NCJ Number
178710
Date Published
1998
Length
172 pages
Annotation
This analysis of crime and sentencing presents the case for a system based solely on rehabilitation, in which only offenders who are a danger to society are incarcerated.
Abstract
The first chapter outlines the causes of crime, with attention to sociological and criminological theories as well as "common-sense" explanations; the author advises that sentencing policy should take proper account of what is and is not known about the causes of crime. Chapter 2 surveys the "classic" aims of sentencing: retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation. The author questions whether these divergent goals can be achieved for an offender through one sentence. Chapter 3 looks at the pressures brought to bear on sentencing from politicians, the judiciary, the media, penal reformers, and others, so as to understand why rational analyses of sentencing are often undermined by efforts of policymakers to please various constituencies. Chapter 4 suggests a new approach under a system that would aim to make rehabilitation the central goal of all sentencing. Such an aim reflects most closely what is known about crime causation. The final chapter explores how the rehabilitative model of sentencing might work in practice. It deals with sentencing for offenses that range from violent crime, sexual offenses, and illegal drugs to traffic offenses. A 182- item bibliography