Many people usually confuse the term jail and prison, and often use them interchangeably; however, there are differences which exists in terms of operation and purpose of each of these facilities. Even though both institutions serve a fundamental goal of incarceration (punishing law offenders), the rights, policies, and inmates daily live differs. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast prisons and jails by underlining the purpose and intent, and the type of inmates each facility house. Finally, a concluding paragraph of the observation made from the discussion.
Firstly, according to Kampinen (2015), jail is the first place where criminals (detainees) are taken when they are arrested. As such, a jail is a facility operated by local government organizations or local law enforcement such as sheriffs and is used for short-term, temporary detention of suspected or convicted criminals. These detainees can either be those who await for trial in a court of law or those that have been convicted of offenses of low-level that have one year or less sentences. Someone hold in a jail can be found innocent during a verdict. In contrast, prison is an institution run by state and federal government, which is intended to house convicts who have been tried, found guilty of crimes deemed severe by the legal systems, and are sentenced for long-term. In this case, state prisons are designed to hold convicts of a felony whereas federal prisons are intended to hold convicts of federal crimes like tax evasion, kidnapping, or bank robbery among others (Kampinen, 2015).
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Regarding the types of inmate, jails usually hold pretrial detainees, convicted criminals awaiting to be transferred to state or federal prisons, individuals convicted with crime and sentenced for one year or less, persons who are unable to pay for bails or fines charged by the court and contract prisoners from other countries or from federal government (Kampinen, 2015). Also, as Kampinen (2015) adds, jails house miscellaneous statuses, who are offenders facing detention of witness material, extradition to a different state, or participation in serious sanction programs. The population in jails are under the judicial jurisdiction, and therefore, detainees can be located in outside programs, released or assigned to other incarceration alternatives.
On the other hand, prisons exclusively house individuals serving a one year or more sentences. They include convicted offenders who are directly sentenced to prison, individuals who in the beginning sentenced to felony probation and have had revocation of the probation resulting in prison transfer, and individuals firstly sentenced to prison and released on extended supervision or parole but later have their statuses annulled resulting in prison return. As a result, upon arrival prison, inmates join the appropriate populations after being diagnosed and have commenced treatment (Kampinen, 2015). Concerning the purpose and intent of each facility, jails because of their short-term nature, are meant to provide educational needs, vocational needs, and substance abuse while managing the behavior of inmates.
Additionally, jails also operate boot camps, release programs, and other specialized services, which are all tailored towards helping the inmates to transform their lives and improve themselves to stand a better chance of avoiding to commit crimes and return to prison. On the other hand, prisons primarily serve four purposes including deterring crime, incapacitation, retribution, and rehabilitation (Zoukis, 2014). Deterrent to crime is in the sense the harsh conditions experienced will prevent or discourage convicts from committing future crimes, and also offer some rehabilitative or treatment programs for some social illnesses which may change a person never to desire to return to prison or commit another crime. Because of these, prisons offer programs such as education or trade training, which helps prisoners acquire their secondary degrees or GED. Also, some training that utilizes the skills and labor of inmates, entertainment, and recreational training, halfway house and work-release plans (Zoukis, 2014).
In conclusion, it is evident from the above discussion the differences between jails and prisons for those who confuse or use the term interchangeably. Besides, the differences they both have, there are some similarities which prisons and jails have such as the right of inmates to be visited, and some other rights which may, however, be limited by the conditions of the two facilities.
References
Kampinen, B. (2015). Jails and Prisons: Fact Sheet – Similarities and Differences.
Zoukis, C. (2014, April 16). The Purpose of Prison and the Measuring Stick of Recidivism. Zoukis Prisoner Resources . Retrieved February 12, 2018, from https://www.prisonerresource.com/prison-reform/the-purpose-of-prison-and-the-measuring-stick-of-recidivism/
