2. Introduction
Criminal justice processes
Jails and prison
Probation and parole
Juvenile corrections
Community-based corrections
Trends
Operation and fiscal functions
Security, technology, management, and control
functions
Educational and treatment programs
3. Processes: Jail and Prison
Booking & assessment process
Information
Personal belong taken
Bail or no bail
Court hearing
Sentenced
County jail or Prison
Transportation
Release
6. Processes: Community Corrections
Alternative Forms of Punishment and Rehabilitation
Certain Restrictions and Guidelines Placed on Offenders in
Community Correction Programs
Obligations and Specific Roles of Offender During Community
Corrections
May Assist in the Reduction of Prison Overcrowding
7. Trends in Institutional and Community-
Based Corrections
Past
Incarceration as sole method of punishment
Contemporary
Shift to alternative and community-based corrections
Prospective
Continued use of community-based corrections
Select use of incarceration as method of punishment
10. Educational and Treatment Programs
Educational and employment assistance
Substance Abuse Programs
Anger Management and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Individual and Group Counseling
11. Conclusion
Impact of functions, operations,
and processes on the
corrections system
Overview
Processes
Trends
Functions
Educational and treatment
programs
Knowledge and understanding of
both criminal justice and non-
criminal justice personnel for
implementation of policy.
12. References
All references listed
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Microsoft Office Clip Art.
Notas do Editor
Corrections Research Presentation
Ismael Alvarado, Larry Shaw, Myriam Mounchandini, Robert Bankston, Sarah Kohut
CJA/484
November 10, 2013
Keith Carr
University of Phoenix
The criminal justice system entails many pertinent processes and functions. Presented herein are the various processes of the system: jails and prison, probation and parole, juvenile corrections, and community-based corrections. Past, current, and future trends in the development and operation of institutional and community-based corrections is evaluated. In the corrections environment, the following are discussed: operations and fiscal functions; security, technology, management, and control functions; and educational and treatment programs.
If a person is taken to jail, he or she usually proceeds through the booking process and is placed in a holding cell. Because of the negative stigmatism of jails on the young mind, juveniles are typically not placed in a holding cell. Depending on the accused crime(s), the suspect is moved to another room and asked questions regarding the case. If the Miranda Warning has not been given by the officers upon arrest, the interrogating officer will likely present the Warning to the accused offender at this time.
The inmate is given a booking number which is presented on his or her case file. Fingerprints and photographs are taken and any pertinent information is obtained about him or her such as a previous criminal history or medical conditions that the officers must be aware of personal property is documented and accounted for according to departmental procedure rules. Generally, the inmate will be allowed to contact family, friends or a bondsman/woman to arrange bail (some inmates are not granted the opportunity for bail depending on the charges and risk level). If the inmate is not granted the opportunity for bail, or if he or she cannot or chooses to not post bail, a uniform is issued to the suspect for jail use. However, if bail arrangements are made, a more extensive paperwork process begins. At the time of the release, the accused will have documents stating the date, time, and location of his or her pending court date.
If the inmate is convicted of the accused crime, he or she will return to court for a sentencing hearing. At this time, a judge demonstrates a punishment or sentence plan; if the offender is sentenced to imprisonment, they are prepared for transport to a state correctional facility. Once at the correctional facility, they will be categorized according to risk and other characteristics and then placed in a designated area.
Offenders who are on probation receive a suspended prison sentence with some specific conditions. In most cases first time offenders usually receive a probation sentence contingent upon the severity of the crime. Although the public and some political officials regard probation as soft approach to dealing with crime, it is evident that not every offender deserves a prison sentence or can be sent to prison. Probation is yet a regularly used sanction in the United States. According to Seiter (2011), "Since 1975 the number of offenders under community supervision has risen from less than 1 million to nearly 5.1 million by 2007." When an offender is granted probation, immediately the responsibility of the probation officer is to supervise the offender and ensure that he or she complies with the conditions of their probation by the judge.
Offenders that receive a parole release have satisfactorily served a sufficient amount of his or her prison sentence and now the parole board issues the offender on a conditional release from prison. Currently an offender may receive one of three methods of parole that exist. The first is "discretionary parole" which is mainly an offenders release into community supervision. Second, is supervised mandatory release, also referred to as "mandatory release" with the parolee remaining under supervision until the remainder of the sentence is complete. Third, is "unconditional mandatory release" which is the inmate serving the full term of his or her sentence. The former offender has no supervision or any requirements to report of any parole agent.
The juvenile corrections process follows some stages such as arrest, intake, the detention hearing, the adjudication hearing, and juvenile placement. At the beginning of the process, the juvenile is arrested and questioned at the police station and is booked if probable is present for the offense committed. During intake, the juvenile can be released to his or her parents with a summons to return to court for an initial hearing or can be detained for a judicial hearing. At the adjudication hearing, the juvenile is allowed by constitutional law to be represented by a lawyer, to call witnesses, to cross examine the prosecution’s witnesses and to introduce relevant evidences that may establish innocence. If the youth is found guilty after the adjudication hearing, the court sets a date for a dispositional hearing, and the probation staff develop a pre-dispositional report that provides background information on the juvenile and makes recommendations to the court (Thompson & McGrath, 2012). At the placement stage of the process, the juvenile can be placed on probation in a nonresidential or community-based residential program. Other options are to pay restitution to the victim or undergo treatment if a substance abuse or mental health issues is prevalent. Juveniles can also be placed in a residential facility or secure facility; planning and managing their reentry into the community is critical.
Community corrections is an alternative to imprisonment. Community corrections can be handed down by a judge to an offender as a sanction, which that sanction is meant to serve as a form of punishment or rehabilitation. Some examples of community corrections are community service, house arrest, electronic monitoring, day reporting centers, etc. (Center of Community Corrections, 2009). In-lieu of being sentenced to jail or prison, an offender may be sentenced to a form of community corrections. With community corrections there may be certain terms or conditions that an offender may have to adhere to. These conditions may include constant or random drug testing, frequent reporting and follow-ups, community labor, restitution, etc. There are also community correction programs offered to offenders who have been recently paroled from prison. These programs may assist offenders with the re-entry process back into society in an effort to prevent and reduce recidivism. Community correction programs have also assisted with the reduction in state prisons, as for providing resources to offenders to prevent recidivism.
Community corrections also serves as an additional form of incarceration than imprisonment itself. California is one of the states that has utilized these programs to reduce its prison population. For example, Los Angeles County has about 50,000 offenders under supervised probation by the probation department. Over the last two years the California prison system realignment program relinquished authority of about 20,000 state offenders to Los Angeles County Probation and Sheriff’s Departments for supervision. This has significantly helped reduced some of the overcrowding in the California prison system (County of Los Angeles Probation Department, 2013).
In the past, the correctional institution served as the primary punishment method for offenders. Although fines were commonly issues in conjunction with imprisonment, other methods of punishment were not integrated in the criminal justice system. As the criminal justice system expanded and became more complex, more laws came into existence, criminalizing an increasing number of actions and conduct. The United States implemented the War on Drugs Initiative which increased the number of inmates housed in prison facilities exponentially. A temporary solution to this prison operation crisis was to develop drug courts; the first Drug Court was created in Florida in 1989 as a result (Carey, Pukstas, Waller, et al. 2008, p.2).
However, drug courts alleviated only a small part of the prison overcrowding issue. Because of this, the trend of using community-based corrections instead of incarceration became popular and is the most favorable type of sentencing option today. This trend is can be foreseen to continue in the future; first-time offenders and nonviolent offenders will bypass the imprisonment atmosphere entirely while inmates will likely serve lighter sentences with good behavior and be released back into society under the guidance and supervision of a parole officer.
The annual fiscal budget demands for administration functions and operations range in the billions of dollars. According to Seiter (2011), "In fiscal year 1991, state and federal adult correctional agency budgets totaled about $40.6 billion. By fiscal year 2006, these budgets more than doubled to $105 billion" (p. 13). Administration functions and operations, such as facility maintenance, repair projects, salary increase, inflation, probation, and parole programs, health services, power plants, segregation buildings, treatment center buildings, facility ran infirmaries, safety, and environmental protection reflect the fiscal demands that corrections encounter on an annual basis.
Correctional facilities handle dangerous offenders so control of prisoners and safety and security of both officers and staff are deemed as priority functions. Assessing the security, technology, management and control functions within the correctional environments may lead to an efficient operation. Today, the use of technological innovations allow staff to keep correctional environments safe and secure. Administrators in today’s correctional facilities face new and old challenges that increasingly make it more difficult to keep peace inside prison walls. Inmates who passed through the correction system before have more knowledgeable of institutional operations, meanwhile; managers need to be many steps ahead for an effective control (Thomas, 1998). The use of security technology in the prison system is essential to maintaining order, staying ahead of the prisoner learning curve and enhancing the management effectiveness when eyes, ears and bodies are simply insufficient.
There are several programs and resources made available to offenders which can assist in staying “crime free.” One issue with many offenders is recidivism. This occurs quite often when many offenders do not have the proper resources or treatment efforts made available to them. Some of the resources that can assist offenders are educational programs and employment assistance. Many offenders commit crimes as a means to obtain money to purchase what he or she needs. Providing an offender with educational assistance may assist that individual in obtaining employment in-lieu of living a criminal-like lifestyle. Also, there a strong need to make employment resources available to offenders, which may also assist in obtaining employment.
Many offenders suffer from substance abuse, which alone can aid to a life of crime. There are many offenders behind bars for substance abuse related charges. Providing offenders with resources and substance abuse treatments can aid those individuals with his or her recovery as well as staying drug-free. There are also programs that offer offenders assistance with anger management and behavioral therapy. According to Center of Community Corrections (2009), “Anger management and cognitive behavioral therapy are forms of treatment that focuses on helping the offender learn and use new thinking skills to modify negative behaviors. The program also teaches new coping mechanisms to offenders convicted of crimes of violence, such as assault and abuse, to better manage their behaviors when angry.” Another treatment option made available to offenders are individual and group therapy. These efforts can provide one-on-one counseling or group counseling in an effort to help an offender cope with issues/problems that may contribute to crime of destructive lifestyle.
It can be concluded that the corrections arena is impacted by a plethora of differing functions, operations, and processes within and outside the criminal justice system. An overview of the jail and prison, probation and parole, juvenile corrections, and community-based corrections processes were demonstrated. Trends in institutional and community-based corrections were touched-upon. Pertinent areas of the corrections system were evaluated, including the operations and fiscal functions, technology, management, and control functions, and the use of educational and treatment programs. While it is crucial for the criminal justice professional to be familiar with these processes, a general knowledge and understanding of their functions and importance on part of the average voter is necessary to introduce, pass, and implement policy for the field.
California Courts Judicial Branch of California (2011), “Parole Re-entry,” Retrieved on November 06, 2013 from http://www.courts.ca.gov/5271.htm
Carey, Shannon M, Ph.D,; Pukstas, Kimberly Ph.D.; Waller, Mark S.; Mackin, Richard J.; Finigan, Michael W. Ph.D. “Drug Courts and State Mandated Drug Treatment Programs: Outcomes, Costs and Consequences,” NPC Research (Portland, OR, March 2008), p. 2. Retrieved November 9, 2013 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/vdffiles1/nij/grants/223975.pdf
Center of Community Corrections (2009), “Community Corrections Programs,” Retrieved on November 06, 2013 from http://centerforcommunitycorrections.org/?page_id=44
Los Angeles County Probation Department (2013), “Probation Services,” Retrieved on November 06, 2013 from http://probation.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/probation
Seiter, R. P. (2011). Corrections: An Introduction, Third Edition. Retrieved from
CJA/234— Introduction to Corrections course website, University of Phoenix.
Thomas G, (1998). The Challenges of Strategy in Corrections. Corrections Quarterly, 2(4), 37. http://search.proquest.com/docview/214566531?accountid=35812
Thompson L & McGrath A, (2012). Implications for Contemporary Risk-need Assessment with Juvenile Offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 36(4), 345-355
Utah Department of Corrections. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://corrections.utah.gov/
Utah County Sheriff. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.utahcountyonline.org/Dept/Sheriff/Corrections/inmates/index.asp
