The origins of corrections of the United States criminal justice system date back during the early colonization era. this practice was ascribed from European colonizing countries (May et al, 2007).
Corrections generally refer to “the supervision of persons arrested for, convicted of, or sentenced for criminal offenses” (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2012). Corrections carry varied functions and are performed by different government agencies, which are involved in imposing social control and lessening crimes through punishment and management of those who are sentenced (Stohr et al., 2008). Further, corrections are delimited to three main functions: (1) imprisonment. (2) parole. (3) probation (Garner, 2009).
By and large, any offender is not automatically sent to corrections. “the first exposure most people have to the criminal justice system is the police” (May et al., 2007) after committing any form of legal violation. Before an offender or suspected offender is forwarded to the corrections, the offender will have to undergo a trial on which he or she is given the chance to defend himself or herself against accusations or alleged suspicions. and to clear his or her name.
After being found guilty, the offender is now handed in to the corrections, wherein the offender will have to submit to a punishment. In history, punishments were stern and ruthless. Due to deficient resources to construct buildings in which convicted individuals would be incarcerated, early civilizations resorted to some grave punishments. “defendants who were found guilty were subjected to corporal punishment (physical punishments such as whippings)… or executed soon after the sentence was imposed” (May et al., 2007). However, less inhumane punishments such as shame was also employed as a form of condemnation.