Our System of Corrections: Do Jails Play a Role in Improving Offender Outcomes?

• NCJ Number: 226732
• Author(s): Gary E. Christensen Ph.D.
• Date Published: August 2008
• Length: 48 pages
• Grant Number(s): 05C45GJI3
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Corrections; Crime and Justice Institute
• Sale Source: NCJRS Photocopy Services; Crime and Justice Institute
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded April 29, 2005

Annotation

This paper reviews the role of jails in U.S. correctional systems and suggests opportunities for jail officials to collaborate with local criminal justice agencies in enhancing long-term public safety through the use of evidence-based practices (EBP), i.e., practices based on evaluation research.

Abstract

The paper first reviews the current context of corrections within the United States, which has included an increase in the past 10 years of jail incarceration rates (excluding State and Federal prisons) from 193 persons per 100,000 to 243 persons per 100,000. An examination of EBP in this context shows that offender recidivism can be reduced by an array of corrections strategies. Effective treatment must be cognitive behavioral and be administered by professionals who are skilled in practicing within a social learning environment based on individual needs. Tools such as motivational interviewing have shown promise in eliciting the motivation to change among offenders. Another section of the paper discusses offender classification in determining the level of risk to public safety posed by an offender. This includes a review of offender risk-assessment instruments. It concludes that third-generation risk assessment instruments are objective and identify changeable offender risk factors that should be used as treatment targets for changing criminal thinking and behavior. This is followed by a section that discusses the distinctive circumstances of jail operations, which involve short, uncertain incarceration periods due to their housing a high percentage of inmates awaiting trial. This is followed by an argument for the use of EBP to develop a transitional or reentry program within a jail that can reduce recidivism. This will require jail administrators to provide programming in which outcomes are evaluated and system processes are changed to improve outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the management of high-risk offenders in jail transition programs based on EBP. 23 references and appended example of a successful jail transition program, a sample checklist for a jail 5-week plan, and a sample form for transition planning