When it comes to criminal justice there are several other options to punish someone rather than incarceration, any of these options can be used in place of incarcerating someone based on the individual needs. Does the person who drinks habitually need to go to jail for their fifth DUI, or do they need alcoholism classes? At the same time sometimes incarceration is the only option. Incarceration is a very costly process, and leaves the person who is incarcerated “institutionalized” where all they know is the system, and do not know how to survive outside of it. It is all a cost versus benefit battle.
Problem solving courts can affect the entire judicial system by weeding out cases that can go to a drug court, traffic court, or whichever
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specialized court is available. In order for a deterrent to be effective punishment must be certain, swift, and severe. If there is cases that can go to specific courts, then the courts can get more cases in and make sure the swift factor is there. These specialized courts can also give out treatment punishment to better help an offender rather than just throwing them in jail, which can potentially help with overcrowding issues. Indeterminate sentencing is typically defined by having a set minimum and maximum amount of time that a person can serve in prison for a specific crime. Time can be added or subtracted depending on the persons behavior. Indeterminate sentencing pro is that you can be released early because of good behavior and it is effective at rehabilitating offenders. Since the parole boards determine the amount of time the person is to spend incarcerated, some people feel like the parole boards have too much power that should be in the hands of the judge. Probation has proved to be more effective than incarceration because it does not “institutionalize” a person.
People who go into jail or prison often get accustom to that way of life and that makes it extremely difficult to achieve recidivism. These people now have the stigma of being a convict. However probation allows that person to still keep their same job, and still lead a somewhat normal lifestyle as long as they stay out of trouble. This also keeps cost of the criminal justice system down because it cost less to have someone of probation than it does to keep someone incarcerated. Probation can be used more effectively if a probation officers caseload can be lowered to the point where they can do daily check-ups of all of their people of probation.
Intermediate sanctions are important because just like probation, because on paper they achieve the same goals as incarceration at a lower cost. They are also believed to more easily rehabilitate offenders, and conform to the norms of society more easily. On the flip side intermediate sanctions allow offenders to pay for their crimes without having to do hard time in the prison. Society wants to see a murderer rot in prison for the rest of his life not pay a fine and do
probation.
Overall, intermediate sanctions have pros and cons as opposed to the method of incarceration. Benefits that are present tend to correlate with the idea of helping both the offender and society, the ability to let an offender still be punished but not to the extent of being too harsh such as imprisonment, and the ability to not overcrowd jails and to focus on more severe cases. Now referring to the negative side of things, intermediate sanctions are very uncertain when it comes to the ethicacy and philosophy behind these
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.
Parole is a controversial issue because its vase ways to debate the challenges and problems that will exist. It’s like a side effect to medication based on one’s effectiveness belief. In like manner, the public media allows others who aren’t immediately effected to become tertiary, and secondary victims. It is the door to open opinions. An inmate is released from a sentence given parole and then assigned a parole and probation officer. The one thing that will make probation and parole successful is the supervision of the program and rehabilitation or residential treatment center. This will support the goal to maximize the good behavior and minimize the harmful behaviors of individuals. Probation is a good program because it’s a form of rehabilitation that gives inmates elevate space to obey rules and regulations. On the contrary, probation is risky just like any new diet plan that people use to
When an offender is sentenced to imprisonment, post sentencing considerations must be made based on an evaluation of the individual and this will determine the manner in which the prison sentence is served. Post sentencing considerations include security classifications, parole and continued detention orders. These offer different levels of incapacity, accessibility of rehabilitation programs and incentives for good behaviour, and are implicated in order to achieve justice through upholding the rights of the victim, the offender and the wider community.
As an alternative to incarceration, intermediate sanctions are most often used for non-violent offenders. Intermediate sanctions is a new option of punishment that was develop to better match the punishment with the seriousness of the crime for non-violent offenders. With this new kind of punishment, comes new responsibility for the offender to become a contributing member of his or her community (textbook, 131). The main way that offenders accomplish this is by learning new job skills and holding a stable job (textbook, 131). Along with the responsibility of job, offenders are sometimes ordered to do additional sanctions which includes, paying any fines, getting an education or even getting treatment if needed (textbook, 131). Offenders are, at times, ordered to do all of these. Intermediate sanctions can be implemented in several ways. It can be implemented during arraignment or the initial sentencing, after the offender agrees to treatment and has shown improvement to comply, or it can be implemented as a means to reduce the population in the correctional system (textbook, 131). This brings up the question of whether intermediate sanctions should be used ...
I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be on academic probation. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reviews all students at the end of both the fall and spring semester and summer term to determine their academic standing. Students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences must maintain a 2.0 cumulative KU GPA in order to be in good academic standing. Students below the cumulative KU GPA of 2.0 are placed on probation (KU.edu). Freshman and sophomores on Probation (between 0 – 59 completed hours)
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.
I. Alternatives to incarceration give courts more options. For example, it’s ridiculous that the majority of the growth in our prison populations in this country is due to slamming people in jail just because they were caught using drugs. So much of the crime on the streets of our country is drug-related--crime that would largely disappear if the massive profits brought on by drug criminalization were eliminated. You can reduce drug usage more efficiently, and at a lower cost, through treatment than through law enforcement.
The Criminal Justice system was established to achieve justice. Incarceration and rehabilitation are two operations our government practices to achieve justice over criminal behavior. Incarceration is the punishment for infraction of the law and in result being confined in prison. It is more popular than rehabilitation because it associates with a desire for retribution. However, retribution is different than punishment. Rehabilitation, on the other hand is the act of restoring the destruction caused by a crime rather than simply punishing offenders. This may be the least popular out of the two and seen as “soft on crime” however it is the only way to heal ruptured communities and obtain justice instead of punishing and dispatching criminals
“Intermediate sanctions are correctional programs that fall somewhere between probation and prison, (pg. 124, Allen).” Due to over crowded prison in the U.S. the government had to look to an alternative, which is intermediate sanctions, a step up to probation. Intermediate sanctions allow offenders to be released back into the community while still being monitored. “The sanctions are based on the sentencing goal of rehabilitation, which is a type of penalty used to reform the offender and return the offender to society as a law-abiding citizen. Intermediate sanctions alleviate prison overcrowding by allowing more offenders to participate in programs designed to reform the offender while the offender lives as a part of the community, (Study.com).”
More are sentencing options are great because just like every person is different, so is the crime. Prison may not always be the most effective response for people, so If courts have options other than incarceration, “they can better tailor a cost-effective sentence that fits the offender and the crime, protects the public, and provides rehabilitation” (FAMM, 2011). Findings have also proven that alternative saves taxpayers money. “It costs over $28,000 to keep one person in federal prison for one year1 (some states’ prison costs are much higher). Alternatives to incarceration are cheaper, help prevent prison and jail overcrowding, and save taxpayers millions” (FAMM, 2011, para. 3). Lastly, alternatives protect the public by reducing crime. There is a 40% chance that all people leaving prison will go back within three years of their release (FAMM, 2011). “Alternatives to prison such as drug and mental health courts are proven to confront the underlying causes of crime (i.e., drug addiction and mental illness) and help prevent offenders from committing new crimes” (FAMM, 2011, para.
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.
Probation is more humane and cost effective and it also allows people to maintain their family and community ties, which are extremely important in reducing recidivism. People placed on probation are less likely than those sent to prison for the same offense to re-offend (Dolan, 2016).
Provide the justifications for punishment in modern society. Punishment functions as a form of social control and is geared towards “imposing some unwanted burden such as fines, probations, imprisonment, or even death” on a convicted person in return for the crimes they committed (Stohr, Walsh, & Hemmens, 2013, p.6). There are four main justifications for punishment and they are: retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. There is also said to be a fifth justification of reintegration as well.
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.