Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Senior Project

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hernandez, Sarah

Area of Concentration

Liberal Arts

Abstract

This senior project combines academic research with field experience as an intern at a correctional facility in South Florida. It examines the roles of corrections, policing, and the military and how each contributes to maintaining safety and order within society. Although all three systems share the common goal of protecting the public, they carry out that responsibility in different ways. Police officers focus on maintaining order and responding to incidents within communities, the military is responsible for defending the nation from external threats, and correctional systems manage individuals involved in the criminal justice process while also emphasizing supervision, structure, and rehabilitation. In this senior project, I explore the development and responsibilities of each system through academic research and examines how they differ while still working together within the larger criminal justice framework. In addition to scholarly sources, this thesis includes personal observation from an internship at a correctional facility in South Florida. This experience provided firsthand exposure to intake procedures, administrative tasks, security operations, and rehabilitation programs, helping connect classroom learning with real-world practice. Overall, the findings show that although corrections, policing, and the military operate separately, they are all essential in maintaining public safety and social order. This research also helped shape my career direction. While I initially considered all three fields, my experience and research led me to focus on corrections and policing as my intended career path moving forward.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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