NCJ Number
154531
Journal
Intergovernmental Perspective Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1993) Pages: 29-31
Date Published
1993
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Community corrections represents an alternative to incarceration and a way of transitioning offenders back into the community, and the Federal Government has made a commitment to this option by creating the Community Corrections Division within the National Institute of Corrections.
Abstract
Despite widespread support for community corrections as an alternative to imprisonment, opponents who view prison as a vital part of punishment have attempted to discourage the movement. Proponents of community corrections believe it is time for a change in traditional methods of dealing with crime, and they indicate that the United States can never build enough prisons to reverse criminal trends. Community corrections programs include intensive probation supervision, house arrest (with or without electronic monitoring), shock incarceration, split sentencing, intermittent incarceration, community service, police-probation cooperatives and community network teams, residential diversion and revocation centers, client-specific sentencing, and victim- offender mediation. The National Committee on Community Corrections (NCCC) emphasizes halfway houses and notes that home confinement conditions have gradually become more punitive. The NCCC also points out that community corrections programs are cost-effective and that they offer opportunities for offender improvement.