This chapter focuses on the field of incarcerated corrections, specifically on the basic concept of punishment, where it comes from, and the different ideologies of why and how people are punished. After overviewing punishment, we will discuss the emergence of prisons and jails in the U.S. and compare how the design and supervision styles of these facilities serve different purposes. We will break down the differences in incarcerated populations, facility levels, and governance between jails, state prisons, federal facilities and privatized prisons. Finally we will review correctional support for Crime Prevention Science solutions and learn more about the role of a corrections officer.

Author’s Note – To be noted in this chapter, the term individual or person has been used throughout the sections to bring attention to the real people who have found themselves within the justice system and have and are experiencing the ups and downs of this system. This was done to be mindful and respectful of them as individuals. Oregon recently legally changed these terms to no longer refer to individuals who are incarcerated as inmates or prisoners but instead to refer to them as Adults in Custody (AICs) or Youth in Custody (YICs). Many organizations across the nation have also turned to using terms like Justice-Involved Individuals (JIIs), allowing for these titles to be temporary based on the state the individual is in during their involvement with the system and not a permanent negative label. There are places (specifically within cited works) though where the terms inmate, offender, prisoner, probationer, parolee, have been used, but only where needed for clarity purposes or to note a cited work or resource which used the term in their title or description. As this text was being written, it was extremely important to the authors to make this distinction and in every way possible to use these terms in a respectful and professional way.