Criminology

Jails are institutions used to rehabilitate people with behavior that is not acceptable within the society. They are established by the legal systems of a country as centers of punishment to people who have disobeyed the laws of the country. Jails are used to take away the freedom of the people convicted of illegal activities to enable them change their behavior (Tonry, 2000).

The purpose of jails in society
They serve as correction centers. They are established to keep people convicted of crimes for a long period of time. Jails have the authority to hold detainees as well as lawbreakers who commit crimes. These institutions are used to house inmates as they wait to be transferred to federal or state prisons (Tonry, 2000). Jails serve as centers for counseling and treatment to people to prevent them from committing crimes in the future. They are institutions which are used as correction centers for behavior that is not acceptable by the laws of the country. It is an obligation of the jail to prevent the jailbirds from becoming tomorrows prisoners. Jails operate community-based corrections programs, for example, home confinement and electronic monitoring. Jails are used to keep excess prisoners when the state and federal prisons are saturated (Tonry, 2000). Jails are used to hold people charged with crimes as they await trial. They receive individuals as they wait to be tried, convicted or sentenced. Juveniles are detained in jails before they are transferred to juvenile authorities. The mentally ill persons are held in the jails before they are transferred to health facilities (Tonry, 2000).

Effectiveness of the current jail system
The current system is not effective. The population of the jails is expanding at an alarming rate and most of the inmates are former prisoners. The jails have failed to serve their purpose to correct the behavior of the inmates. Jails are overcrowded and the inmates become worse than before. The management of the jails is unable to handle the increasing number of inmates and few corrective activities are being done.

The jail terms are too short and the prisoners do not benefit from the rehabilitation process. There are few treatment facilities for the rehabilitation process. Some jails lack such facilities and do not rehabilitate their prisoners at all (Tonry, 2000).

Conclusion
Jails are used for rehabilitation for people with behaviors not acceptable by the laws of a country. They are used to hold people awaiting trials, the insane and juveniles as they wait to be taken to their respective authorities. The jail system has failed to be effective in accomplishing its mandate due to the few facilities as well as the increasing population of the jails.