Foundation of Development Essays

Probation it a sentence handed down by a judge that gives an offender freedom based on terms that are set by a judge (Schmalleger). These set roles the offender may face are things such as random drug testing and some form of rehabilitation. This gives offenders a second chance to rehabilitate them self and fallow the law.

We can date the United States criminal justice policies all the way back to the 17th Century. Although it is nothing compared to what we have today, there have been improvements along the way. One of the major reform needed in our corrections system are the war on drugs and overcrowded prison. The history of corrections in the U.S. has been seen through four major eras known as the Penitentiary, Reformatory, Reintegration, and Retributive Era. Each era has tried to explore the best way to deal with people who have broken the law. Based on the ideas of each era, we’ll explore which reform needs to be implemented.

In the past few decades there has be an increasing amount of children placed in the foster care system. With the amount of rising teen pregnancies and maternal drug abuse means increasing numbers of infants abandoned at birth. There have been many cases of child abuse or neglect that have been on the rise. State and local agencies are unable to suitably supervise foster homes or arrange adoptions. Statistics show that many children will spend most of their childhood and teenage years in the foster care system, which has shown to leave emotional scars on the child. Today, Child Welfare groups are looking for federal funding and legislation to increase programs and services aimed at keeping families together.

5. How have societal viewpoints concerning incarceration and probation influenced human services over the past three centuries?

Although, at this time, the current government policy had an emphasis on foster or adoption, recognising that the best option for children was to grow up within a family environment. However, without the necessary training, and assessment of the viability of prospective foster carers, placements often broke down, resulting in children moving to lots of different placements before finally ‘ending up in residential care. At this time, children had relatively no say in arrangements for their care or future, and often little or no contact with their birth family.

In 1980, about 500,000 children were in foster care, but a series of successful reforms began with that year 's Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act which dramatically decreased the number of children in foster care. But in the early 1990s, with the advent of crack cocaine and an economic recession numbers went back up. Child welfare advocates said that the foster care system was in need of changes so that children spend less time in foster placements and that America’s child welfare system needed an improvement. Some children in care were separated from their siblings, others transitioned from one foster care placement to another, never knowing where to call home. Too many children were being abused in systems that were supposed to protect them. Instead of being safely reunified with their families or moved quickly into adoptive homes many remained in foster homes or institutions for years.

The sequence and rate of each aspect of development from birth to 19 years can be

Current Applications. The concept of Probation in America is much the same as it was in the days of John Agustus. It is in the technical and corporate aspects that you will find the major change. From my personal observations of the process, I know that the intention of suspending a prison or jail sentence is still the motivation for the majority of probation sentences. However, in an alarming number of cases, I fear that the privatization of a large portion of the industry has increased the

Majority of people in the world have a child or know one, also having system in which lets the wealthy individuals, lawmakers, and their associates have a say in the direction that foster care or the case in which kids have been hurt disappear or the redirects its focus on another aspect of the issue. The kids are not allowed to develop in the best way because they lack attachment of parent figure in their lives, this directs their whole life. the need for makes foster care to be a place in which kids should be secure and loved and are well taken care of, because most people know how it feels to be a parent if not then people should imagen their childhood and how it was or if it should have been better.

Children are being uprooted form their lives and placed in a home they are not accustomed too. This experience can become even more traumatic when they are placed in homes and shelters with limited or inadequate living conditions. Of the five-billion dollars federally allocated to annually fund the child foster care, 75% of that is spent in the child welfare systems. This exhibits even more atrocities of neglect and abuse from the system designed to protect children. (Hagopian 6) This money is being wasted on frivolous things such as pay-raises for social workers instead of providing a suitable living environment for the children’s prosperity. This money will be better spent on providing food, clothing, or even in scholarships for children who want to go to college. Also, while a child is in the system their emotional, medical, dental, and educational need are required to be taken care of (AdoptUSKids 2).

Both jail and prison offer some type of early released programs, in this case probation and parole will briefly be discussed. Probation is a prison sentence that is suspended on the condition that the offender follow certain prescribed rules and commit no further crime (Seiter, 2008). Parole is similar to probation except that it is after a period of incarceration, which involved determinate and indeterminate sentencing (Seiter, 2008). The other types of prison sentencing include mandatory minimums, three-strike laws, and truth-in-sentencing (Wilson, 2001). The only difference is that a parole board allows convicts to serve the remainder of their term in society under supervision and strict limitations (Wilson, 2001). In summary both jails and prisons should strive to provide as much educational, health, and counseling opportunities as possible to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. Second, funding for the jail and prison systems will be briefly discussed.

Nearly six decades later, six states had passed laws regarding probation. By 1910, “thirty-two more states had passed legislation establishing juvenile probation” (Probation Historical Roots, 2013). Twenty years later, forty-nine out of fifty states had a juvenile probation law (Probation Historical Roots, 2013). Today, as defined by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “probation refers to adult offenders whom courts place on supervision in the community through a probation agency, generally in lieu of incarceration” (Community Corrections (Probation and Parole),

As through research one can say that a considerable amount of individuals who were sentenced for crime did not serve prison terms. Probation gives criminals a suspended or a waive through prison sentence and instead they are sent to the probation department for controlled activities in the community. Examples could include; education, work, restitution, therapy. The probation officer will have prepared a presentence investigation or presentence report. The PSI and the PSR gives a brief description of the individual’s criminal and noncriminal profile. These reports basically decide whether probation should be given or not. If probation is recommended a course of activities and restrictions for the probationer would be specified. The circumstances may be rigorous, for example; house arrest, electronic surveillance, curfews, no meetings with former friends. On the other hand, they could also be less stringent, for instance; attending school or a treatment program, not drinking spirits, and making monthly visits to the probation officer. Probation can last for the length of the suspended sentence or in cases involving young offenders, probation terms may range from a few months to two years. (Voigt, 1994 pg

are on probation or parole. Also included is the beginning of the probation and parole systems,

Probation is the most common form of criminal sentencing in the United States. It 's defined as placing the offender under the control, supervision, and care of the probation officer as long as the probationer meets certain standards of conduct (Criminal Justice Degree Hub, n.d.).