services
The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) is a government agency of the State of Maryland that performs a number of functions, including the operation of state prisons. It has its headquarters in Towson, Maryland, ...
*Massachusetts Department of Correction
The Massachusetts Department of Correction is responsible for operating the prison system of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The Massachusetts Department of Correction is responsible for the custody of about 8,292 prisone ...
*Michigan Department of Corrections
The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) oversees prisons and the parole and probation population in the state of Michigan, United States. It has 31 prison facilities, and a Special Alternative Incarceration program, together composing appr ...
*Minnesota Department of Corrections
The Minnesota Department of Corrections is a state law enforcement agency of Minnesota that operates prisons. Its headquarters is in St. Paul.
As of 2010, the state of Minnesota does not contract with private prisons. The first and only private ...
*Mississippi Department of Corrections
The Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) is a state agency of Mississippi that operates prisons. It has its headquarters in Jackson. Burl Cain is the commissioner.
History
In 1843 a penitentiary in four city squares in central Jackson ...
*Missouri Department of Corrections
The Missouri Department of Corrections is the state law enforcement agency that operates state prisons in the U.S. state of Missouri. It has its headquarters in Missouri's capital of Jefferson City.
The Missouri Department of Corrections has 21 ...
*Montana Department of Corrections
The Montana Department of Corrections is a state agency of Montana that operates state prisons and manages community-corrections programs. The agency has its headquarters in Helena.
Adult secure facilities
;Male
* Montana State Prison (''Unin ...
*Nebraska Department of Correctional Services
The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) is the state corrections agency for the U.S. state of Nebraska. NDCS currently has 9 institutions confining over 5,000 inmates. All male inmates coming into the system enter through the Dia ...
*Nevada Department of Corrections
The Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Nevada. The NDOC headquarters is located on the property of the Stewart Indian School in Carson City.
History
In 1862, the first prison in Nevada was crea ...
*New Hampshire Department of Corrections
The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is the government agency in the U.S. state of New Hampshire charged with overseeing the state correctional facilities, supervising probation and parolees, and serving in an advisory capacity in the pr ...
*New Jersey Department of Corrections
The New Jersey Department of Corrections (NJDOC) is responsible for operations and management of prison facilities in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The department operates 13 major institutions—seven adult male correctional facilities, three ...
*New Mexico Corrections Department
The New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD; es, Departamento de Correcciones de Nuevo México) is a state agency of New Mexico, headquartered in unincorporated Santa Fe County, near Santa Fe. It the department operates corrections facilities, ...
*New York State Department of Correctional Services
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
**New York City Department of Correction
The New York City Department of Correction (NYCDOC) is the branch of the municipal government of New York City responsible for the custody, control, and care of New York City's imprisoned population, housing the majority of them on Rikers Islan ...
*North Carolina Department of Correction
The North Carolina Department of Correction (NCDOC) is the agency responsible for corrections in the U.S. state of North Carolina. NCDOC merged with several departments in 2012, and now falls under the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.
...
*North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
The North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) provides prison services for the U.S. state, state of North Dakota. The Division of Field Services supervises parolees through 14 field offices. DOCR also has a Division of Juv ...
*Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The st ...
*Oklahoma Department of Corrections
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections (DOC or ODOC) is an agency of the state of Oklahoma. DOC is responsible for the administration of the state prison system. It has its headquarters in Oklahoma City, across the street from the headquarters ...
*Oregon Department of Corrections
The Oregon Department of Corrections is the agency of the U.S. state of Oregon charged with managing a system of 12 state prisons since its creation by the state legislature in 1987. In addition to having custody of offenders sentenced to prison ...
*Pennsylvania Department of Corrections
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (PADOC) is the Pennsylvania state agency that is responsible for the confinement, care and rehabilitation of approximately 37,000 inmates at state correctional facilities funded by the Commonwealth of P ...
*Puerto Rico Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
The Puerto Rico Department of Correction and Rehabilitation () is the law enforcement executive department of the government responsible for structuring, developing, and coordinating the public policies in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territ ...
*
*South Carolina Department of Corrections
The South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) is the agency responsible for corrections in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It currently has about 4,500 employees and just over 15,000 inmates, in 21 institutions. The agency has its headqu ...
* South Dakota Department of Corrections
*Tennessee Department of Correction
The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) is a Cabinet-level agency within the Tennessee state government responsible for the oversight of more than 20,000 convicted offenders in Tennessee's fourteen prisons, three of which are privately man ...
*Texas Department of Criminal Justice
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...
(formed from the Texas Department of Corrections)
*Utah Department of Corrections
The Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) is a government agency dedicated to the management and supervision of convicted felons in the U.S. state of Utah. It is currently led by the Executive Director Brian Nielson. It has its headquarters in t ...
*Vermont Department of Corrections
The Vermont Department of Corrections is an executive agency of the U.S. state of Vermont charged with overseeing correctional facilities, supervising probation and parolees, and serving in an advisory capacity in the prevention of crime and juv ...
*Virginia Department of Corrections
The Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) is the government agency responsible for community corrections and operating prisons and correctional facilities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The agency is fully accredited b ...
*Washington State Department of Corrections
The Washington State Department of Corrections (WADOC) is a department of the government of the state of Washington (state), Washington. WADOC is responsible for administering adult corrections programs operated by the State of Washington. This in ...
*West Virginia Department of Corrections
The West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation is an agency of the U.S. state of West Virginia within the state Department of Homeland Security that operates the state's prisons, jails and juvenile detention facilities. The agency ha ...
*Wisconsin Department of Corrections
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WIDOC) is an administrative department in the executive branch of the state of Wisconsin responsible for corrections in Wisconsin, including state prisons and community supervision. The secretary is a cab ...
*Wyoming Department of Corrections
The Wyoming Department of Corrections (WDOC) is a state agency of Wyoming that operates adult correctional facilities. It is headquartered in Suite 100 of the 1934 Wyott Drive building in Cheyenne.
History
Wyoming entered the Union in 1890. As a ...
*Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...
Other countries
* Department of Corrections (New Zealand)
The Department of Corrections (Māori: ''Ara Poutama Aotearoa'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with managing the New Zealand corrections system. Corrections' role and functions were defined and clarified with the passing ...
* Department of Corrections (Thailand)
The Department of Corrections ( th, กรมราชทัณฑ์, ) is an agency of the Thai Ministry of Justice. Its mission is to keep prisoners in custody and rehabilitate them. Its headquarters is in Suanyai Sub-district, Mueang Nonthabur ...
See also
*American Correctional Association
The American Correctional Association (ACA; called the National Prison Association before 1954) is a private, non-profit, non-governmental trade association and accrediting body for the corrections industry, the oldest and largest such associati ...
* Death penalty
*Deterrence
Deterrence may refer to:
* Deterrence theory, a theory of war, especially regarding nuclear weapons
* Deterrence (penology), a theory of justice
* Deterrence (psychology)
Deterrence in relation to criminal offending is the idea or theory that t ...
*Individual rights
Group rights, also known as collective rights, are rights held by a group '' qua'' a group rather than individually by its members; in contrast, individual rights are rights held by individual people; even if they are group-differentiated, which ...
*National Commission on Correctional Health Care
The National Commission on Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the standard of care in the field of correctional health care in the United States. With support from the major national ...
*National Institute of Corrections The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) is an agency of the United States government. It is part of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
History
The NIC was created by the United States Congress in 1974, based on the recommendation of the National ...
*National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) was originally created in 1994 as a program of the National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Office of Science and Technology.
Resources
The ''States, Major Cities and Counties ...
*National Prison Rape Elimination Commission
The National Prison Rape Elimination Commission (NPREC) was a U.S. bipartisan panel established by the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act. The commission was charged with studying sexual assaults in U.S. jails and prisons and presenting a report b ...
* Social control
*United States Bureau of Justice Statistics
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) of the U.S. Department of Justice is the principal federal agency responsible for measuring crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, victims of crime, correlates of crime, and the operation of cri ...
Juvenile corrections
* Juvenile court
* Juvenile delinquency
* Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
*Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is an office of the United States Department of Justice and a component of the Office of Justice Programs. The OJJDP publishes the JRFC Databook on even numbered years for informat ...
References
Further reading
*
*
{{Authority control
Criminal law
Penology