Compare the observable trends in adult corrections from 2000 to 2008 in each region—the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West—and for the United States as a whole.

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As part of the criminal justice process, corrections play a very important role for society and public policy. You will become familiar with the trends in local, state, and federal prison populations for the period of 2000–2008. If you desire a career in corrections, you will gain knowledge to help you be better prepared when entering into the corrections workplace. If you are not opting corrections as a career, you will still gain a foundational knowledge of the data used to drive policy decisions in this critical criminal justice entity.

You have been selected for the position of deputy director of public safety and corrections for your state. Your first duty is to prepare for your first top-level meeting with department personnel. Using the data from Prisoners in 2008, (Cooper, Sabol, & West, 2009), you will produce a 10-page paper (title page, abstract, 7 pages of content, and a references page) that summarizes the article and explains how this data influences the decision making for the prison population that you will experience in your new role as deputy director of your state’s Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

Instructions:

  • Synthesize what you have learned from the charts, graphs, and article content about local, state, and federal prisoners from 2000 to 2008.
  • Discuss admissions and releases and the percentage of change from 2000 to 2008 in state and federal prisons by race, sex, and type of release—conditional versus unconditional.
  • Compare the observable trends in adult corrections from 2000 to 2008 in each region—the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West—and for the United States as a whole.
  • Identify and explain the variations between regional data for adult corrections in the Northeast, Midwest, South, and West from 2000 to 2008.
  • Explain the implications of the data from 2000 to 2008 and how this data will influence your decisions for the prison population in your new role as deputy director of your state’s Department of Public Safety and Corrections.