NCJ Number
180954
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 29 Issue: 3/4 Dated: 1999 Pages: 195-208
Date Published
1999
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article examines what 180 students think about electronic monitoring and compares their perceptions to those of 29 electronically monitored offenders.
Abstract
Students were less supportive of electronic monitoring but when asked about what the offenders have to give up, they viewed the sanction more punitively than did offenders. The study provides some support for assertions that knowledge about sanctions has an impact upon attitudes, support for various sanctions changes when attitudes are measured on more than one dimension and students, one part of the public, are more supportive of this one type of community-based sanction than often believed. It should be noted that electronic monitoring is not a single sanction. It varies considerably in terms of technology, types of offenders covered, conditions and restrictions, and enforcement of technical violations. The sanction is not yet completely understood by academicians, practitioners or the public. More information is needed in order to determine the programs’ effectiveness, offenders’ experiences on the programs, how the public perceives the programs and what information constitutes adequate public education about this alternative to incarceration. Table, references