Is probation a “strong and effective” aspect of corrections? Despite the wide usage, probation is often under the lense of intense criticism. It suffers by painting an image that it is easy going on criminals, and as a result, maintains little support from the community. Probation is often portrayed as lax, shows minimum effort to support crime victims, and blindly promote a rehabilitative ideal while ignoring the reality of violent criminals. Probation may work for first time offenders, who commit non violent, non predatory crimes, and also for juveniles. The lack of funds that probation receives causes problems for probation officers to thoroughly do their jobs. They often have hundreds of caseloads to follow up on and often cannot meet
Prison is a place where the criminal justice system put its entire hopes. The correctional
Probation and Parole is apart of community policing that deals with ethics, integrity, values. This promotes and supports organization strategies to address the cause and reduce the fear of crime and social disorders through problem solving approaches and community partnership. Ethics is used when addressing moral conduct. Integrity is used when one if true to themselves and would not do anything dishonorable. Values are social principles that are being upheld.The main roles of an officer in the criminal justice field is to maintain order, crime prevention, public education, delivery of service and enforcement of laws. The officers work hand in hand with community groups and social service agencies to provide offenders and victims with the support and services they need. Probation Officers maintain partnerships with law enforcement and other justice agencies so the agencies can benefit from the expertise of each other and share information on criminal activity.
Probation serves as the most frequently used sentence for those convicted. This is evident when you consider that the United States justice system oversees nearly 7 million people. Over half of those, a staggering 3.7 million people, are on probation with another 840,000 on parole (Rabuy, 2017). With those individuals representing the largest percentage of the American corrections system, it is important that we learn as much as possible about probation in order to improve the success of these programs. Probation involves a set of conditions that the probationer agrees to adhere to in exchange for remaining in the community. Typical conditions include a waiver of the offenders fourth amendment rights, maintaining employment or school
A life as a Probation Officer will be interesting and challenging. Probation Officers must have a keen interest in both criminal justice enforcement and helping young and old law offenders. Being a Probation Officer requires performing several duties and putting in a great amount of time and energy. This career provides a unique opportunity to intervene in the lives of criminal offenders and provide an opportunity for reform. The career comes with safety risks, but many current officers relish the opportunity to make a difference in
Probation is a type of sentence for criminal defendants. Probation allows a convicted defendant to go free with a suspended sentence for a specified duration during good behavior. Probationers are placed under the supervision of a probation officer and must fulfill certain conditions. If the probationer violates a condition of probation, the court may place additional restrictions on the probationer or order the probationer to serve a term of imprisonment. Probation is normally for offenders sentenced to short terms in jail: it is not combined with a long prison sentence. legal dictionary)
Probation has been called the "workhorse" of the juvenile justice system -- according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, probation is the most common disposition in juvenile cases that receive a juvenile court sanction. In an average year, about half of all minors judged to be delinquent receive probation as the most restrictive sentence.
The history of probation and parole influences the decisions that are made in the Adult Court System toward the supervision of adult offenders by considering community corrections and involve supervision in the community. In the criminal justice system, there are many individuals locked up in local, state, and federal institutions. John Augustus probation bears much resemblance to probation as it is practiced today. He took great care in deciding which prisoners were promising candidates for probation. He also considers the offender’s character, age and factors that would have an impact on the offender after being released. His efforts actually were resisted by police, court clerks, and turnkeys who were paid only when offenders were incarcerated (Klein, 1997). The punishment for violating probation or parole is to continue supervision or to withdraw and incarcerate the offender.
The use of shock probation in America lies between two philosophies: classical and positivist. The classical believes that the criminals choose their actions therefore there is a need for them to be punished in order to prevent future offenses. On the other hand, the positivists believe that the offenders committed the offense without their own will and therefore the conditions that led to the offense should be corrected in order to rehabilitate the offender. In addition, the acts of the legislature and the sentiments of the public dictate the application of the probation. (Cripe and Clair, 1997). Therefore, this leaves the universal applications and methods of application of the probation not to be available. This leaves the philosophies to have evolved and moved into the 21st century. The above factors therefore lead to inconsistency in the application of probation in that the application of probation lies in the hands of few selected individuals such as the prosecutor and the judicial system. (Cripe and Clair, 1997).
One in 31: The Long Reach of American Corrections by the PEW Center offers interesting insight into the system beyond the containment of offenders inside prison walls. For quite a long time, especially after reading Punished by Victor Rios in Professor Morton’s seminar course, my views on probation and parole systems were of a negative light. I read stories of the young boys constantly targeted by police, picked up for small offenses and then immediately on probation and looped directly into the cycle; there was also no respect for the authority, by the boys, of the probation or parole system because of it’s lack of timely response to offenses and control. As a fresh perspective, the article altered my point of a view – it cited specific examples of states that have launched programs to go with community corrections over prison as a first choice and the results are seemingly positive, both in terms of crime reduction and cost benefit. Overall, I really liked this article – and I agreed with the argument which they backed up with cost and population numbers displaying the benefits of community correction versus prison, if implemented correctly. With a focus on helping those on probation and parole, and doling out money for those branches and not just prisons we are putting ourselves on the path to success – one of safety and better budgets.
Probation as usual typically lasts the amount that is sentenced by a judge and if all rules are followed then the reward is the ending of the probation sentence, thus they are completely free. On the other hand, with Swift Certain and Fair programs the reward is in the statistics because, as Professor Rowe mentioned in Lecture, justice is swift and certainty is what clear warning is all about and that has produce lower recidivism rates and huge drops in violation
First, the impact of the age of mass incarceration and the paradox of probation theory. The United States has been steadily massing incarcerating for four decades. In the meantime, researchers have suggested using probation as a way to bring down the prison population, but studies show that probation will increase punishments and increase the prison population. Correspondingly, college students started to lose interest in the probation field for the reason that most of the government resources were being invested in the prison system. Phelps (2013), states,
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
A crucial part of the criminal justice system includes probation. Probation is the release of a criminal offender from detention or incarceration. At this time, the offender is subject to a period of good behavior under supervision. Probation is also referred to a kind of punishment that is giving as part of sentencing. Instead of giving an offender a longer sentence, a judge will order the defendant to report to their assigned probation officer on a regular basis, where the offender will receive a schedule instructing him or her of their probation requirements. If the defendant does not obey a probation order, the defendant will automatically return to jail or to court, only to be given a longer sentence by the judge. A person on probation is not allowed to leave the judicial district without permission of the probation officer or court (Seiter, 2011). The probationer shall report to the probation officer as directed and shall submit truthful and complete reports (Seiter, 2011). A person on probation must also follow all directions instructed by his or her probation officer truthfully. When on probation, an offender must obtain employment and needs to notify his or her probation officer of all changes of address within a three-day limit. The probationer shall also refrain from the excessive use of alcohol
The purpose of this research paper is to discuss about Parole and Probation in America. The paper is going to focus on the past, present and future of parole and probation. This paper includes discussion of Parole and Probation Officers, as well as why some states so longer utilize parole, including Florida. This paper will also include personal input about the topic.