327-M10 - Community Corrections Flashcards
What are the four reasons why community sanctions would be preffered?
- escalating costs of incarceration
- questionable deterrent value of incarceration
- recognizing the aid of community sanctions with rehabilitation and reintegration
- reallocation of resources to higher-risk offenders
What are the two criticisms of community sanctions?
- too soft on crime (not effective in addressing accountability)
- too punitive (too many hoops to jumpt through to maintain the sentence)
Explain how diversion programs can be used at serveral points in the CJS
Any party of the CJS at any point of the process can send people to diversion programs, including:
* police
* crown prosecutors
* judges
What is the main purpose of diversion programs?
What is it designed to do?
Keep offenders from being processed further in the formal criminal justice system
According to labelling theory, why are diversion programs more effective?
Good for first-time offenders, where diversion programs may not result in a criminal record
T/F: Diversion programs focus more on principles of retributive justice.
FALSE. higher forcus on restorative justice, seeing harm as a cause and a consequence of crime.
Net widening
where more people are brought into CJS because of their involvement in diversion progrmas
What kinds of sentences can probation be part of/combined with?
- probation as a stand alone sentence
- part of an intermittent sentence
- condition of a suspended sentence
- intermittent sentence
- following a prison term
What are the three standard conditions of probation?
- Keep the peace and be of good behaviour
- Appear before the court and when required by the court
- Notify the court/probation officer of any change in name or address, promptly notify the court of any change in employment/occupation
Why is probation so popular as a communitive corrections program?
for its flexibility and versatility, and can be tailored to the needs of the offender
Possible additional/optional conditions for probation
- reporting conditions
- abstinence from alc and drugs
- non-association/no-contact condition
- counselling/treatment
What are the two primary responsibilities of a probation officer?
- assessment of client’s risks/needs (according to RNR)
- providing individualized case management
What are some examples of the considerable discretion probation officers use?
Discretion in reporting violations of conditions and pursuing a “breach of probation” charge
What is the dual role of probation officers?
Support (building rapport and establishing trust) + Enfocement (ensuring the compliance of conditions)
What are some sources of variation in caseloads?
location
rurality:
* rural = mixed caseloads
* urban = more specific types of offenders (e.g. sexual offenders)
What are some factors that contribute to the greater emphasis on greater surveillance/control for probation cases?
- increasing caseloads make support less practical
- concerns with accountability and liability (sometimes frome external parties such as government)
- increasing number of special categories of offenders
What is the main purpose of intermediate sanctions?
balancing traditional probation and incarceration
What are the two sets of objectives that influence the decision for internmediate sanctions?
offender-oriented and system-oriented
What are the three offender-oriented objectives of intermediate sanctions?
- assurance of real punishment
- retribution
- incapacitation and control
What are the three system-oriented objectives of intermediate sanctions?
- reduction of institutional populatiosn (bodies)
- reducing corrections costs
- reducing rates of recidicism
Why should low-risk offenders not use electronic monitoring?
it is a high-risk approach and not he best level of intensity for approaching their behaviours
CSC pilot study of electronic monitoring revealed the following issues:
- lack of location accuracy
- false alarms
What are some problems of electronic monitoring?
- general impact on offenders’ families
- intensification effect
- only a part of the strategy for high-risk offenders
- does not prevent all crime
- imperfect technology
Intensification effect
where a situation worsens because of monitoring and ongoing confinement
increasing tensions within the household, which can result in violence
