Corrections: Wassup with that?

What is Corrections? Agencies and programs that carry out the sentence of the court  Institutional Corrections = prisons/jails  Community Corrections Front End Sanctions Back End Programs

Community Corrections Front End Sanctions = Alternative to Prison/Jail Senteces  Probation  Intermediate Sanctions Boot Camps, Electronic Monitoring, Intensive Supervision Back End Programs = Reintegrate  Parole Supervision  Halfway Houses

A Brief History of Corrections Until the late 1960s:  Rehabilitation was the Guiding Mission of Corrections (at least on paper)  Community Corrections was centerpiece Indeterminate Sentences, Probation, Parole Rehabilitation attacked and largely killed in the early 1970s  Why?  Results?

Cromwell et al. “Paradoxically, correctional policy shifts according to public perceptions, which are primarily influence by the media, no by the realities of corrections”

Social Context and Ideology in late 1960s and early 1970s Conservatives:  Value stability, hate “disorder”  Mistrust rehabilitation as “coddling criminals”  Particularly riled up in the 1960s Liberals:  Value equality/fairness  Enraged by the “government” in the 1960s  Rehabilitation as another government failure

Liberals and Conservatives agree Abolish parole, institute determinate sentences, implement sentencing guidelines Only issue: length of sentences 1980s ushered in a conservative era in U.S. politics Legislative results?  Sentencing guidelines with harsh sentences  3 strikes, mandatory minimum sentences  The “War on Drugs”

Whither Community Corrections What is the role of Community Corrections in a “get tough era?” Joan Petersilia  C.C. suffers from an “image problem” and is therefore under-funded  Particularly troublesome, given: ¾ of corrections population is in community Over ½ of these folks are felons

What Works?… In a traditional sense Does a C.C. program reduce recidivism? Does a C.C. program divert people from prison (and therefore save $)? Is a C.C. program “punishment?”

Joan Petersilia Should recidivism be used as a criteria?  If so, should we focus on post-program behavior?  If so, is all recidivism “bad?” C.C. programs should “count” other stuff:  Contacts with offenders  % placed in treatment

The Future of Community Corrections The Limits of “Control in the Community”  Zero tolerance programs, high-surveillance  Boot Camps, ISPs, Electronic Monitoring New Directions  Community based supervision  Restorative Justice  Judicial Involvement/Drug Courts