Chapter 15 Vocabulary & Outline

"Probation and Community Corrections"

Vocabulary.
01. Community corrections - Sanctions that are alternatives to incarceration in jail or prison (such as monetary penalties, probation,intensive supervision, and home confinement with electronic monitoring), or supervision in the community after a sentence of incarceration has been served (such as parole, work release, furloughs, and halfway houses).

02.Sanctions - Ways to punish or place restrictions on offenders.

03. Intermediate sentencing - Sentences designed to provide more rigorous supervision than normal probation, yet something less expensive than incarceration.

04. Intensive supervision - Probation or parole for which jurisdictions maintain small caseloads, make frequent contact with offenders under supervision, and require special conditions such as random drug tests, curfews, restitution to victims, electronic monitoring, or house arrest.

05. House arrest - A condition of probation or parole in which offenders are not permitted to leave their residences for purposes other than work, school, treatment, or other approved reasons.

06. Electronic monitoring - Surveillance of offenders in the community by means of electronic devices such as radio and telephone transmitters.

07. Net widening - Process by which more offenders end up being placed under supervision of the criminal justice system even though the intent of a program was to divert offenders out of the system.

08. Good-time credits - Small reductions in the time to be served, awarded to inmates for each day on which they obey prison rules.

09. Maxing out - Release from incarceration after the offender has served the entire sentence without ever being granted parole or accumulating enough good-time credits to justify early release.

10. Parole release - Prisoner release decided by a parole board consisting of corrections officials and/or political appointees who evaluate the inmate's record and his or her behavior in prison to determine whether the inmate will be released to serve the remainder of the sentence under community supervision.

11.Work release - Program that permits eligible inmates to work during the day at regular jobs in the outside world, returning to the jail or prison at night.

12. Study release - A program similar to work release, in which an inmate attends school by day and returns to jail or prison at night.

13. Furloughs - Unsupervised leaves from prison that are granted for only a few hours to permit an eligible inmate to be present at a relatives funeral, visit loved ones, go to a job interview, or otherwise attend to personal or family matters.

14. Halfway house - Residential centers for ex-offenders in the community. Most halfway house residents are parolees or similar inmates near the end of their sentence.

15. Pardon - A reprieve from a governor or from the president that excuses a convicted offender and allows release from prison without any supervision.

16. Commutation - A modification or reduction of a sentence imposed on an offender.

17. Restorative justice - Criminal justice process that focuses on sanctions directed primarily at repairing the injury to the victim rather than focusing on the adversarial relationship between the government and the offender.

18. Authentic justice - Approach to criminal justice holding that sanctions should be more closely related to crime and that offenders should be punished in ways that neutralize their gain.

19. Retributive model of justice - Traditional approach to criminal justice that emphasizes the role of adversarial proceeding and the government in punishing offenders for their past acts as retribution and deterrence.

20. Restitution - A form of restorative justice that usually takes the form of money, but it can also include returning property or performing services for the victim.

21. Mediation - A process providing a forum in which the offender and the victim meet in a neutral setting where they can ask questions, communicate feelings of anger or remorse, and discuss ways in which the balance of justice can be restored in a fair and equitable manner; this may involve an apology, restitution, community service, or other alternative.

22. Shock incarceration - Short-term military-style "boot camps" designed primarily for nonviolent young offenders and featuring a military atmosphere and strict discipline.

23. Corporal punishment - Physical punishment short of the death penalty.

Outline.

What Are The Alternatives To Incarceration?
`Monetary fines are the most common form of criminal sanction in the United States. Fines are used primarily in cases involving minor crimes or as an adjunct to incarceration for more serious offenses.
`Fines have problems of proportionality and collection, which can be overcome to some extent by the use of "day fines" based on offenders' daily earnings.
`Probation is a system in which offenders are allowed to live in the community under supervision. Offenders who are sentenced to probation usually have conditions attached to their sentences.
`Supervision of offenders in the community poses the risk that these offenders may commit further crimes.
`Dissatisfaction with probation, combined with the need to use prison space more efficiently, has produced a movement toward intermediate sanctions, which provide more rigorous supervision than normal probation yet are less expensive than incarceration.
`Jurisdictions achieve intensive supervision by maintaining small caseloads, making frequent contact with offenders under supervision, and imposing special conditions such as random drug tests.
`An offender under home confinement or house arrest may leave his or her residence only for approved reasons. Compliance in increasingly ensured through electronic monitoring.

How Can Ex-Offenders Return To The Community After Prison?
`The purpose of parole is to allow inmates to serve the last part of their sentence in the community under supervision in order to readjust to their freedom.
`Parole is associated with indeterminate sentencing. Parole release is decided by a parole board consisting of corrections officers.
`Offenders who are not released by a parole board can be granted supervised mandatory release if they accumulate enough good-time credits.
`Because prolonged incarceration can reduce inmates' capacity to function outside of prison, some states have temporary release programs that allow inmates to enter the community for work, study, or other purposes.
`Work or study release programs permit eligible inmates to work or take courses outside of the prison during the day and return to the prison at night. Furloughs are unsupervised leaves from prison for specific purposes and are granted for only a few hours.
`Halfway houses are residential centers for ex-offenders in the community. These facilities refer residents for counseling, treatment, and employment services.
`A pardon allows a convicted offender to be released from prison without any supervision. A pardon excuses the offender from criminal penalties - unlike a commutation, which modifies or reduces a sentence.

What Are Forms Of Authentic And Restorative Justice?
`Advocates of restorative justice believe that who wins the case is less important than "making the victim feel whole."
`In the most common form of restorative justice, the offender provides restitution to the victim. `Mediation programs provide a neutral setting in which offenders and victims can ask each other questions and communicate their feelings about the offense.
`Some forms of restorative justice are designed to repair the physical or psychological harm done to the victim.
`Authentic justice seeks to link the nature of the penalty with the nature of the offense in a direct, tangible way.
`Shock incarceration creates a military-style boot camp atmosphere in which inmates are forced to engage in physical activity, drills, work, education, and counseling. Usually offenders volunteer to participate in boot camps rather than serving a longer sentence in a traditional prison.
`Corporal punishment is physical punishment short of the death penalty. It has a long history in the United States, and it is supported by some advocates of authentic justice because it imitates the pain suffered by the victim.
`Public humiliation also has a long history and can take many different forms. Although there is renewed interest in this approach, public humiliation sentences are still rare.
`Forced birth control has been used as a punishment in cases involving child abuse.
`Some jurisdictions have attempted to treat sex offenders with drugs that reduce their sex drive. These treatments are controversial, because some experts believe that the behavior of sex offenders is psychologically rather than biologically motivated.
`Forfeiture of assets is increasingly being used in cases involving drug trafficking.
`Some jurisdictions impose offender fees on offenders under community supervision who are employed and can afford reasonable fees.