Uses and Purposes of Classification Within Prison Facilities
Uses and Purposes of Classification within Prison Facilities
Kaplan University
CJ 130: Unit 7 Assignment
July 2, 2013
Classifications systems help minimize the potential for prison violence, escape, and institutional misconduct. During the past two decades, professionals in prisons and those in other correctional systems worked assiduously to improve their approaches to classifying offenders according to custody, work, and programming needs. As a result of these efforts, criteria for custody decisions have been validated, custody decisions are more consistent, prisoner program needs are assessed more systematically, and institutional violence has declined (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2004, pg.3). In this short essay I will be looking at the external and internal classifications in my home area, Lincoln, Nebraska.
External versus Internal Prisoner Classification Systems External classification refers to what type of security level an offender will be sentenced to. This in turn, will determine a prisoner’s custody classification and which facility they will be assigned. Internal classification governs facility-level decisions such as where and with whom the prisoner will be h used, the types of programs and services to which the prisoner should be assigned, and the prison industry or work assignment most appropriate for the prisoner. Most often, the intent of internal classification systems is to ensure that prisoners who are at risk for placement in a special management population are supervised accordingly. Minimizing classification errors requires both external and internal classification systems (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2004, pg. 9).
External prisoner classification Shortly after a prisoner is admitted to the prison system, the external classification system places the prisoner in one of several custody levels that directly affects the type of facility to which the prisoner will be assigned and, once there, the level of supervision the prisoner will
Kaplan University
CJ 130: Unit 7 Assignment
July 2, 2013
Classifications systems help minimize the potential for prison violence, escape, and institutional misconduct. During the past two decades, professionals in prisons and those in other correctional systems worked assiduously to improve their approaches to classifying offenders according to custody, work, and programming needs. As a result of these efforts, criteria for custody decisions have been validated, custody decisions are more consistent, prisoner program needs are assessed more systematically, and institutional violence has declined (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2004, pg.3). In this short essay I will be looking at the external and internal classifications in my home area, Lincoln, Nebraska.
External versus Internal Prisoner Classification Systems External classification refers to what type of security level an offender will be sentenced to. This in turn, will determine a prisoner’s custody classification and which facility they will be assigned. Internal classification governs facility-level decisions such as where and with whom the prisoner will be h used, the types of programs and services to which the prisoner should be assigned, and the prison industry or work assignment most appropriate for the prisoner. Most often, the intent of internal classification systems is to ensure that prisoners who are at risk for placement in a special management population are supervised accordingly. Minimizing classification errors requires both external and internal classification systems (U.S. Dept. of Justice, 2004, pg. 9).
External prisoner classification Shortly after a prisoner is admitted to the prison system, the external classification system places the prisoner in one of several custody levels that directly affects the type of facility to which the prisoner will be assigned and, once there, the level of supervision the prisoner will
References: Nebraska Department of Corrections. (2013). Intake Procedures. Retrieved from http://www.corrections.state.ne.us/intake.html U.S. Department of Justice: National Institute of Corrections. (2004). Objective Prison Classification: Guide for Correctional Agencies. Washington:D.C. Retrieved from http://www.jfa-associates.com/publications/pcras/06_ObjClass2004.pdf