Shock incarceration is an alternative form of corrections for incarceration. Characteristics of individuals who participate in shock incarceration programs consists of the following. The offender is young and commits a non violent offense. The offender must abide by the shock incarceration guidelines. These guidelines consist of participating in academic courses, work, and substance abuse counseling. Additionally, the offender must participate in extensive physical activity. The goal of the shock incarceration is to give the offender the tools to be reintegrated back into society. A benefit of participating in this program is receiving a lessened sentence.
Shock incarceration programs were introduced in 1983. Georgia and Oklahoma initiated the first shock incarceration programs. Shock incarceration was created as an alternative for incarceration due to the overcrowding of prisons and large probation caseloads. The only two options available for criminal justice officials were prison or
…show more content…
probation. Additional alternatives were community corrections. However, this became a problem. The sanctions of prison or parole were either too harsh or too easy (Mackenzie, Doris; Grittner, 2001). As a result of this dilemma shock incarceration was developed.
Shock incarceration became desired because of the cost effectiveness that it presented. As the 1990s progressed the popularity of shock incarceration programs grew. Nearly 50 programs were initiated by 1999 (Mackenzie, Doris; Grittner, 2001).
Shock incarceration programs last on an average of between 90 to 180 days. Convicts who fail to complete the program as sentenced to prison or serve a longer sentence. In contrast, convicts who complete the program are reintegrated into society. The success rate of the shock incarceration program varies from program to program. The success rate can vary from 8 to 80 percent success rates.
The motivations behind shock incarceration participation were analyzed. The majority of convicts reported participating in the shock incarceration program because of a shortened sentence. Other reasons reported consists of counseling and drug treatment
rehabilitation. The effectiveness of the shock program has been called into question in many occasions. The United States Justice Department reported high recidivism rates. Convicts displayed good behavior while in the facility. However, upon release they returned to their previous behavior. Additionally, personal safety is a concern at the shock incarceration camps. High levels of assault have been reported. The facilitators of the shock incarceration camps are to blame. The facilitators have been investigated for abuse on many occasions throughout the 1990s. The shock incarceration program has many benefits. For example, a strong discipline, opportunities for community relations, and tools to help the convicts succeed in society. The program encourages accountability on the part of the convict. Despite the success in some locations states such as Colorado and North Dakota are abolishing shock incarceration. This is due to the controversy surrounding the success of shock incarceration. Despite this shock incarceration is still a prevalent alternative to incarceration. The benefits of shock incarceration must be weighed with the costs. It is imperative that the criminal justice officials have knowledge of all of the alternatives for incarceration. Additionally, it is imperative to have all of the statistics from previous shock incarceration programs to determine the success of the program.
Corrections are a necessary tool to protect society from those who do harm to others or to others property. Depending on the type of crime that was committed, and if the crime is considered a state or federal charge, also depends on where the person sentenced will do his time. There are four main sentencing options available; prison, probation, probation and confinement, and prison and community split. When a person is sentenced to do their time in prison most likely they will go to a state or federal prison. If a person is ordered probation, it prevents them from going to jail but they have stipulations on their probation. This is called intermediate sanctions, which are the various new correctional options used as adjuncts to and part of probation. Some intermediate sanctions include restitution, fines, day fines, community service, intensive supervised probation, house arrest, electronic monitoring, and shock incarceration.
Starting in 1970s, there has been an upward adjustment to sentencing making punishment more punitive and sentencing guidelines more strict. Martinson's (1974) meta-analyzies reviewed over 200 studies and concluded that nothing works in terms of rehabilitating prisoners. Rehabilitating efforts were discontinued. The War on Drugs campaign in 1970s incarcerated thousands of non-violent drug offenders into the system. In 1865, 34.3% of prison population were imprisoned for drug violation. By 1995, the percentage grew to 59.9% (figure 4.1, 104). Legislation policies like the Third Strikes laws of 1994 have further the severity of sentencing. The shift from rehabilitation to human warehouse marks the end of an era of trying to reform individuals and the beginnings of locking inmates without preparation of their release. Along with the reform in the 1970s, prosecutors are given more discretion at the expense of judges. Prosecutors are often pressure to be tough on crime by the socie...
Shock probation is a punishment which is imposed by the court of releasing the offender back into the community under the conditions of the suspended sentence. This type of sanctions assumes that the offenders are not so dangerous that they may respond to rehabilitation while in the community. This type of sanction is imposed on the first-time offenders or non violent offender who it is believed that the remaining part of the sentence will best be served in the community while still serving the sentence. (Cripe and Clair, 1997).
Most black Americans are under the control of the criminal justice today whether in parole or probation or whether in jail or prison. Accomplishments of the civil rights association have been challenged by mass incarceration of the African Americans in fighting drugs in the country. Although the Jim Crow laws are not so common, many African Americans are still arrested for very minor crimes. They remain disfranchised and marginalized and trapped by criminal justice that has named them felons and refuted them their rights to be free of lawful employment and discrimination and also education and other public benefits that other citizens enjoy. There is exists discernment in voting rights, employment, education and housing when it comes to privileges. In the, ‘the new Jim crow’ mass incarceration has been described to serve the same function as the post civil war Jim crow laws and pre civil war slavery. (Michelle 16) This essay would defend Michelle Alexander’s argument that mass incarcerations represent the ‘new Jim crow.’
The United States of America has the world’s highest incarceration rates, for several reasons. The United States of America doesn’t necessarily possess any unique strict laws in comparison to other countries of the world, yet we still have the highest incarceration rate in the world. More federal level and state level prisons are built in order to control and hold more prisoners because most are reaching its full capacity. The United States of America’s “crime rates” increased about 40 years ago when there became a new focus in the areas of crime. The President of the United States of America at the time Richard Nixon used the term “a war on drugs” in order to shed light on public health due to substance abuse. Initially, these policies created
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 developed to better match the punishment with the seriousness of the crime for non-violent offenders. With this new kind of punishment, comes a 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 job responsibilities, offenders are sometimes ordered to face additional sanctions which includes, paying any fines, getting an education or even getting treatment if needed (textbook, 131).
Incarceration is a sanction of sentencing and is defined as confinement or imprisonment of a person following conviction of a crime. Incarceration forces an individual to be segregated from society because of their behavior and the crime that was committed at the time of arrest. The purpose of incarceration is to rehabilitate. The main focus is to deter an individual from committing a crime, and making it less likely for those who serve time in prison to recommit crimes after being release. Other focuses on incarceration are simply for punishment
Lipsey, M. W., Chapman, G. L., L & Enberger, N. A. (2001). Cognitive-behavioral programs for offenders. The annals of the american academy of political and social science, 578 (1), pp. 144--157.
The recent push for alternative incarceration mechanisms has been in response to soaring prison populations in United States. America has the highest incarceration rates in western democracies. The number of people currently in prison, parole, or probation is in excess of 7 million people. Legislators have passed a number of laws, such as sentencing guidelines, aimed at stabilizing the number of a prison population. One method adopted is sentencing guidelines.
According to the Oxford Index, “whether called mass incarceration, mass imprisonment, the prison boom, or hyper incarceration, this phenomenon refers to the current American experiment in incarceration, which is defined by comparatively and historically extreme rates of imprisonment and by the concentration of imprisonment among young, African American men living in neighborhoods of concentrated disadvantage.” It should be noted that there is much ambiguity in the scholarly definition of the newly controversial social welfare issue as well as a specific determination in regards to the causes and consequences to American society. While some pro arguments cry act as a crime prevention technique, especially in the scope of the “war on drugs’.
Overcrowding of prisons due to mass incarceration is among one of the biggest problems in America, mass incarceration has ruined many families and lives over the years.America has the highest prison population rate , over the past forty years from 1984 until 2014 that number has grown by four hundred percent .America has four percent of the world population ,but twenty-five percent of the world population of incarcerated people Forty one percent of American juveniles have been or going to be arrested before the age of 23. America has been experimenting with incarceration as a way of showing that they are tough on crime but it actually it just show that they are tough on criminals. imprisonment was put in place to punish, criminals, protect society and rehabilitate criminals for their return into the society .
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...
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.
Essentially, community corrections ascribe to the sanctions that are usually imposed on both adults and juveniles convicted by the court of law to reduce frequencies of recidivism. Unlike other forms of sentencing, community corrections can be implemented in a community setting or any other residential setting, apart from the jails (Gendreau & Goggin, 1996). Within the past few decades, researchers have been struggling to advance community corrections through the use of effective intervention principles. In fact, these community corrections triggered the “what works” movement, a movement formalized in 1990. There are four general principles of effective intervention which the movement is currently based on: the risk principle, criminogenic need principle, treatment principle and fidelity principle (Anstiss, 2013).
The correctional system punishes offenders by sentencing them to serve time in jail or prison. Others forms of punishment include being sentenced to probation, community service, and/or restitution. Jail is a locally operated short-term confinement facilities originally built to hold suspects following arrest and pending trial (Schmalleger, 2009). A prison is state or ...