Midterm Flashcards
What is the definition of corrections and what is included in this definition?
corrections-the structures, policies, and programs to sanction, punish, treat, and/or supervise persons who have been accused or convicted of criminal offences. Sentencing included in definition because decision of judges will determine sentence and which jurisdiction of corrections
We can say that correctional change has taken place when one or more of the following occurs:
(1) the severity of punishment of convicted persons is modified; (2) explanations of criminal behaviour change; (3) new structural arrangements, such as the penitentiary, are established in order to sanction offenders; and (4) the number or proportion of offenders involved in the correctional process changes
Corporal vs capital punishment
corporal punishment-when the state responds to an offence by imposing physical punishment that is designed to cause the person pain
capital punishment-when the state puts a person to death as punishment for the offence(s)
The practice of imprisonment can be traced back to approximately
2000 BCE
Galley slavery
a practice used to remove poor people from the streets and as a sentence for convicted persons whereby these individuals worked as rowers—often on military or merchant ships
Transportation
a sentence whereby the convicted person was sent via a ship to a remote location, often a penal colony, where they could be subject to providing labour for a certain period of time
Hulks
decommissioned navy vessels that were converted into floating jails and prisons
Why was the term “Bloody Code” used to refer to 18th century British criminal legislation?
due to the large number of capital offences
How is punishment commonly defined?
Punishment is commonly defined as “the act of inflicting a consequence or penalty on someone as a result of their wrongdoing, or the consequence or penalty itself” (Your Dictionary, n.d.). Who and by what means punishment has been inflicted, as well as the objectives of punishment, have continually changed over the centuries.
Classical (conservative) school
a perspective on criminal offenders and punishment based on the view that people exercise free will and engage in criminal behaviour as a result of rational choice, and that punishment must be swift, certain, and proportionate to the crime yet severe enough to outweigh the pleasure of engaging in crime
positivist (liberal) school
a perspective on criminal offenders and punishment based on the view that criminal behaviour is determined and that those who engage in crime require individualized treatment
critical (radical) school
a perspective on crime, offenders, and punishment that highlights the role of economics, politics, power, and oppression in the formulation of laws and the administration of justice
Punitive penology
a response to criminal offenders characterized by severe criminal sanctions, including “tough-on-crime” legislation
penal populism
corrections policies that are formulated in pursuit of political objectives, often in the absence of an informed public or in spite of public opinion, and that are centred on being “tough on crime”
Pennsylvania model (for prisons)
a separate and silent system in which prisoners were completely isolated from one another, eating, working, and sleeping in separate cells
Auburn model (for prisons)
a system that allowed prisoners to work and eat together during the day in strict silence and housed them in individual cells at night
Brown Commission
an investigation into the operations of Kingston Penitentiary that condemned the use of corporal punishment and emphasized the need for rehabilitation
The historical justifications for probation were much the same as they are today:
(1) avoid incarceration; (2) facilitate the person’s rehabilitation; and (3) save money due to the lower cost of probation as compared to incarceration.
medical model of corrections
the view that criminal offenders were ill—physically, mentally, and/or socially—and that treatment and diagnosis would ensure rehabilitation, ideas emerged from fauteux report
Which decade is linked to the most extensive use of the medical model of corrections in Canada?
1960s
When was “golden era” of Canadian corrections
The 1970s through 2000 are sometimes referred to as the “Golden Era” of Canadian corrections whereby the international community identified Canada as a world leader in correctional practice.
Which two piece of Canadian legislation were replaced by the Corrections and Conditional Release Act in 1992?
Penitentiary Act and Parole Act
The five principles emphasized by the Creating Choices report for federally sentenced women include:
empowerment, meaningful and responsible choices, respect and dignity, a supportive environment, and shared responsibilities
Arbour Report
the report of an inquiry into events at the Kingston Prison for Women in April 1994, which documented violations of policy, the rule of law, and institutional regulations, and had a significant impact on the development of women’s corrections
The Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) 1992
the primary legislation under which the federal system of corrections—Correctional Service Canada (CSC)—operates. Sections in this act cover institutional and community corrections, conditional release and detention, and the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI).
Constitution Act (1867)
Legislation that includes provisions that define the responsibilities of the federal and provincial/territorial governments with respect to criminal justice.
What is the primary mandate of the correctional system?
Protecting society
duty to act fairly
the obligation of corrections to ensure that offenders are treated fairly by corrections personnel. Also, the right of inmates to be heard and to have an impartial hearing
community corrections
the portion of corrections that includes alternatives to confinement, such as probation, as well as programs and supervision for offenders released from correctional institutions, including those released on parole
Two - year rule Canada
offenders who receive sentences of two years or longer fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government correctional service (i.e., CSC), and offenders receiving sentences of two years less a day are the responsibility of provincial/territorial correctional authorities
Implications:
High turnover in provincial institutions
Cross jurisdiction variation in program opportunities
Separates more serious offenders
Provincial offenders have access to alternatives to incarceration
Reasons behind 2 year rule
(1) the federal government wanted to strengthen its powers, (2) only the federal government had the resources to establish and maintain long-term institutions, and (3) offenders receiving short sentences were seen as in need of guidance, while those receiving longer sentences were seen as more serious criminals who had to be separated from society for a longer period
Five regions of Correctional Service of Canada (CSC)
Atlantic, Québec, Ontario, Prairie, and Pacific
Who is on remand
Remanded individuals (1) have been charged with an offence, and the court has ordered they be held in custody while awaiting trial, or (2) have been found guilty at trial and are awaiting sentencing
Parole board Canada and which provinces have own parole board
The Parole Board of Canada is a federal agency that operates independently of the CSC and makes final decisions regarding when (most) federal offenders will be released from custody. Three provinces—Québec, Ontario, and Alberta—operate their own provincial parole boards
Office of the Correctional Investigator
An independent federal agency that serves as the Ombudsperson for federal offenders with the key responsibility of investigating and attempting to resolve complaints brought forward by individual offenders.
Decarceration
criminal justice policies and sentencing decisions designed to reduce the number of persons confined in correctional institutions.
Prison industrial complex
a term used to describe the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing, and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social, and political problems
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
a federal government initiative designed to provide survivors, families, communities, and others who were directly or indirectly affected by the Indian Residential Schools system with an opportunity to share their stories and experiences, examined impacts of colonialism
Utilitarian sentencing goals
Focus on future conduct of convicted offenders and others who might commit similar crimes in the following ways: General and specific deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation
Retributive sentencing goals
Denunciation and retribution
Restorative sentencing goals
an approach to responding to offenders based on the principle that criminal behaviour injures victims, communities, and offenders, and that all of these parties should be involved in efforts to address the causes of the behaviour and its consequences
When was the Gladue decision confirmed by the Supreme Court of Canada?
Gladue was confirmed by the SCC in R. v. Ipeelee in 2012
judicial determination
an order by the sentencing judge that the person serve one half of their sentence or 10 years, whichever is less, before being eligible to apply for full parole
Impact of race and culture assessment
a pre-sentence report prepared for Black and racialized Canadians before the court that includes information explaining how poverty, systemic racism and discrimination, marginalization, and social experiences have shaped the person’s life and experiences with the justice system
Therapeutic justice
an approach in problem-solving courts that uses the law and the court’s authority as change agents to promote the health and well-being of offenders, while ensuring that their legal rights are protected and that justice is done
Objective of diversion programs
The objective of all diversion programs is to keep offenders from being processed further into the formal criminal justice system, thereby reducing costs and social stigmatization and helping offenders address the specific factors that led to their offending. Many diversion programs are centred on the principles of restorative justice
Net-widening
a potential, unanticipated consequence of diversion programs in which persons who would otherwise have been released outright by the police or not charged by Crown counsel are involved in the justice system. Diversion programs can also be punitive
Intermediate sanctions offender oriented objectives
may include the assurance of real punishment, retribution, and some degree of incapacitation and control of offenders
Intermediate sanctions system oriented objectives
include reducing institutional populations, the costs of corrections, and rates of recidivism
Intermediate sanctions examples
fines, community service, day attendance centres, intensive supervision probation strategies that maybe include electronic monitoring (EM), conditional sentence orders (CSOs)—with or without EM, and residence in halfway houses.
What provinces use EM extensively
BC, Saskatchewan and Ontario
Conditional sentence
a sentence imposed on a person who would otherwise be incarcerated for a period of less than two years but whose risk is determined to be manageable in the community
The major difference between probation and a conditional sentence is that conditional sentences focus on both and punishment.
Rehabilitation
intensive supervision probation strategies (ISPS)
Strategies correctional authorities use that fall somewhere between traditional probation and incarceration. ISPS generally include reduced caseloads for probation officers and increased surveillance and treatment interventions.
Concerns with diversion
Net-widening
Coercive and punitive nature
Procedural rights: is there a choice when deciding to participate?
Continuity of supervision
the requirement that, to be effective, offenders be supervised by the same probation officer during their term of probation
Risk-Need-Responsivity
risk principle-correctional interventions are most effective when matched with the offender’s level of risk, and higher risk offenders benefit from interventions more than medium- and low-risk offenders
need principle-to be effective, correctional interventions must address the criminogenic needs of offenders
responsivity principle-correctional interventions—specifically cognitive behavioural treatment interventions—should be matched to the learning styles, motivations, strengths, and abilities of individual offenders
Motivational interviewing
an interview technique used by probation officers designed to empower offenders to change their attitudes and behaviour
Pains of probation
the emotional and economic challenges that probationers may experience while under probation supervision in the community. these pains may include loss of autonomy, having to change daily routines, the stigma associated with probation, and possible difficulties with employment.
Does the public support community- based sentencing
73% of Canadians supported community based sentencing for non violent crimes
ELECTRONIC MONITORING (EM) AND GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS (GPSS)
Use of electronic equipment to ensure
supervision conditions are fulfilled
●Main objective: Promotion of public
safety while allowing offender to remain
in community
●GPS technology allows offender to be monitored on-going basis
● Possible to “customize” tracking of specific individuals to see offender
●“front end” and “back end” EM programs
● Not everyone qualifies
Probationary and conditional sentences allow sentenced offenders to:
Remain in school
Maintain their employment
Care for their families
Two factors in deciding whether to impose conditional sentence
Risk of reoffence AND amount of potential harm caused in event of reoffence
The use of probation
-Conditional discharge (mandatory)
-Condition of suspended sentence (mandatory)
-Part of intermittent sentence (mandatory)
-A sentence on its own (the most common)
-Following prison term of two years less a day (provincial/territorial offenders)
-Following prison term of exactly two years (federal offenders, rarely imposed by judges)
-Conjunction with conditional sentence
Activities of probation officers
Officer of the Court
Investigation
Assessment
Counselling
Services Coordination
Surveillance and Enforcement
DUAL ROLE OF PROBATION OFFICERS
Assistance and support for offenders AND
enforce conditions of probation orders
Each probationer in Canada is required to
meet three standard conditions on their
probation orders:
- Keeping the peace and being of good
behaviour (which may include a ban
on communicating with witnesses, co-
accused, or victims) - Reporting to the court when required
- Notifying the court or probation
officer of any significant changes
Elements of corrections definition
Punishment and treatment
Correctional institutions
Supervision of offenders in community
Sentencing stage which decides whether the offenders will be under provincial/territorial or federal jurisdiction, conditions under which the sentence will be served and the length of the sentence
Reasons behind punishment
Punishment provides beneficial consequences
Punishment is deserved
Punishment expresses public outrage
Punishment teaches a lesson
Punishment helps maintain the government (Classical school), the government (and only the government) punishes people, therefore it helps maintain their status
Due process model
Fairness, determining whether people are guilty or innocent
Stresses the accused’s rights more
Impediments at every stage of processing
Concerned with integrity of legal process
Importance of innocent until proven guilty
Crime control model
Less offender and prisoner rights
Tough on crime approach
Community protection from criminals, protecting society from criminals
Well-oiled criminal justice system
Screens out innocent and probably guilty
Two elements: an administrative fact-finding process leading to the exoneration of the suspect, the entry of a plea of guilty
Guilty before innocent
Example: Conservative leader vowing “Jail not bail”
Early days of punishment
Pre-middle ages: responses to crime based on personal retaliation (blood feuds) and punishment, no state or government so individuals punished each other
Middle ages: punishment for crime took gruesome forms, designed to stigmatize and/or shame offenders. Generally against those who threatened the king’s peace, religious offenders. Banishment, exile and reparations used often
Punishment by imprisonment was rare
Functions of punishment according to Durkheim, Marx, Foucault
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917): punishment as a moral process that serves to reinforce shared societal values and norms
Karl Marx (1818-1883): punishment as a tool to preserve economic order and class rule, conflict theory
Michel Foucault (1926-1984): reform of punishment to increase efficiency of exercise of power over individuals
Other functions: deterrence, seperation, protecting citizens
Punishment in the Early Days of Canadian History
criminal offenders in similar ways to English/French law
• Death penalty inflicted on serious offenders
• 1st person put to death in Canada was in 1640 - a 16-yr-old girl convicted of theft
• Less serious garnered range of sanctions, including transportation, branding, fines, whipping, confiscation of property, or confinement in the stocks/pillory
Punishment was swift, severe and progressive
Little uniformity in sentencing practices
Main goals of punishment was shame and humiliation as well as general deterrent for community
Jails in early Canada, beginning in 1670’S
Dominated by physical punishments including banishment
By 1770s building prisons became part of institution building
Canada did not use incarceration commonly from 1600 - 1700 s. Municipal jails & lock-ups kept people either awaiting trial or had been convicted not yet punished
Origins of probation
An act to permit the conditional release of first offenders in certain cases (1889)
Modern day probation originated in the criminal code (1892)
Before 1921 no provisions specifically designed for supervision of adult probationers
Before 1950 only available to those sentences to less than 2 years and first time offenders
Three related developments of the pre-confederation period transformed both the role of the prison within the system of criminal punishment and the nature and purpose of imprisonment itself:
The much greater use of imprisonment
Changes were made to existing carceral institutions (ex Halifax Bridewell, a house of correction, prison discipline movement)
The construction of Kingston penitentiary in 1835
Canada’s First Penitentiary: Kingston, 1835
• Increasing urbanization and industrialization precipitates shift in perceptions of and response to criminal behaviour
• Rise in population and increased social mobility sees erosion of traditional informal social control
• Rather than individual problems, crime is now viewed as a consequence of family disorganization and community corruption.
• Thus, need to create environment where offender is separated from negative influences and be reformed
• Also helped satisfy concerns of Enlightenment writers and religious groups seeking alternatives to capital and corporal punishment
• symbolized a moral architecture
Emergence of penitentiaries coincides with changing perceptions about criminality
• Now caused of “immorality, intempererance, lack of religious practice, and idleness”
• Criminals comprised a “dangerous class” that threatened social fabric/order of Canadian society, particularly targeted towards immigrants (in particular Irish) who are blamed for increasing crime rates
• Penitentiaries not only represent environment to educate/correct individuals, but served as model of order and stability for larger society
Regimentation in Kingston penitentiary
Kingston provided for separation of offenders based on gender/offence, basic necessities fiven and system premised on hard labour, silence and strict adherence to prison regulations
Federal Penitentiaries from 1867 to circa 1935
• Little consistency in any aspect of penal philosophy and prison administration between 1867 and WW2
• Dichotomy in the thinking of the two principal groups of people involved in managing prisons – prison professionals and politicians
• Prison labour was designed to make prison time harder
Institutionalized aspects of the Crofton system:
• Earn early release through good behaviour and exemplary work
• Parole
The Archambault Report
The Archambault Report was an influential study of the penitentiary system in Canada, published in 1938. It is widely recognized as Canada’s preeminent document on prison reform in that it changed the focus in Canadian prisons from retributive justice to rehabilitation.
Ouimet report
talked about brutality on punishment and we should rely on prisons instead of death penalty, first government document to talk about death penalty
Post WW2 corrections: moving toward treatment
Federal system introduced therapeutic intervention techniques, vocational training and education
Medical model of corrections, shift in emphasis towards rehabilitation based in part on view that criminals had been somehow damaged when growing up
1960s: height of treatment model in Canadian corrections
Years of innovation 1970 to 2000
Likely most dynamic years in Canadian corrections history
Charter of rights and freedoms 1982
Corrections and conditional release act 1992
Canadian school: empirical research and evidence based correctional practice
Correctional treatment can be successful
Reintegration and opportunities model 1970s
Late 1960s was increasing concern with effectiveness of programs in rehabilitation of offender
Opportunities model late 1970s
1977 federal task force suggests corrections should provide programs for offenders but that it was the responsibility of offender to take initiative to participate/benefit
View shifts from offender in need of help to offender is responsible for own behaviour
Institutions no longer claim expertise in diagnosing or treating offenders
New penology emerging in canada in early 21st century
Elimination of the “faint hope” clause
Elimination of the “two for one” credit for time served
Introduction of MMS
Abolition of accelerated parole review
CSC employees vs offender location
57% offenders in custody, 42% in community supervisions meanwhile 76% of employees in custody and 8% in community
Factors Considered in Sentencing
• Aggravating circumstances, Mitigating circumstances
• Case law precedent
• Pre-sentence reports (PSR)
• Victim impact statements
• Psychological assessments
• Indigenous offenders
Aging offenders
⅕ inmates over the age of 50
Since 1993 there has been 60% increase in number of prisoners over 50 and 87% increase in offenders over the age of 65
Aging inmates seek compensation for abuse in Canadian prisons, lack of access to health services
Prisons were not designed for the elderly, moral architecture
What percent of criminal cases are resolved through plea bargains
90%
Section 718 of the Criminal Code:
• Denounce unlawful conduct
• Deter the offender and others from committing offences
• Separate offenders from society (Specific deterrence)
• Assist in rehabilitating offenders
• Provide reparations for harm
• Promote offender responsibility, acknowledge harms
Sentencing members of racialized groups
Racialized offenders may be perceived as more dangerous & as posing a greater risk to public safety
Thus may be viewed as more deserving of more severe sanctions
Initiatives: legislation introduced to reduce certain MMS viewed as discriminatory against Indigenous and Black persons. Recruitment efforts, enhanced pre-sentence reports and impact of race and culture assessments.
Dangerous offender designation
Section 752 of criminal code contains procedures and criteria for declaring someone a dangerous offender
A person who: is given indeterminate sentence upon conviction, particularly violent crime, pattern of committing serious violent offences
Crown makes formal application after conviction but before sentence is imposed
Offender is detained in federal prison but no set length of sentence
Parole board reviews case every 2 years after serving 7 years
Long term offender designation
Section 753 contains provisions for declaring someone a long term offender
Received a sentence of more than 2 years, substantial risk that offender will commit a serious personal offence after release from prison, long term supervision order comes into effect after sentence ends
Offender will be supervised by parole officer for up to 10 years
Models of Aboriginal Justice
Four Approaches:
- Sentencing Circles - most common one
- Elders or Community sentencing Panel.
- Sentence Advisory Committee.
- Community Mediation Committee.
Assume aboriginal people are homogenous and use same approaches
Effectiveness of sentencing
The certainty of punishment has the most significant deterrent effect on offenders and others
Sentencing is not always consistent
Mandatory minimum sentencing not a deterrent
Matching sentences to individual offenders is an inexact science
Continuity from criminal courts to corrections does not always exist
Circle sentencing and peacemaking are potentially effective
