Understanding Correctional Client Types and Issues in Correctional Populations

1. Chapter 6 The Correctional Client

2. types of offenders long-term elderly situational AIDS special correctional populations career mentally handicapped sex mentally ill substance abuser

3. definition “situational offender” • a person who in a particular set of circumstances has violated the law, but who is not given to criminal behavior in normal circumstances and is unlikely to repeat the offense

4. definition “career criminal” • a person who sees crime as a way of earning a living, who has numerous contacts with the criminal justice system over time, and who may view the criminal sanction as a normal part of life

5. definition “sex offender” • a person who has committed a sexual act prohibited by law, such as rape, child molestation, or prostitution, for economic, psychological, and even situational reasons

6. definition “substance abuser - drugs” • a person whose use of illegal chemical substances disrupts normal living patterns to the extent that social problems develop, often leading to criminal behavior

7. drugs and crime % of convicted jail inmates (for selected offenses) who committed their offense to support a drug habit % of total inmates

8. definition “substance abuser - alcohol” • a person whose use of alcohol is difficult to control, disrupting normal living patterns and frequently leading to violations of the law while the person in under the influence of alcohol or attempting to secure it

9. definition “mentally ill offender” • a “disturbed” person whose criminal behavior may be traced to diminished or otherwise abnormal capacity to think or reason as a result of psychological or neurological disturbance

10. definition “deinstitutionalization” • the massive release of mental patients from mental hospitals and their return to the community

11. definition “mentally handicapped offender” • a person whose limited mental development prevents their adjustment to the rules of society

12. definition “AIDS offenders” • persons who in the course of their lives inside or outside of prison have contracted the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and/or developed its full-blown symptomatic stage -- acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) issues medical care prevention housing

13. definition “elderly offender” • older offenders are becoming an increasingly significant part of the correctional population • WHY? • citizenry are getting older • sentences are getting longer • ISSUES: • health (cost = $69,000/yr. for inmate > 60) • “institutionalization” is dramatic for elderly • elderly pose a less serious risk upon release; so they are often released early

14. definition “long term offender” • increasingly, offenders are doing longer terms, creating same problems as those related to “elderly offenders” • 1st-time offenders do an average of 22 mo. • 11 - 15% will serve > 7 yr. • 24% will serve > 25 yr. • 9% will serve life • ISSUES: • elderly problems • create meaningful living • maintain contact with outside world

15. definition “classification systems” • specific sets of objective criteria--such as offense history, previous experience in the justice system, & substance abuse patterns--are applied to all inmates to determine appropriate institutional housingand treatment programs

16. Correctional classification classification criteria social & political pressures! program & treatment needs commitment offense risk of future crime

17. debate over classification criteria program treatment needs institutional controlneeds vs. how to help the offender how to manage the institution