NCJ Number
183638
Editor(s)
Charles B. Fields
Date Published
1998
Length
285 pages
Annotation
Presented in a pro-and-con debate format, this book is organized around three broad discussion areas pertinent to corrections: the rehabilitation/punishment debate, sentencing and policy debates, and legal and constitutional debates.
Abstract
The issues debated regarding the rehabilitation/punishment focus of corrections include whether recidivism is a valid measure of correctional success; the appropriateness of using "shaming" as a form of punishment; the effectiveness of electronic monitoring in community supervision; the effectiveness of boot camps for youthful offenders; the practicality of incarcerating the elderly offender; and whether pregnant women should be incarcerated. Issues debated under the topics of sentencing and policy address the success of privatization in corrections; the effectiveness of "three strikes" legislation; the incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders and nonviolent white-collar offenders; and the routine trying of violent juvenile offenders as adults. Other policy issues debated are whether female correctional officers should be used in male institutions, as well as the wisdom of having co-ed prisons. The three chapters that debate legal and constitutional issues focus on whether corporal punishment should be reinstituted, whether inmate lawsuits are out of control, and whether youthful murderers should be executed. Chapter references, notes, and tables