NCJ Number
102495
Date Published
1986
Length
128 pages
Annotation
For many offenders, restitution, community service, better surveillance during probation, and other sentencing alternatives are preferable to imprisonment.
Abstract
Prison is a widely accepted way of punishing lawbreakers and is generally viewed as the only appropriate punishment for some serious crimes. However, prison fails to rehabilitate many prisoners. Growing crime rates also suggest that current punishment methods are not deterring crime. Prison overcrowding is also widespread, and building more prison space is expensive. Moreover, many chance factors determine whether an offender will be arrested, convicted, and sentenced. Offenders who commit property offenses or crimes against the public order should experience alternatives to incarceration. The use of intensive probation supervision can make probation a more effective punishment. A formal intake and assessment process, the use of probation officers as brokers of service rather than as caseworkers, and provision of group services are further modern developments in probation services. Community service orders and restitution programs are ways in which offenders can make reparations for harm caused to individuals or the community. Halfway houses and prerelease centers are further constructive approaches. State legislatures are increasingly considering legislation to promote community corrections. Photographs, figure, forms, index, sample questionnaires.