CHAPTER 7
Jails: Detention and Short-Term Incarceration
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Describe the history of the jail and its current function in the criminal justice system.
3. Discuss the kinds of jails in the United States.
5. Outline the problem of bail and list the main alternatives to bail.
7. Describe new developments in jails and jail programs.
8. Critically assess the future of the jail.
LESSON PLAN
Correlated to PowerPoints
I. The Contemporary Jail: Entrance to the System
Learning Objective 1: Describe the history of the jail and its current function in the criminal
justice system.
A. Origins and Evolution
1. U.S. jails are direct descendants of feudal twelfth-century England.
2. Today’s word sheriff derives from English word shire reeve. The shire reeve
4. In the 1800s, the jail began to change in response to the penitentiary movement,
5. The juvenile reformatory movement and hospitals for the criminally insane
siphoned off some former jail inhabitants.
7. Incarcerated individuals were segregated by gender.
Media Tool
Visit http://www.aja.org/
o National Jail Standards
o Discuss this in class. What standards surprised you?
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Instructor’s Manual
B. Population Characteristics
Learning Objective 2: Describe who is in jail and why they are there.
1. Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Bureau of the Census conducted the first complete
3. Compared to the demographic characteristics of the general population, jail
residents are younger, disproportionally African American, and most are
4. One of the most troubling tends in jails is the disproportionate rate of
incarceration for African Americans.
a. From 1990 to 2008, the rate of incarceration for African Americans
Class Discussion/Activity
Research your state’s jail facilities. Locate statistics on incarcerated women versus men as well
as compare the various ethnicity groups. Discuss the differences in class.
See Assignment 1
C. Administration
Learning Objective 3: Discuss the kinds of jails in the United States.
1. Of the 3,163 U.S. jails, 80 percent have a county-level jurisdiction. Most are
administered by an elected sheriff.
a. There are additional 600 or so municipal jails.
2. The capacities of jails vary
a. The 145 jails with a rated capacity of 1,000 or more represent less than
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© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
b. The 10 largest jails hold 10 percent of the total national jail population.
3. Many argue that jails have outgrown police administration, as they are no
longer just a place to hold those awaiting trial.
4. Many jails still receive funds through a fee system, whereby the costs of
housing, food, and services are averaged, giving sheriffs a standard amount.
a. Some facilities skimp on food, services, and support in order to divert
the funds to its more visible law enforcement functions.
D. The Influence of Local Politics
Learning Objective 4: List the main issues facing jails today.
2. Regional jails are multi-jurisdictional and fiscally sound facilities, yet they have been
slow to catch on because local political and correctional leaders, reformers, and citizens
are negatively affected by them.
II. Pretrial Detention
A. Pretrial detention starts after arrest. For some, it is sheer terror.
B. Special Problems of People Held for Trial
1. Mental Health Problems
a. The number of residents with mental illnesses is increasing; however,
police have few alternatives for them.
2. Substance Dependency
a. About half of jail admissions nationally were under influence of alcohol
3. Medical needs
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a. Needs range from minor scrapes and bruises to major injuries sustained
4. Legal Needs
a. Accused individuals need information about what will happen prior to
5. The Rights of People Detained for Trial
a. Unlike people serving time, people detained for trial have not been
convicted; technically, they’re innocent.
C. Release from Detention
1. The average delay between arrest and sentencing is more than six months.
3. However, the proportion of people in jail who are there because they are
Media Tool
Visit http://www.mcso.org/
o Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office
o Discuss Sheriff Arpaio and his organizational politics.
What If Scenario
What factors would you consider inhumane that occur at a jail? What if incarcerated individuals
were not given televisions or other luxuries?
Chapter 7: Jails: Detention and Short-Term Incarceration
Class Discussion/Activity
Have students create a list of “amenities” they would remove from the jail system if they ran the
operations of a facility. Discuss what would be removed and why.
See Assignment 4
V. The Bail Problem and Alternatives
Learning Objective 5: Outline the problem of bail and list the main alternatives to bail.
A. The court is primarily concerned that the accused individual appears at the appointed
time to face charges.
B. Judges require the person to post bail to be released and the posted bail to be forfeited
if the accused individual fails to appear.
1. Problems with this system are as follows:
a. Most people accused of a crime are indigent and cannot afford even 10
2. To avoid the problems of bail, some jurisdictions have increased the use of
citations and summonses. Experiments with this approach indicate that it
effectively reduces demands for short-term detention space.
C. Release on Recognizance
2. Generally, these individuals have higher appearance rates than bailed accused
individuals. However, the rates of release vary due to requirement of a
3. Some jurisdictions have tried to augment ROR programs with some
supervision.
a. Probation type supervision
D. Pretrial Diversion: It is an alternative to adjudication based on the belief that formal
processing of people is not always beneficial because:
1. Many crimes are caused by special problems.
3. Diversion is cheaper than criminal justice processing.
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4. It might produce “net widening” effects.
E. Conduct During Pretrial Release
2. Most defendants (78 percent) on some form of pretrial release show up for
every court hearing.
3. More than one-fifth do not show up for court hearings.
5. A high rate of arrests for this population leads to questions about the
effectiveness of the pretrial system.
F. Preventive Detention
1. Accused individuals regarded as dangerous or likely to recommit while
awaiting trial are kept in jail for society’s protection.
3. The U.S. Supreme Court approved this preventive detention practice in Schall
v. Martin (1984) and United States v. Salerno (1987).
VI. People Sentenced to Jail
1. The person sentenced to jail presents special difficulties for the correctional
administrator.
3. Limitations of the jail’s facilities:
4. Most people who have committed misdemeanors have not graduated from high
school, and many are illiterate.
5. The jail facility places limits on program opportunities.
What If Scenario
What if you were convicted a crime and your bond was $5,000? What would you do in order to
get out of jail if given this opportunity?
See Assignment 2 and 5
VII. Issues in Jail Management
Learning Objective 6: Explain the problems of jail administration.
A. Legal Liability: Jail employees may be legally liable for their actions.
2. The threat of litigation has forced jails to develop basic humane practices for
managing incarcerated individuals.
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Chapter 7: Jails: Detention and Short-Term Incarceration
B. Jail Standards: A good way to deflect litigation is to develop standards for jail
operation that indicate the routine practices and procedures. Some argue standards should
be binding while others argue jails are too different for such inflexible standards to work.
1. They provide a means for management to evaluate performance of staff.
3. They indicate proactive management.
C. Personnel Matters—Local corrections workers are among the most poorly trained,
least educated, and worst paid employees in the criminal justice system.
1. Jails are typically understaffed.
2. Personnel turnover is very high.
D. Jail Crowding: The number of people confined in jails nearly reached crisis
proportions in the early 1990s.
2. Crowding produces management problems.
3. Possible solutions are as follows:
a. Increase the number of release options
b. Speed up trials
c. Work release programs to free up at least some of the day
Class Discussion/Activity
Have students research your local jail and determine how many people it can hold. Discuss the
concept of jail overcrowding and what should be done to curb this issue or if the issue does
occur, create a solution. Discuss in class.
VIII. The Jail Facility
Learning Objective 7: Describe new developments in jails and jail programs.
1. Almost 30 percent of all jail cells are 50 years old or more despite an unprecedented
construction boom to replace old facilities.
3. Many lack sufficient programming for incarcerated individuals to participate in. Idle
time can be dangerous.
4. The new-generation jail is both a design and a set of programs that attempt to use the
physical plant to improve the staff’s ability to manage the population and provide
5. Direct supervision approach:
a. Officers are in the same room with incarcerated individuals, not separated by
bars.
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b. Incarcerated individuals are given personal space and can stay in their cells to
pursue their interests.
Media Tool
Visit http://nicic.gov/
o National Institute for Corrections
o Discuss direct-supervision jails.
6. New structure offers advantages over the old form.
a. Economically flexible—a whole pod can be shut down when population is low.
b. Minimum standards for recreation time can be met.
c. Supervising staff is less demanding because they have autonomy to manage the
7. Problems with new generation jails are as follows:
a. It is hard to sell the concept to punitive public, as it may seem like coddling
8. Community model for jails
a. Based on social learning theory, the community model for jails begins with the
recognition that jails need a new culture for residents and staff that more closely
Class Discussion/Activity
Have your students research past designs of jails. Allow them to discuss the best possible option
for today’s convicted individuals. Discuss the pros/cons of the jail design they believe to be most
effective.
Chapter 7: Jails: Detention and Short-Term Incarceration
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What If Scenario
What if you are the sheriff of an older jail facility and it is beginning to deteriorate rapidly.
Conditions are becoming deplorable however you do not have the funds to make changes. What
will you do?
See Assignment 3
IX. The Future of the Jail
Learning Objective 8: Critically assess the future of the jail.
A. Few government functions in the United States are under assault from as many camps
as jails.
B. The jail’s importance to the criminal justice system has seldom been greater than it is
today.
C. Jail is an expensive item in county and municipal budgets.
2. Many jurisdictions are joining with others to build and maintain a single jail to
serve the needs of each.
What If Scenario
What if your county’s jail is overcrowded and building conditions are deteriorating? Despite
budget cuts, you must propose plans for the jail’s future at the next community meeting. What do
you say?
LECTURE NOTES
Although many people tend to use the words prison and jail interchangeably, it is important for
students to understand the distinctions between the two. For this reason, Chapter 7 focuses
exclusively on jails. Jail settings are unique. Students should recognize that jails house a very
When people think of incarceration, they tend to visualize prisons. However, many people who
are involved in the criminal justice system will not go to prison. However, many who are
involved in the system will experience the jail. Jails are the entryway to corrections. Review the
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The chapter also emphasizes a variety of problems associated with managing a jail. You can
contrast how these problems are different in a prison setting. Ask students what they picture
Finally, the authors emphasize that today we are at a critical point in the history of jails.
Therefore, when teaching about the future of the jail, be sure to review exactly why this point in
KEY TERMS
Lockup
A facility authorized to hold people before court appearances for up to 48 hours. Most lockups
(also called drunk tanks or holding tanks) are administered by local police agencies.
Regional jail
A facility operated under a joint agreement between two or more government units, with a jail
board drawn from representatives of the participating jurisdictions and having varying authority
over policy, budget, operations, and personnel.
Bail
Release on recognizance (ROR)
Pretrial release option used when the judge believes the person’s ties in the community are
sufficient to guarantee his or her appearance in court.
Chapter 7: Jails: Detention and Short-Term Incarceration
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© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
Day reporting center
A facility where people under pretrial release or with probation violations can attend daylong
intervention and treatment sessions.
Electronic monitoring
Community supervision technique, ordinarily combined with home confinement, that uses
electronic devices to maintain surveillance.
Pretrial diversion
Widening the net
Increasing the scope of corrections by applying a diversion program to people charged with
offenses less serious than those of the people the program was originally intended to serve.
Absconders
People who fail to appear for a court date for no legitimate reason.
Preventive detention
Detention of an accused person in jail to protect the community from crimes that he or she is
considered likely to commit if set free pending trial.
Podular unit
Self-contained living areas designed to hold 12–25 people, composed of individual cells for
privacy and open areas for social interaction. New-generation jails are made up of two or more
pods.
Direct supervision
A method of correctional supervision in which staff members have direct, continual physical
interaction with people confined in the jail.
Therapeutic justice
A philosophy of reorienting the jail experience from being mostly punitive to being mostly
rehabilitative.
Community model for jails
Instructor’s Manual
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Plan a visit to the local jail. Have students write about the experience. Have them address
the following: what surprised them, confused them, angered them, or struck them in any
2. Have students write about bail: What is it? Is this a reliable and effective system toward
achieving the supposed aims associated with bail? Why or why not? What might you
3. Have students act as Director of Corrections in your state. Ask them to respond to the
4. Ask students to generate a list of issues that would be considered political and discuss
5. Discuss the concept of preventive detention. Suppose you had a person within your
neighborhood who was convicted of multiple sex offenses against children. Ask students
to discuss how preventive detention would or would not be an effective deterrent to
ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Although the answers provided below will vary from student to student, the responses should
include at a minimum a discussion of the following key points.
1. How do local politics affect jail administration? Should political influence be as extensive
as it is? Does it help or hinder good correctional practices?
© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.