NCJ Number
105334
Editor(s)
B R McCarthy
Date Published
1987
Length
210 pages
Annotation
Twelve papers examine two increasingly popular forms of community-based intermediate punishment: intensive probation supervision (IPS) and home confinement with electronic monitoring.
Abstract
Papers in Part 1 describe and evaluate IPS programs in Georgia, New Jersey, Oregon, Alabama, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin. Components of most programs include careful selection of program participants, reduced caseloads for probation officers, counseling, and support services. In general, these programs have been found to provide a safe and effective alternative to incarceration for a variety of offender groups, including high-risk felony offenders. Special problems in evaluating IPS programs, officers' attitudes toward IPS, and change management during program implementation also are addressed. Focusing on the use of electronic monitoring devices as an adjunct to home confinements, papers in Part 2 describe passive and active surveillance devices, the costs of such programs compared to incarceration, and issues related to social control and net-widening with corrections. A feasibility study, undertaken in Texas, notes that such devices are a useful correctional tool, but are not a sole solution to prison overcrowding. Additional papers describe the use of electronic surveillance in house-arrest programs in Florida and Kentucky. For individual papers, see NCJ 105335-105346. Chapter references.