Correctional Theory

2514 Words6 Pages

INTRODUCTION
Rehabilitation is firmly entrenched in the history of corrections in the United States. Penitentiaries, for example were formed in 1820 with the belief that offenders could be morally reformed (Cullen, & Jonson, 2012, pp. 27-28). In 1870). The National Congress on Penitentiary and Reformatory Discipline documented the merits of rehabilitation (Wines, 1871, p. 457). However, by the end of the 1960s, the United States had experienced several years of discontent within its prison systems which resulted in a national call for prison reform and the development of a disillusionment with rehabilitation (Martinson, 1974, p. 22). In 1966, Robert Martinson was hired to evaluate the effectiveness of rehabilitation, the result of which was his infamous “What Works?” paper, in which he posits that empirical evidence does not support rehabilitation (p. 23). By the mid-1970s, correctional policy shifted from one emphasizing rehabilitation to one emphasizing just desserts/retribution, deterrence and incapacitation (Cullen, & Jonson, 2012, p. 22). The result of these “get-tough” policies, which sought to control crime through strict laws and lengthy sentences, was unprecedented growth in our custodial population, which we can no longer support, either financially or spatially (p. 1).
EVIDENCE-BASED CORRECTIONS
Evidence-based corrections advocates for the use of empirically sound data to determine effective correctional policies and practices and is important for many reasons (Cullen, & Jonson, 2012, p. 4). For example, growing prison populations are consuming resources at an alarming rate (MacKenzie, 2000, pp 457). As such, budget cuts must be made in other areas (Cullen, & Jonson, 2012, p. 4). However, most significant is the fact t...

... middle of paper ...

...93). Intensive probation and parole (Vol. 17). In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and justice: A review of research. 281-335. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved November 5, 2013 from http://heinonline.org.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/ HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/cjrr17&id=289#289.

Spelman, W. (2000). What recent studies do (and don’t) tell us about imprisonment and crime (Vol. 23). In M. Tonry (Ed.), Crime and Justice: A Review of Research (pp. 419-494). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Retrieved November 11, 2013 from http://heinonline.org.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/HOL/Page?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/cjrr27&id=427#427.

Wines, E. C. (Ed.). (1871). Declaration of principles adopted and promulgated by the Congress. Transactions of the National Congress on Penitentiary and Reformatory Discipline. 541-548. Albany, NY: Weed, Parsons.

Open Document