Understand how the criminal justice system operates as a large selection process to determine who ends up in the corrects system
We can view the criminal justice system as a filtering process because it operates as a large offender-selection bureaucracy. At each stage, some defendants are sent on to the next stage, while others are either released or processed under changed conditi
Describe some of the main similarities and differences between the general population and people who end up under correctional authority.
Historical studies of U.S. corrections show that in earlier eras, members of the newest immigrant groups filled the prison out of proportion to their numbers in the general population. Since the Civil War, African Americans have consistently made up the l
Identify different types of offenders in the corrections system and the kinds of problems they pose for corrections.
This chapter presents ten main types of people under correctional authority: the situational offender, the career criminal, the sex offender, the substance abuser, the mentally ill offender, the mentally handicapped offender, the offender with HIV/AIDS, t
Describe the classification process for people under correctional authority and know why it is important.
Correctional authorities need to answer a question about every person under their supervision: "How should this offender be managed?" Broad categories can help portray the nature of offenders, but the programmatic needs of corrections require much narrowe
Understand important problems and limitations in classifying people under correctional authority.
Five main challenges to the classification of correctional clients have been identified: overlap and ambiguity in offender classifications, correctional programming, behavior probabilities, sociopolitical pressures, and distinctions in classification crit
alcohol abuser
a person whose use of alcohol is difficult to control, disrupting normal living patterns and frequently leading to violations of the law while under the influence of alcohol or in attempting to secure it
career criminal
a person who sees crime as a way of earning a living, who has numerous contacts with the criminal justice system over time, and who may view the criminal sanction as a normal part of life
classification systems
specific sets of objective criteria, such as offense history, pervious experience in the justice system over time, and substance abuse patterns, applied to all inmates to determine an appropriate classification
deinstitutionalization
the release of a mental patient from a mental hospital and his or her return to the community
drug abuser
a person whose use of illegal chemical substances disrupts normal living patterns to the extent that social problems develop, often leading to criminal behavior
long-term prisoner
a person who serves a lengthy period in prison, such as 10 years or more, before his or her first release
mentally handicapped offender
a person whose limited mental development prevents adjustment to the rules of society
mentally ill offender
a "disturbed" person whose criminal behavior may be traced to diminished or otherwise abnormal capacity to think or reason, as a result of psychological or neurological disturbance.
sex offender
a person who has committed a sexual act prohibited by law, such as rape, child molestation, or prostitution, for economic, psychological, or situational reasons
situational offender
a person who in a particular set of circumstances has violated the law but who is not given to criminal behavior under normal circumstances and is unlikely to repeat the offense
Describe the history and development of probation, including how it is organized today.
Probation stems from European practices that attempted to alleviate the harshness of the criminal law. In the United States, probation goes back to the 1830s, when John Augustus volunteered to "stand bail" for people in the Boston Police Court. Today prob
Describe the two functions of probation.
Probation officers traditionally performed two major functions: investigation and supervision. Investigation involves the preparation of a pre sentence investigation (PSI), which the judge uses in sentencing an offender. Supervision begins once an offende
Discuss the purpose and content of the pre sentence investigation report.
The PSI plays its most important role in the sentencing process. Because individual judges, even in the same court system, may weigh factors in a case differently, the information to judges with varying sentencing perspectives. A shortened, directed, and
Describe the major issues involved in the presentence investigation.
PSIs present three major issues: (1) Whether to make sentencing recommendations. These are controversial because a person without authority to sentence is nevertheless suggesting what the sentence should be. For this reason, not all probation systems incl
Describe the dynamics that occur among the probation officer, the probationer, and the probation bureaucracy.
Probation officers face the role conflict in that they must both enforce the law and help the offender. The responsibilities are often incompatible. The offender's response to supervision depends in part on his or her perception of the officer's power. Mo
Discuss the different kinds of probation conditions and tell why they are important.
Standard conditions, imposed on all probations, include reporting the probation office, notifying the agency of any change of address, remaining gainfully employed, and not leaving the jurisdiction without permission. Punitive conditions, including fines,
Define recidivism and describe its importance to probation.
Recidivism is the return of a former correctional client to criminal behavior, as measured by new arrests or other problems with the law. It is the basis on which we decide if a probation strategy is working or not.
Define evidence-based practice and discuss its importance.
Evidence-based practice centers on an understanding of the differences between programs that work - that is, programs that reduce recidivism - and those that do not. Studies suggest that among the most important characteristics of programs for probationer
Describe what is known about the effectiveness of probation supervision.
Studies of the effectiveness of probation supervision find little or no difference in outcomes for different probation strategies. This often makes prison seem a more powerful option by comparison, even though it costs much more than probation. But some r
Discuss the revocation of probation, including "technical" revocation.
Probation status ends in one of two ways: (1) The person completes the period of probation, or (2) the person's probationary status is revoked because of misbehavior. Revocation of parole can result from a new arrest or conviction or from a rules violatio
Antabuse
a drug that when combined with alcohol causes violent nausea; it is used to control a person's drinking
authority
the ability to influence a person's actions in a desired direction without resorting to force
client-specific planning
process by which private investigative firms contract with convicted offenders to conduct comprehensive background checks and suggest to judges creative sentencing options as alternatives to incarceration
community justice
a model of justice that emphasizes reparation to the victim and the community, approaching crime from a problem-solving perspective, and citizen involvement in crime prevention
drug court
a special court for people convicted of drug-abuse related crimes
evidence-based practice
using correctional methods that have been shown to be effective by well-designed research studies
judicial reprieve
a practice under English common law whereby a judge could suspend the imposition or execution of a sentence on condition of good behavior on the part of the offender
methadone
a drug that reduces the craving for heroin; it is used to spare addicts form painful withdrawal symptoms
motivational interviewing
a method for increasing the effectiveness of correctional treatment by having the probation officer interact with the client in ways that promote the client's stake in the change process
performance-based supervision
an approach to probation that establishes goals for supervision and evaluates the effectiveness of meeting those goals
power
the ability to force a person to do something he or she does not want to do
presentence investigation (PSI)
an investigation and summary report of a convicted offender's background that helps the judge decide on an appropriate sentence; also known as a pre sentence report
punitive conditions
constraints imposed on some probationers to increase the restrictiveness or painfulness of probation, including fines, community service, and restitution
recidivism
the return of a former correctional client to criminal behavior, as measured by new arrests or other problems with the law
recognizance
a formally recorded obligation to perform some act (such as keep the peace, pay a debt, or appear in court when called) entered by a judge to permit an offender to live in the community, often on posting a sum of money as surety, which is forfeited by non
standard conditions
constraints imposed on all probationers, including reporting to the probation office, reporting any change of address, remaining employed, and not leaving the jurisdiction without permission
technical violation
the probationer's failure to abide by the rules and conditions of probation (specified by the judge), resulting in revocation of probation
treatment conditions
constraints imposed on some probationers to force them to deal with a significant problem or need, such as substance abuse
urinalysis
technique used to determine whether someone is using drugs
victim impact statement
a description in a PSI of the costs of the crime for the victim, including emotional and financial losses
Describe the history of the jail and its current function in the criminal justice system.
Jails in the United States descend from feudal practices in twelfth-century England, in which shire reeve (from which the word sheriff evolved) caught and held in custody people accused of breaking the king's law. English settlers brought these traditions
Describe who is in jail and why they are there.
There are two main groups of people in jail: those who are awaiting trial and those who are sentenced to terms of confinement of less than a year. Both populations are mostly young men, particularly young men of color. The majority of those in jail are se
Discuss the kinds of jails in the United States
The smallest jails are police lockups. Most other jails are run by county governments, although there are also municipal jails under the authority of the larger cities. In some areas, regional jails serve multiple city and county governments.
List the main issues facing jails today.
Jails struggle with the need to provide services to people who are awaiting trial, in part because their stay may be long and they are also not yet convicted of any crimes. Jails also face issues affecting detainees, especially mental health problems, sub
Outline the problem of bail and list the main alternatives to bail.
Being held in bail is damaging to a defendant's life circumstances, as well as being detrimental to his or her chances at trial and sentence. Financial bail systems discriminate against the poor, who constitute the vast majority of jail detainees. Bail al
Outline the problems of jail administration.
Jail administrators are legally liable for the treatment of people incarcerated in their facility. They must meet certain written standards, even if their facility lacks sufficient funds to meet them. Because jails often pay their employees less than othe
Describe new developments in jails and jail programs.
To deal with the problems of jails, there has been a recent movement to increase the use of the new-generation jail, in which jail detainees are kept in podular units instead of cells and security is maintained by direct supervision methods. Another new i
Critically assess the future of the jail.
Although jails are an expensive part of local government budgets, they are widely neglected by scholars and officials, and the public knows little about them. The prospects of jails are looking up, though, because of extensive efforts to renovate old jail
absconders
people who fail to appear for a court date for no legitimate reason
bail
an amount of money, specified by a judge, to be posted as a condition for pretrial release to ensure appearance of the accused at trial
community model for jails
an innovative model for jail administration that promotes a sense of community among staff and inmates alike, while using community to promote rehabilitation
day reporting center
a facility where offenders such as pretrial releasees and probation violators attend daylong intervention and treatment sessions
direct supervision
a method of correctional supervision in which staff members have direct physical interaction with inmates throughout the day
electronic monitoring
community supervision technique, ordinarily combined with home confinement, that uses electronic devices to maintain surveillance on offenders
fee system
a system by which jail operations are funded by a set amount paid each day per prisoner held
lockup
a facility authorized to hold people before court appearances for up to 48 hours; most ore administered by local police agencies (also called drunk tanks or holding tanks)
new-generation jail
a facility with a popular architectural design and management policies that emphasize interaction of inmates and staff and provision of services
podular unit
self-contained living areas, for 12-25 inmates, composed of individual cells for privacy and open areas for social interactions; new-generation jails are made up of two or more pods
pretrial diversion
an alternative to adjudication in which the defendant agrees to conditions set by the prosecutor (for example, counseling or rehab) in exchange for withdrawal of charges
preventive detention
detention of an accused person in jail to protect the community from crimes that the accused is considered likely to commit if set free pending trial
regional jail
a facility operated under a joint agreement between two or more government units, with a jail board drawn from representatives of the participating jurisdictions and having varying authority over policy, budget, operations, and personnel
release on recognizance (ROR)
pretrial release option used when the judge believes the defendant's ties in the community are sufficient to guarantee the defendant's appearance in court
therapeutic justice
a philosophy of reorienting the jail experience from being mostly punitive to being mostly rehabilitative
widening the net
increasing the scope of corrections by applying a diversion program to people charged with offenses less serious than those of the people the program was originally intended to serve
Describe the rationale for nonincarceration penalties.
Per year, incarceration costs between 25 and 50 times as much as probation. For certain crimes, prison is too harsh a punishment and probation not harsh enough. Neither probation nor prison guarantees that offenders will "make it" once their term is serve
Describe the rationale for intermediate sanctions.
Intermediate sanctions have arisen because many people believe that a sentence to probation is not strict enough but prison is too extreme. To implement intermediate sanctions, many jurisdictions have developed the continuum-of-sanctions concept, which of
Illustrate the continuum-of-sanctions concept.
Corrections systems have developed a range of punishment that vary in intrusiveness and control, providing choices that fall between probation and prison. Probation plus a fine or community service may be appropriate for minor offenses, whereas six weeks
Explain some of the problems associated with intermediate sanctions.
Problems with intermediate sanctions center on selecting appropriate agencies to run them, selecting the right offenders to place in them, and avoiding widening the net.
List various types of intermediate sanctions and who administers them.
Courts offer pretrial diversion, fines, forfeiture, community service, and restitution; probation departments offer day reporting centers, intensive supervision, home confinement, and electronic monitoring; correctional departments offer shock incarcerati
Describe what it takes to make intermediate sanctions work.
To make intermediate sanctions work, there must be interchangeability of sanctions so that penalties in the community can be compared with penalties in confinement. The right offenders need to be selected for the right programs, and problems of bias must
Assess the role of the new correctional professional.
New correctional professionals can work within a context of strong bureaucratic guidelines and high expectations of accountability. They are at ease dealing with nongovernment agencies, and they possess a range of skills at motivating offenders to use an
Explain how community corrections legislation works and describe its effectiveness.
When communities keep offenders locally instead of sending them to prison, they save the state money. Community corrections legislation gives the money that was saved back to these communities to fund local programs that manage those offenders. These stra
Critically assess the future of probation, intermediate sanctions, and community corrections.
Community-based correctional approaches face challenges in getting public support for keeping offenders in community programs instead of sending them to incarceration. They must clarify their mission and become more-crucial components of the correctional
boot camp
a physically rigorous, disciplined, and demanding regimen emphasizing conditioning, education, and job training; designed for young offenders
community service
compensation for injury to society by the performance of service in the community
continuum of sanctions
a range of correctional management strategies based on the degree of intrusiveness and control over the offender, along which an offender is moved based on his or her response to correctional programs
day fine
a criminal penalty based on the amount of income an offender earns in a day's work
forfeiture
government seizure of property and other assets derived from or used in criminal activity
home confinement
sentence whereby offenders serve terms of incarceration in their own homes
intensive supervision probation (ISP)
probation granted with conditions of strict reporting to a probation officer with a limited caseload
principle of interchangeability
the idea that different forms of intermediate sanctions can be calibrated to make them equivalent as punishments despite their differences in approach
probation center
residential facility where persistent probation violators are sent for short periods of time
restitution
compensation for financial, physical, or emotional loss caused by an offender, in the form of either payment of money to the victim or to a public fund for crime victims, as stipulated by the court
restitution center
facility where probationers who fall behind in restitution are sent to make payments on their debt
shock incarceration
a short period of incarceration ("shock"), followed by a sentence reduction
stakes
the potential losses to victims and to the system if offenders fail; may include injury from violent crimes and public pressure resulting from negative publicity