Conjugal Visits In Prison

The United States Correctional System is part of the criminal justice system which focuses in supervising offending offenders under the authority of probation or parole agencies and those incarcerated in state or federal prisons or local jails. Throughout the years, the prison system has revolutionized from focusing on custody to rehabilitation, and then shifting into crime control. In today’s prison system, correction facilities have emphasized the importance of incarceration by focusing on crime control. However, this focus on crime control has allowed several states to implement conjugal visits on inmates in prison. Conjugal visits permit an inmate to spend several hours in a private room with a visitor, usually a legal spouse. The private rooms are generally supplied with soap, condoms, lubricant, bed linen, and towels. The inmate and the visitor may engage in sexual intercourse inside the private rooms. Controversial arguments have been polemically developed in concerns to conjugal visits. In my opinion, conjugal visits should not be allowed …show more content…
In the context of the programs, families engage in conversations, watch television, play games, cook and have sexual relationship. According to Gordon (1998), “Family reunion programs can reduce strains on the inmates relations with their families and improve the inmates’ post release success”(p.508). This great fun programs offered on conjugal visits can reduce the strains and improve post release success. These enjoyable programs can be beneficial, but they can also bring family disputes. If there is resentment with the family while participating in the programs, it can lead to physical violence. Inmates are known to act violent under circumstances such as losing a game or disagreeing with a family conversation. Therefore, conjugal visit programs causes issues with the