NCJ Number
174115
Date Published
1995
Length
40 pages
Annotation
Ten forms of community corrections are discussed with respect to their purpose, characteristics, eligible population, and research findings regarding use, compliance, impacts on recidivism, and other characteristics.
Abstract
The analyses focus on traditional fines and day fines, community service work, regular supervised probation, intensive supervision probation/parole (ISP), and electronic house arrest. The discussions also focus on day reporting centers, residential facilities such as halfway houses and community corrections facilities, shock incarceration programs (boot camps), split sentences, and client-specific planning programs (community penalty programs). The analysis revealed that traditional fines are rarely used as a sole sentence except for minor offenses, that community service is used most often for nonviolent first offenders convicted of traffic law offenses and misdemeanor property crime, and that almost equal number of felony and misdemeanor probationers are supervised in the community. The analysis also revealed that intensive supervision programs accept a wide variety of offenders, and that electronic house arrest has historically targeted low-risk offenders and is increasingly being used for more serious offenders and parolees. Further analysis indicated that day reporting centers often serve both pretrial and sentenced offenders, that residential facilities serve diverse populations, and that boot camps vary in their philosophies. In addition split sentences are commonly considered an intermediate punishment, and that client-specific planning is intended for prison-bound offenders and can be applied at several stages in the criminal justice process. 32 references