Probation Is The Criminal Justice System

“The Prison and Probation Service has two main goals: To contribute to the reduction of criminality, and to work to increase safety in society. To achieve these goals we work with sentenced persons in order to improve their possibilities of living a life without committing new crimes.” (Linstrom and Leijonram)

There are several steps to the criminal justice system, one of them is Probation; a program where the offender’s freedom is limited; usually they have a curfew, and have limits on the things they do. Probations Officers are a huge factor in getting the juvenile offender back on the right track following their sentence. One of the problems with probation is that rather than helping the offenders, sometimes it can hurt them. Some scholars argue that the officers do not take the juveniles, specifically females, seriously when it comes to referring them to receive mental health treatment. In contrast, other scholars argue that Probation Officers are the key to connecting the offenders with mental health care. I will begin by talking about how the gender of the juvenile contributes to the unjust treatment of juveniles on probation, then I will talk about probation officers as “the problem,” and lastly I will talk about a solution. I will conclude by stating my research question and making some contributions as to what can be done to build a stronger relationship between the offenders and the probation officers.

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

For anyone who has had the unfortunate experience of being placed on probation, the biggest fear is violating and being sent to prison. In some circumstances this is a result of multiple incidents, while in other jurisdictions, it is after one minor slip up. So what are these circumstances, what is the violation process, and just how much power does the probation officer have? These are just a few of the questions that will be answered in the following essay.

The Probation of Offenders Act was established in 1907 and under this act the release if offenders into the community under the control of probation officers were made official. The primary aim of the probation was made clear under this act which was to advise, assist and befriend and it continued that way until 1970’s. During this period it transformed into an agency concerned with casework, diagnosis, and rehabilitation rather than the influence of personal character, psychological understandings of human

I think that probation is an effective form of community corrections as it can be. There is never a 100% effective way of stopping people from committing crime. If someone commits a crime even knowing the consequences, chances are they will do it again with or without probation. I think the government needs to focus on why people are committing crime and try to prevent crime before it happens. I also think that maybe there needs to be longer probation periods and harsher ones for repeat offenders. I also think that probation should be for less serious crimes and maybe for misdemeanors and not felonies.

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).

There are some conditions that are imposed because of the offense that the probationer was found guilty of, for instance, refrain from engaging in a specific occupation, business, or profession bearing a reasonably direct relationship to the conduct constituting the offense, or engage in such a specified occupation, business, or profession only to a stated degree or under stated circumstances; refrain from frequenting specified kinds of places or from associating unnecessarily with specified persons.

The United States justice system can be described as a cycle, where people enter the prison system, are released, and upon failure to integrate into society soon find themselves back behind bars. Although the means in which the cycle is perpetuated can be argued, the rate of re-offenders is constantly trying to be reduced. One term used to define this type of convict is recidivism, which is the repeat criminal action of a convicted inmate. Recidivism is fastly becoming a issue in the United States as it has been shown that 70% of convicted offenders have been reconvicted within three years of release (Esperian, 2010, p. 322). As crime of any background can be detrimental to society, this high rate of reentry into the justice system has stimulated

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

Probation and parole are an important part of the criminal justice process, and both are

Recidivism is the result of a former prisoner relapsing into criminal activity and returning to prison for a new offense. It is estimated that approximately two-thirds of

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.