Corrections

1. Corrections • Carrying out the sentence of the decreed by the judicial system • History of Corrections • Community Corrections • Intermediate Sanctions • Institutional Corrections

2. Colonial America (1600s-1750s) • Punishment was public • Punishment was corporal or capital • Prison-like institutions existed, but were not used as “punishment”

3. COPORAL PUNISHMENTS

4. The Rise of the Penitentiary (1750-1800) • William Penn • Revised criminal code in Pennsylvania to forbid torture and mutilation; ordered new “houses of correction” • Walnut Street Prison (1790) • Other states (New Jersey, New York) followed

5. Walnut Street Jail and Eastern Penitentiary

6. Pennsylvania vs. Auburn System • Pennsylvania • Western Penitentiary, Eastern Penitentiary • Silent System • New York • Auburn Prison • Congregate System • Only difference? • Isolation of inmates during the day

7. Corrections in the 1800s • Auburn System wins debate • Easier to perform labor; the only way to perform factory labor • But, prison brutal, corporal punishment prevalent • Prison building boom (1850s) • Prison Industry • Contract system, convict-lease, state account

8. The Progressive Era (early 1900s) to the 1960s • The Progressives attacked many social ills (working conditions, poverty….) • In Criminal Justice • Rehabilitation (not punishment, penance) should be the goal of corrections • Psychology/Sociology “Causes” • Platform of indeterminate sentences, probation, parole…

9. Corrections from 1970 to present • 1960s-1970 • Faith in rehabilitation crushed • Liberals = justice model, Conservatives = punish • 1970s = deterrence • 1980s-2000s: deterrence/incapacitation • Return to determinate sentencing • 3 strikes legislation, mandatory minimums, harsh sentencing guidelines… • Chain gangs, “strip-down” prisons • Currently: Evidence based corrections?

10. Conscience and Convenience • Why were the first prison built? • Revulsion of Gallows  “Penitentiaries” • Then, “Correctional Facilities” • Why do we still build prisons if we no longer believe in rehabilitation? • Incapacitation as the “default” goal of prisons….or “convenience”

11. The Corrections Continuum • Probation • Intermediate Sanctions • Jails • Prisons

12. Probation • Father of Probation is John Augustus • Formally adopted in progressive era • Suspend sentence, in return, offender abides by “conditions of probation” • Conditions set and enforced by judicial system • Offenders who “fail” may have probation revoked, and original sentence imposed

13. Functions of Probation Departments • Pre-sentence Investigation (PSI) • Interview offender, case history, tied to rehabilitation • Includes recommendation for sentence • Supervision of Offenders • Counseling, meet with offenders • Help with job, broker community resources • Supervise (house visits, drug testing)

14. Use of Probation • 65% (almost 2/3) of the total corrections population is on probation • Roughly 4.2 million offenders are on probation • Average Caseload = 120 • Goal has shifted • Rehabilitation (1920-60s) to supervision/zero tolerance (1980s-1990s) to “balanced” (?)

15. Parole • Parole as release from prison • Discretionary release • Parole board = appointed by governor • Related to rehabilitation and intermediate sentences • Parole as supervision • Similar to probation supervision • Early release a privilege, therefore must follow conditions of release • Many states abolished parole release in 1980s, but now retain supervision • “Post-custody supervision” or “Community Control”

16. How “effective” are probation and parole supervision? • Cost savings • Probation and parole are much less expensive than prison • Recidivism • Large differences in “recidivism” across jurisdictions • For felons on probation, as high as 65% (California felons), as low as 17% get arrested within 3 years • Depends upon “risk” of clients • Failure rates higher for parolees • 40% return to prison within 3 years, arrest rates much higher

17. Intermediate Sanctions Probation Prison Death ISP EM Boot Camp

18. WHY do these critters exist? • Prison crowding in 1980s • Probation viewed as failure • Need for “continuum” of sanctions

19. What is the goal of these critters? • Divert offenders from prison (save money) • Reduce recidivism (through deterrence) • Provide an option to judges that fits between prison and probation

20. Intensive Probation or Parole Supervision (IPS) • Idea is to “soup up” traditional supervision • Reduce Caseloads (15 to 40 offenders) • Daily contact with offender • Routine drug testing • Curfews, home and employment visits

21. Do ISP’s work? • Do ISP’s divert from prison? • NO, judges are reluctant to send “prison-bound” offenders to ISP (Net Widening) • Do ISP’s reduce recidivism? • NO, when compared to similar group of offenders, they actually do worse (fishbowl effect) • Movement over past decade to use ISP as a way to punish probationers, to enforce treatment, or to incorporate effective treatment within the ISP framework

22. Shock Incarceration (boot camps) • Short, intense incarceration to “shock” the offender into his/her senses • military drill and discipline, physical exercise, hard physical labor • typically reserved for young, non-violent, first-time offenders • short time-span, typically 6 months

23. Do boot camps work? • Reduce Recidivism? • Overall, boot camp graduates have similar recidivism rates as similar offenders who receive different sanctions • Divert Offenders? • Depends upon where in the system they are diverted • Very small numbers compared to prisons, so not a lot of “diversion”

24. Home Confinement and Electronic Monitoring • Home confinement is an old practice • Electronic Monitoring is used to enforce home confinement • Technology emerged in the 1980s • Most are bracelets that work like invisible dog fences • Newer GPS devices • Key issue = what is done when violate confinement

25. Residential Community Corrections • Traditional “Half-way house” • Used to reintegrate prison inmates into society • Now • Traditional functions • Sanction for probation violators • Day reporting centers • Split sentences (probation + RCC time)

26. How do RCC’s Work? • Typically, they are house-like structures (not prison-like) • Inmates (clients) are usually free to leave during the day (job, classes), and return at night • Progression from little freedom to more freedom • RCC as primary way to provide correctional treatment

27. IMS and Recidivism • None of these sanctions have demonstrated recidivism reductions. • Why not? All of them are based on the principle of specific deterrence. Example of boot camp--why would this reduce recidivism? • Exception: some incorporate intervention programs grounded in good theory

28. Institutional Corrections Go to jail, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200

29. JAILS • County Level Institutions • Usually run by Sheriff and deputies • House inmates (less than 1 year) and pre-trial detainees • Conditions notoriously poor • Little programming, no medical facilities • Violence, shifting population, suicide rates high

30. Prisons • Hold individuals sentence to at least 1 year • Operated by the executive branch

31. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) • 98 Facilities • 126,000 inmates • Most inmates (60%) are serving time for drug offense • Clear product of “War on Drugs” • Prisons ranked on a 1 to 6 scale (1 = FCI in Colorado)

32. State Prisons • Over 500 prisons, and 1.5 million offenders • Governor typically appoints warden • Organization • Maximum (razor wire, guard towers…) • Medium (similar to max, but less serious offenders) • Minimum (typically campus style)

33. Since the late 1970s, the total number of inmates in custody has increased dramatically

35. Why the dramatic increase? • Change in public opinion, and political emphasis • Three strikes laws, “truth in sentencing” • Longer sentences in “guidelines” • Drug Policy • Increase in felony convictions • Factors that do not clearly influence incarceration • Crime rates, Economy

36. Profile of Prison and Jail Inmates • Racial Profile • 35% White, 44% Black, 11%, Hispanic • 11% of black males in 20s and 30s • Most (98%) are male • Most are poor, with less than a high school education • Majority (60%) have been in prison before

37. What type of offenders go to prison?

38. Does (did) incapacitation “work?” • Yes and No • Yes: small to moderate reductions in crime levels for certain offenses (burglary, theft, robbery). • Doubling the prison population (200,000 to 400,000) reduced these crimes by 18% over a decade • But, doubling again, will have less of an effect!! • NO: Little if any effect on murder, rape, simple or aggravated assault…. • Zero effect on drug crimes (replacement) • “Does it work” as wrong question

39. The Inmate Economy • A black market exists in almost all prisons • Sex, drugs, alcohol, food, better living conditions… • What is the currency of the prison economy?Used to be cigarettes…now stamps… • Why not “stamp out” the prison economy? • Guards are pragmatic • Some guards are part of the economy

40. Does Rehabilitation Work? • Martinson (1975) “nothing works” • He later recanted his position, and argued that some things do “work,” but nobody listened • Don Andrews (Canadian Psychologist) • Much “rehabilitation” is “correctional quackery” • What works? Evidence-Based Corrections • Cognitive/Behavioral based programs • Intensive intervention with follow-ups