NCJ Number
174578
Date Published
1998
Length
8 pages
Annotation
The jail system is discussed with respect to the purpose of jails, jail management, issues related to inmates requiring special management, suicide in jail, and jail security.
Abstract
The discussion notes that jails are primarily a function of local government and include three types: pretrial detention facilities for persons awaiting trial, sentenced facilities for persons serving sentences, and combination facilities for pretrial detentions and some convicted persons. Main jails need extensive repair. Many pose health hazards or fire hazards. Jail crowding has many negative consequences; officials recognize that separate decisions of different parts of the criminal justice system can interact to influence the number of jail admissions and the length of confinement. Jails with direct supervision contrast sharply with traditional jails; they combine the principles of human behavior and facility design to create detention settings that facilitate the correctional officers' effectiveness. Special-management inmates include the physically ill, alcoholics, disabled inmates, aggressive and assaultive inmates, the vulnerable inmate, the mentally ill, drug addicts, sex offenders, and suicidal inmates. Security is always given priority when hard choices are required between security and rehabilitation. Nevertheless, it is likely that the quality of jail personnel and jail facilities will steadily improve throughout the 1990s. Photographs, discussion and review questions, notes, and 10 references