NCJ Number
92423
Date Published
1983
Length
33 pages
Annotation
An intensive study of correctional policy in Maryland was initiated in 1979 in an effort to understand why correctional reform efforts vigorously undertaken in the late 1970's failed by the early 1980's.
Abstract
Based primarily on large-scale surveys of correctional policymakers, the general public, and the criminal justice system in the State, the study focused on goals and philosophies for correctional systems, attitudes toward reform strategies and their efficacy, and causes underlying the prison crowding problem. Crowding was demonstrated to be the most visible and salient of the problems facing the correction systems. Conflicts over goals and philosophies exist and are reflected in different preferred reform strategies. It was also observed that the reform strategies pursued in Maryland in the late 1970's and from which the system retreated in the 1980's, had the support of the correctional systems' policymakers, the general public, and the majority of persons working in the criminal justice system. Failure to perceive this support was probably responsible, in part, for the abandonment of the reform efforts. A short-term crowding relief strategy is proposed which may help reduce prison populations without endangering the public safety. The plan includes three features: it relies upon and emphasizes cooperation among the judiciary, corrections, and paroling agencies; it emphasizes rationality, experience, and empirical research; and it focuses on correctional goals and the protection of public safety. Figures and 60 notes are supplied.