What Is The Purpose Of Jails And Prisons

Jails and prisons mainly serve the same purpose of housing people who enter the criminal justice system. Jails are for inmate’s short term and are locally operated at a local level. In 2013, The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that there were 2,872 local jails in the U.S. Jails normally house those who have committed misdemeanors. People held in jails are often awaiting a trail, sentencing and the sentence term for jails is typically a year or less. Jails are for lower level offenders or people who have not yet been sentenced. Jails are correctional facilities that are administered by local law enforcement agencies like the county sheriff’s office or local department of corrections. Along with housing short term inmates, jails also confine offenders who are awaiting transportation to a prison, as well as housing the mentally ill and substance abusers who are waiting to be transferred to mental health or treatment facilities. …show more content…
Some staff beat inmates as punishments for breaking jail house rules and the living conditions were also horrible. Before the eighteenth century corporal punishment was used in jails and prisons to punish the inmates. Corporal punishment involved inflicting swift and harsh pain but not so much pain that it resulted in death. Whipping, branding, making inmates wear heavy objects around their necks and immobilizing the extremities or their heads were examples of how corporal punishment was used. It wasn’t until the 1700 was when jail reformers fought for more clean and safely operated jails and prisons. Reform of jails and prisons mainly focused on prisons and jail administration as well as the conditions that the inmates were living