Prisons
A prison is a place of confinement. When a person is a convected of a crime they are placed in a prison as punishment for their crimes. There are many different types of prisons. The forms of prisons are jails, work camps, police lockups, detention centers, federal and state prisons. Only convicted crimnals who are sentenced to a year or more of jail time are sent to prisons.
The People in Prisons
In the U.S there are about a half million minors in prison. The largest percent of crimes are commited by male high-school dropouts between the ages of 18-29. The largest percent of crimnals have commited violent crimes. Only about 5 percent of Inmates are females.
The Types of Prisons
Jails: Jails are facilities designed to hold crimnals waiting for a trial. They are also designed to to hold inmates serving twelve months or less for the crimes they commited. Most cities have at least one jail.
Federal Prisons: People convicted of federal crimes are sent to a federal prison. Some examples of federal crimes are: smuggling drugs across state lines and not paying taxes.
State Prisons: State prisons are designed to hold people convicted of crimes of the state, or of crimes commited in that state.
Rehabilitation Programs: Rehabilitation programs are designed to prepare inmates for their return to society. They have programs such as education and job skill.
Minimum Security Prisons: They are the most open and least resricted prisons. They hold about 20% of the inmates in the U.S. Most are convicted of non-violent crimes such as forgery, cheating on taxes, and perjury. They are considered unlikely to try to escape. They range in size from small farms to large institutions.
Medium Security Prisons: They are more open then maximum security but less open than minimum security prisons. They hold about 45% of U.S prisoners. The inmates are convicted of crimes such as assault and thefts.
Maximum Security Prisons: They generally hold prisoners serving longer sentences. They hold about 35% Of U.S prisoners. Inmates are convicted of crimes such as murder, kidnapping and other felonies.