Corrections systems and policy discussions

John Rhodes

RE: Community-Based Sanctions & Goals of Sentencing

Which one of these do you think is the best method of implementing a community sanction program? Any concerns for public safety in any of these programs? Then there is the boot camp quagmire! Do you think the boot camps in Indiana are effective at reducing recidivism or rehabilitation; are the able to be effectively evaluated? I only ask because of the implications noted in our reading for the week.

Sentencing has become considerably more 'creative' in recent decades in a beneficial manner. It has been widely recognized that simply releasing an inmate back into society without a transitional phase can lead to recidivism, which is not beneficial for either the inmate or society. Parole and probation are designed to monitor inmates for safety reasons yet also help the prisoner by giving him or her counseling and education. Although used because of prison overcrowding and for financial considerations, the psychological benefits of probation and parole should not be discounted.

Similarly, for nonviolent inmates or inmates convicted of petty crimes house arrest and home confinement allows the inmate to remain a productive member of society while still being monitored yet still subjects the individual to punishment. Community-based corrections can be more satisfying regarding the rehabilitative and restorative aspects of punishment, even though they may be insufficiently retributive in the eyes of some. I think all methods are potentially effective, depending on the nature of the offender and are ultimately more useful in transitioning prisoners back to society than the 'boot camp' method which emphasizes punishment rather than how the inmate will readjust to life outside of prison walls.

RICHARD DELEON

In regards to the alternative corrections programs you have described, I think perhaps the most interesting and the most important of all the programs is that of the substance abuse treatment program. Although using drugs is a crime, quite often by the time the offender has entered the system, he or she is addicted and has limited volition over his or her behavior. This is not to excuse the crime of using illicit drugs but an acknowledgement of the fact that to merely punish drug addicts with incarceration and not give them counseling means almost inevitable recidivism because of the biological pull addicts feel to use again.

Both the Henrico Community Correction Program and the Adult Community Supervision, based upon your description, also seem to be staffed with employees who are well-versed in how to screen for potentially unsafe offenders and have been helpful in giving offenders coping mechanisms and life skills in an economical fashion that incarceration alone could not.

JOHN RHODES