I will be talking about the history and development of community based corrections. To start off, it is undoubtedly true that there is a need for alternatives to prison sentences simply due to the fact that both prisons and jails are overcrowded. Especially when Canada and the United States have the highest rates of incarceration of all Western democratic countries. Canadian prison and penitentiary populations are increasing rapidly by 12% between 1989/1990 and 22% in 1994/1995. In short, the need for options to avoid further jail and prison sentencing is arguably the main reason behind the development of community based corrections. As states continue to struggle for the appropriate resources to house offenders sentenced to longer periods of incarceration, the need for alternatives that allow the goals of punishment and rehabilitation to be met led to an increased use of reintegration strategies that include programs such as work release, half-way houses, fine options, and electronic monitoring. Community corrections, therefore, provides alternatives at both the front end and the back end of the correctional system. Meeting both the goals of punishing and rehabilitation. Probation is arguably the most common program of community corrections. Probation has been used as a means of avoiding further crowding in jails and prisons. You may think community corrections wouldn’t exist if not for the overcrowding problems rising in prisons, but this is untrue, as community corrections is often implemented in jurisdictions that do not have overcrowding problems.
It should also be considered that the use of community corrections often exists as a first choice among sanctions and that these programs are still heavily used today due to the fa...
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Lastly, during the late 1700s, judicial reprieve became popular for judges in England to use as an alternative method of punishment. Basically, judicial reprieve suspended sentences of incarceration as an act of mercy or leniency. It was used in cases where judges did not believe that incarceration was proportionate to the crime or in cases where no productive benefit was expected. Of course, this alternative was used for offenders who committed minor offences or were first-timers. While the offender was on reprieve, the offender kept their liberties and freedoms. Upon the expiration of a specified period of time, the offender was then able to apply to the Crown of England for a full pardon. Judicial reprieve has been said to be a method used by judges who, “recognized that not all offenders are dangerous, evil persons.”
Every civilization in history has had rules, and citizens who break them. To this day governments struggle to figure out the best way to deal with their criminals in ways that help both society and those that commit the crimes. Imprisonment has historically been the popular solution. However, there are many instances in which people are sent to prison that would be better served for community service, rehab, or some other form of punishment. Prison affects more than just the prisoner; the families, friends, employers, and communities of the incarcerated also pay a price. Prison as a punishment has its pros and cons; although it may be necessary for some, it can be harmful for those who would be better suited for alternative means of punishment.
Community based programs are alternative options available to juveniles, instead of incarceration that safely serves juveniles and give juveniles a second chance to become productive members of society. Community based programs aim to efficiently rehabilitate and prevent juvenile delinquency and reduce deviant behavior in juveniles (Alarid & Del Carmen, 2012).
Belshaw, S. H., Caudill, J. W., Delisi, M., and Trulson, C. R. (2011). A Problem of Fit: Extreme Delinquents, Blended Sentencing, and the Determinants of Continued Adult Sanctions. Criminal Justice Policy Review. 22(3) pp. 263
Community corrections have more advantages over incarceration and fewer disadvantages. Incarcerating people isn’t working that well and the biggest reason is the overcrowding of prisons. According to a chart in Schmalleger’s book, “prisoners compared vs. capacity” there has been overcrowding of prisons since 1980. We are putting more people in prisons than how much capacity they can actually hold. Not only has the prison population skyrocketed but it also costs a lot of money to house all of those people. Why should we send people to jail if they are convicted of a nonviolent crime when we could put them on probation so we don’t overfill prisons? 49% of convicted inmates committed a nonviolent crime. (Class 12/7/09) If we were to put nonviolent offenders on probation then that would make a lot of room for violent offenders.
The current criminal justice system is expensive to maintain. In North America the cost to house one prisoner is upwards of eighty to two hundred dollars a day (Morris, 2000). The bulk of this is devoted to paying guards and security (Morris, 2000). In contrast with this, community oriented programming as halfway houses cost less than the prison alternative. Community programming costs five to twenty five dollars a day, and halfway houses although more expensive than community programs still remain cheaper than prison (Morris, 2000). Tabibi (2015c) states that approximately ninety percent of those housed in prison are non-violent offenders. The treatment of offenders in the current system is understood to be unjust. By this, Morris (2000) explains that we consistently see an overrepresentation of indigenous and black people in the penal system. Corporate crimes are largely omitted, while street crimes are emphasized (Morris, 2000). This disproportionately targets marginalized populations (homeless, drug addicted and the poor) (Tabibi, 2015c). The current system is immoral in that the caging of people is highly depersonalized and troubling (Tabibi, 2015c). This is considered to be a barbaric practice of the past, however it is still frequently used in North America (Morris, 2000). Another moral consideration is with the labelling of youth as offenders in the criminal justice system (Morris, 2000). Morris (2000) argues that we should see youth crimes as a social failure, not as an individual level failure. Next, Morris (2000) classifies prisons as a failure. Recidivism rates are consistently higher for prisons than for other alternatives (Morris, 2000). The reason for this is that prisons breed crime. A school for crime is created when a person is removed from society and labeled; they become isolated, angry
Community correction is a term that refers to everything ranging from diversion before the trial to the punishments that follows after the trial. This refers to any way ranging to non imprisonment yet supervised ways used to deal with criminal offenders who are facing conviction or who has been convicted. (Beck et al., 2001). Probation as well as parole are the two most commonly way of dealing with the offenders though there are many ways such as being confined at home, electronic surveillance, day fines, community service shock probation and residential community supervision to mention but a few. The following are some of the intermediate sanction actions in the criminal corrections:
Introduction Alternatives to incarceration have been explored in recent years due to the overcrowding in the correctional system. Intermediate sanctions are one of those alternatives. Intermediate sanctions have long been used in the United States due to the benefits and options that it offers from saving money to reducing overcrowding, but it does, however, have its unfortunate flaws. There are many programs within intermediate sanctions that work, and some that fall behind. Intermediate sanctions are an alternative to the costly prison system, but to what end?
Intermediate sanctions are a new punishment option developed to fill the gap between traditional probation and traditional jail or prison sentences and to better match the severity of punishment to the seriousness of the crime. Intermediate sanctions served in the community now account for 15 percent of adjudicated juvenile cases (Puzzanchera, Adams, and Sickmund, 2011). All intermediate sanctions are enforced by the United States Criminal Justice System. The main purposes of intermediate sanctions: (1) better match the severity of punishment to the seriousness of the crime, (2) reduce institutional crowding, (3) control correctional costs. Primarily, this is a needed method of punishment to make offenders accountable for the extent of crime and if so let offenders live in their communities to fulfil punishment if not too extensive.
Zhang, S. X., Roberts, R. E. L., & Callanan, V. J. (2006). Preventing parolees from returning to prison through community-based reintegration. Crime & Delinquency, 52(4), 551-571.
Nieto, M. (1996). Community corrections punishments: An alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/96/08/
The proliferation of harsh mandatory sentencing policies has inhibited the ability of courts to sentence offenders in a way that permits a more "problem solving" approach to crime, as we can see in the most recent community policing and drug court movements today. By eliminating any consideration of the factors contributing to crime and a range of responses, such sentencing policies fail to provide justice for all. Given the cutbacks in prison programming and rates of recidivism, in some cases over 60% or more, the increased use of incarceration in many respects represents a commitment to policies that are both ineffective and unfair. I believe in equal, fair and measured punishment for all. I don't advocate a soft, or a hard approach to punishment. But we must take a more pragmatic look at what the consequences of our actions are when we close our e...
To support reintegration, correctional workers are to serve as advocates for offenders in dealing with government agencies assisting with employment counseling services, medical treatment, and financial assistance. They argued that corrections focal point should be increasing opportunities for the offenders, to become law abiding citizens and on providing psychological treatment. This model of corrections advocates avoiding imprisonment if possible for the offender and also in favor of probation, therefore offenders can obtain an education and vocational training that would help their adjustment in the community. In the community model corrections advocated for inmates incarcerated to spend very limited time in prison before been granted parole.
As the current prison structures and sentencing process continues to neglect the issues that current offenders have no change will accrue to prevent recidivism. The issue with the current structure of the prison sentencing process is it does not deal with the “why” the individual is an social deviant but only looks at the punishment process to remove the deviant from society. This method does not allow an offender to return back to society without continuing where they left off. As an offender is punished they are sentenced (removal from society) they continue in an isolated environment (prison) after their punishment time is completed and are released back to society they are now an outsider to the rapidly changing social environment. These individuals are returned to society without any coping skills, job training, or transitional training which will prevent them from continuing down th...
This essay has identified sanctions imposed on offenders including imprisonment and community corrections. Described how punishment is justified with the just desert and deterrence theory. Discussing the rate of individuals being imprison comparted to community, provided rates for assault which shows crime being maintained and community member feel safe enough to allow for this to
All over America, crime is on the rise. Every day, every minute, and even every second someone will commit a crime. Now, I invite you to consider that a crime is taking place as you read this paper. "The fraction of the population in the State and Federal prison has increased in every single year for the last 34 years and the rate for imprisonment today is now five times higher than in 1972"(Russell, 2009). Considering that rate along crime is a serious act. These crimes range from robbery, rape, kidnapping, identity theft, abuse, trafficking, assault, and murder. Crime is a major social problem in the United States. While the correctional system was designed to protect society from offenders it also serves two specific functions. First it can serve as a tool for punishing the offender. This involves making the offender pay for his/her crime while serving time in a correctional facility. On the other hand it can serve as a place to rehabilitate the offender as preparation to be successful as they renter society. The U.S correctional system is a quite controversial subject that leads to questions such as how does our correctional system punish offenders? How does our correctional system rehabilitate offenders? Which method is more effective in reducing crime punishment or rehabilitation? Our correctional system has several ways to punish and rehabilitate offenders.