Pros And Cons Of Community Corrections

Regardless of demographic characteristics or the number of prior criminal offenses, studies show that federal prisoners placed on community supervision consistently had lower rates of recidivism than state prisoners. Among federal prisoners conditionally released from federal prison in 2005, half (47%) were arrested within 5 years, compared to more than three-quarters (77%) of state prisoners released on community supervision in 2005. Federal prisoners (32%) also returned to prison less often than state prisoners (59%) during that time. Within 5 years of placement on community supervision, less than a third (30%) of federal prisoners had two or more arrests, compared to more than half (57%) of state prisoners. More than a third of federal prisoners (37%) had a nonfederal arrest and a third (29%) had a federal arrest within 5 years following their release. Seventy-five percent of state prisoners had a nonfederal arrest and 4% had a federal arrest during that time. Overall, 67% of all new arrests among released federal prisoners were for nonfederal charges, compared to 98% among state prisoner (Recidivism of Offenders Placed on Federal Community, 2017)

Michael Tarver is a 55 year old man who is serving a life sentence for murder in Atlanta, Georgia. Tarver is a diabetic with circulation problems, while in jail he got a cut on his leg. After receiving this cut he went months in confinement without proper care and because of his diabetes he was prone to infection and had to have his leg amputated. In 2012 Tarver filed a lawsuit written in longhand and filed without the consultation of an attorney. Dr. Chiquita Fye is the 65 year old woman who has been the medical director at this prison since 2006. This “lawsuit asserted that Fye was deliberately indifferent to his injury as he languished for months in the prison infirmary. Deliberate indifference to a prison inmate’s medical needs violates the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” (The Associated Press) Many inmates have filed lawsuits against this doctor all complaining that she neglected them of proper care. And there is so many other cases out there showing that prisons do not give proper care to inmates who need it.

Corrections have existed throughout society for many years and continued to change and evolve in the United States reflecting society’s values and ideals throughout the centuries. In the criminal justice system, corrections exist in more than one form. Not only do corrections refer to jails and prison systems but they also pertain to community-based programs, such as probation, parole, halfway houses, and treatment facilities. Past, present, and future trends in regard to the development and operation of institutional and community-based corrections vary between states but corrections have grown immensely since the early 1800s and have continued to expand

First off, parole is “the conditional release of a prisoner, prior to completition of the

Due to the increase of correctional populations that continue to exceed its’ capacity, correctional alternatives were created. Correctional alternatives were to alleviate both prison crowding and the threat to public safety posed by serious offenders (Flores, Holsinger, Latessa, Lowenkamp, & Makarios, 2010). Rehabilitation in the 1970s was a variable correctional goal however by the 1980s intermediate sanctions developed . Intermediate sanctions consist of house arrest, electronic monitoring, boot camps, day reporting centers, intensive supervision probation or parole, community service, fines, and curfews (Tonry, 1990). These sanctions offer community based punishments that focus on deterrence, incapacitation, and retribution (Tonry, 1990).

At any given time, there are approximately 2 million American citizens incarcerated and nearly 700,000 inmates returning to their communities each year. (Petitt & Western, 2004; Western, 2001). Since most prisoners are eventually released, mass incarceration has in turn produced a steep rise in the number of individuals reentering society and undergoing the process of social and economic reintegration. (Travis, 2005). During the period between 1982 and 2007, the number of Americans incarcerated in jails and prisons increased by 274% (Pew Center on the States, 2009). In addition to the increase of the individuals incarcerated, there is an even larger amount of individuals under community supervision, with a recent study finding that one in every 48 American adults are either on probation or parole on any given day (Glaze & Bonczar, 2011). Recent statistics show that the percentage of parolees re-incarcerated after release currently stands at 32% (Maruschak and Parks, 2012).

The issue is intermediate sanctions and community corrections within the correctional practices. The two classic forms of punishment/supervision for crimes in the United States are imprisonment and probation. Imprisonment is extremely expensive, often too harsh for both the offender and his/her family based on the crime committed, and tends to be far less effective than hoped in rehabilitating the offender. Probation is used far more frequently than imprisonment but is problematic because many repeat offenders have already unsuccessfully undergone prior probation and there is a lack of supervision due to the heavy caseloads of probation department caseworkers. Faced with the great expense, extreme nature and ineffectiveness of imprisonment vs. the ineffectiveness and lack of supervision in probation, lawmakers have struggled to fill the gap between those two classic law enforcement measures with

Corrections are an important part of the criminal justice system and they work in concert with law enforcement and the courts. Citizens in the United States expect criminals to be monitored, with some in secured facilities, so they will not fear of becoming continual victim of crime. To illustrate this expectation further, there are 2.5 million individuals on probation or parole and 1 million individuals in jails or prisons (Morris & Tonry, 2013, p. 370). However, does every individual confined in jails and prisons still need to be there or is there a better way to deal with certain special prison populations? Due to the large number of prisoners within the correctional system, certain special populations of inmates do not receive the rehabilitation or care needed to successfully reintegrate back into society. Additionally, these special populations create an undue burden on the correctional system in terms of financial costs associated with their confinement. There are changes that can be made to the criminal justice system to accommodate special populations of inmates. This paper will explore the alternative

In 2015, America had four times the number of prisoners since 1980, roughly from 500,000 to 2.2 million people. The United States today is five percent of the world population, yet it holds twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners. 4.5 million people are on probation or parole in the US. Altogether, there is a total of about 6.8 million people under some form of correctional control. If one were to combine the number of people in prison and jail with those who are under parole or probation supervision, it would amount to one in every thirty-five adults, which is 2.8 percent of the correctional control population.

Incarceration strives to isolate offenders from society but does not provide adequate therapy to change the mental states and behaviors of criminals. The recidivism rate, the rate of known and recorded relapse into criminal behavior after release from jail, proves that offenders need more than just isolation to change their behavior and eliminate their dangers to society. Communities need not only to provide help and pay attention to offenders with short sentences because of their earlier release than others. In California, an increase in parole grants in 2014 has resulted in 2,000 murderers, classified as the “highest Criminal History Category, VI,” returning to society with no therapy or assistance from reentry programs. 80% of offenders in the most serious criminal history category, the criminal group with the highest recidivism rate, relapsed and returned to prison within five years of release, and 60% of offenders returned to prison within three years of release (Prisoners and Prisoner Re-Entry, 2007; Sanchez, 2014; Sipes, 2017; St John, 2014). Overall, police officers arrest ex-offenders up to forty-five times more than they arrest members of the non-criminal population (Przybylski, 2012). Criminals need specialized psychological treatment to change their behaviors and make them safe to return to their communities. As recidivism becomes increasingly more problematic in today's society, criminal psychologists analyze the motives, incarceration experiences, and mental

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.

We are living in a society where state and federal governments have implemented and developed new alternatives to reducing overcrowding in correctional facilities, costs, managing higher-risk offenders in the community, reducing crime and achieving greater fairness and effectiveness in criminal sentencing for adults. These innovations are called intermediate sanctions. It includes intensive probation supervision, house arrests, electronic monitoring, restitution orders, shock incarcerations or split sentences and residential community corrections. The intermediate sanctions have the advantage of offering alternatives to overcrowded jails and prisons. Consequently, penal institutions have not only proven to be costly but also ineffective and

In the state of Alabama there is an effort to reform and enhance the state of current community supervision, that looks to help alleviate the number of individuals in prison. In Alabama the parole board is responsible for administering and supervising probation and parole (Alabama's Corrections Conundrum, nd). The board is comprised of three people (Alabama Parole, nd). The board has seen a steady decline in budget it receives to accomplish this. The number of probationers and parolees are assigned to be supervised by officers at a ratio of 192 to 1 (Alabama's Corrections Conundrum, nd). The board is also responsible for investigating violations of parole, helping obtain employment, and penalizing inmates for violations (Alabama Parole, nd). In the state of Alabama there are approximately 64, 525 persons under the direct supervision of the board. Of that number 2013, forty percent of parolees violated their parole or probation (Alabama's Corrections Conundrum, nd).  These numbers are partly due to the increase in the prison population in Alabama. Finally, the Alabama Board of Parole can deny anyone who comes up for parole. The board does not have a specific reason or guideline to keep record of why the felon was denied (Kachmar,

From a statistical standpoint, there are nearly seven million individuals who are currently on correctional supervision within the United States of America (DeMichele, 2014). Of those seven million individuals, a meager two million or 30 percent are incarcerated within a jail or prison environment (DeMichele, 2014). The remaining five million or 70 percent of those seven million are currently being supervised through community corrections (DeMichele, 2014). The dramatic growth in community-based corrections over the last three decades is nothing short of astounding (Wodahl, Ogle, & Heck, 2011). In a span of less than 30 years, the number of offenders under supervision in the community has more than tripled, with an estimated 5.1 million people under probation and parole supervision in 2008 (Wodahl, Ogle, & Heck, 2011).

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.