TEST 3 Flashcards
Corrections can be defined as the
structure, policies, and programs delivered by governments, not-for-profit organizations, and members of the general public to sanction, punish, treat and supervise in the community and in correctional institutions, persons convicted of criminal offences.
All correctional systems have both
non-carceral (non-institutional) and carceral (institutional) components
Non-carceral corrections
- community corrections
- alternatives to confinement (diversion programs, probation)
- programs for offenders released from correctional institutions
Carceral corrections
- jails and correctional institutions operated by the provinces and territories and the federal government
Absolute/Conditional Discharges
- - Section 730(1) of the criminal code (R.S.C. 1985, C. C-46) states that the presiding judge may discharge an offender in cases where an accused person either pleads guilty or is found guilty for an offence except when
- there is a mandatory minimum sentence, or
- the offence is punishable by a term of imprisonment for a period 14 years to life
Suspended sentence
- Convicted offenders who receive a suspended sentence are provided with the opportunity to avoid incarceration by abiding by conditions of a probation order for a period from one to three years
- upon completion of the period of supervision, the offender will have a criminal record (Which distinguishes suspended sentences from a conditional discharge)
Fines
Offenders can receive monetary punishments through the imposition of fines. Section 734(2) of the Criminal Code specifies that
- the offender must have the ability to pay a fine and
- the fine is proportionate to the offence
Diversion
programs that are designed to keep offenders from being processed further into the formal criminal justice system
- reduce costs
- minimize social stigmatization
- assist offenders In addressing the specific factors related to their offending
– attending an alcohol or drug treatment program
– completing a number of community service hours
– other requirements
Victim offender mediation programs
- take a restorative approach
- victim and offender provided with the opportunity to express their feelings and concerns
- neutral mediator helps resolve the conflict
- address the consequences of the offence
- create understanding for each other
Net-widening
- persons who would otherwise have been released outright by the police, or not charged by Crown counsel, now become involved in the justice system because of various diversion programs
- a potential, unanticipated consequence
- diversion programs can be coercive and punitive
Conditional sentences
Section 742 of the criminal code states that a convicted person who would otherwise be incarcerated for less than 2 years can be sentenced to a conditional term of imprisonment
- to be served in the community
- required to fulfill certain conditions
- not on probation
- failure to comply results in offender being returned to court
Probation
Section 731 of the criminal code provides that, in cases in which no minimum penalty is prescribed, the sentencing judge may place the offender on probation for a period of up to 3 years
- as part of a conditional discharge (mandatory)
- as a condition of a suspended sentence (mandatory)
- as part of an intermittent sentence (mandatory)
- as a sentence on its own (the most common)
- following a prison term of two years or less
- in conjunction with a conditional sentence
Probation falls under the authority of the
provinces and territories, each jurisdiction has developed its own procedures and standards for recruiting and training probation officers
applicants for probation officer positions require
- university degree
- strong verbal and written communication skills
- case management and supervision
- problem solving skills
the activities of probation officers largely involve
- assessing clients with respect to their needs and the risks they pose
- providing individualized case management with the objective of reducing criminal behaviour and,
- supervising offenders on probation as well as persons who have been released on bail while awaiting trial
2 years less a day
from federal prison to provincial prison
Probation officers - role and responsibilities
- assessment
- identify the offender’s needs, evaluate risk, and assist in formulating a plan of supervision
- prepare pre-sentence reports (PSRs) on adult offenders who have been convicted and are submitted to the presiding judge at sentencing
Probation officers- role and responsibilities
- supervision
- establish and maintain rapport, considering the risk and needs of the offender, and adjust the balance between control and assistance as required
Dual role of probation officers
- Assisstance and support
- help the offender address issues that have contributed to the offence
- identify resources in the community such as treatment programs, courses and services
Dual role of probation officers
- Enforce conditions of probation order
- ensure compliance with the general and specific conditions of the probation order
Strategic training initiative in community supervision (STICS)
- STICS focuses on the RNR principles
- teaches probation officers ways to utilize those principles when supervising probationers
- attention to criminogenic factors such as relationships with peers and criminal thinking patterns
- centred on relationships building and establishing trust
- probation officer assumes role of change agent
RNR principles
Risk Principle
Need Principle
Responsivity principle
Intensive supervision probation (ISP) entails
- increased surveillance of probationers
- various treatment interventions
- efforts to ensure that offenders are employed
- reduced caseloads for probation officers, and
- is used primarily with youth offenders
challenges faced by probation officers
- occupational stress
- supervising high-risk and high-need probationers
- heavy workloads and high caseloads
- limited in-person contact with probationers
- probation services in northern and remote communities
- supervising a diverse clientele
Electronic monitoring
- is used by provincial and territorial systems of corrections and correctional service canada to monitor offenders who are under supervision in the community
- imposed by the sentencing judge
- a condition of early release from incarceration
- ensures public safety while at the same time allowing offender to remain in the community
The first penitentiary in canada opened in
1835 in Kingston, Ontario
- influenced by U.S. developments
- overcrowding in the local jails
- corporal punishment considered improper and degrading
- was the largest public building in upper canada
- symbolized a moral architecture, reflected the themes of order and morality
- based on the Aburn System
Early models of prisons in the U.S. and Canada reflected an attempt to
create settings in which criminals could be transformed into useful citizens through religious contemplation and hard work
Prison models
- Pennsylvania model
- a “separate and silent” system in which prisoners were completely isolated from one another, eating, working, and sleeping in separate cells
Prison models
- Auburn model
- a system where prisoners worked and ate together during the day and were housed in individual cells at night
Federal corrections
- operated by correctional service canada (CSC)
- for offenders serving a sentence of 2 or more years
- headquartered in Ottawa
- five regions: Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, prairie, and pacific
- operates federal penitentiaries, halfway houses, healing lodges and treatment centres for indigenous offenders, community parole offices, psychiatric hospitals, reception and assessment centres, healthcare centres, palliative care units and an addiction research centre
Provincial and territorial corrections
- 96% of convicted offenders receive sentences that place them in provincial/territorial facilities
- provincial and territorial governments operate correctional facilities and remand centres
- the provinces also operate specialized institutions for offenders with severe mental health issues
Types of correctional institutions
- Minimum security
- Medium security
- Maximum security
Minimum
- no perimeter fencing
- unrestricted inmate movement except at night
Medium
- high-security perimeter fencing
- some restrictions on inmate movement
Maximum
- high-security perimeter fencing
- highly controlled environment
- inmate movement strictly monitored and controlled
Correctional facility security
- static security
- dynamic security
Static
- fixed security apparatuses in correctional institutions
- perimeter fencing, video surveillance, alarms, fixed securing posts, control rooms, and position posts
Dynamic
- ongoing interaction, beyond observation, between correctional officers and inmates
- working and speaking with inmates, making suggestions, providing information, and being proactive
Rule of law
Duty to act fairly
- Rule of law: the requirement that government, as well as individuals, be subjected to an abide by the law
- Duty to act fairly: the obligation of correctional authorities to ensure that offenders are treated fairly by corrections personnel
Prisons are what sociologists Erving Gofman referred to as total institutions
-correctional institutions, Psychiatric hospitals, and other facilities characterized by a highly structured environment in which all movements of the inmates or patients are controlled 24 hours a day by staff
Continuum of correctional institutions
the differences in institutional environments among correctional institutions located at either end of the security spectrum- maximum to minimum
the “split personality of corrections”:
prisons are asked to pursue conflicting goals; confinement and control, but also reform and rehabilitation
offenders confined in correctional institutions tend to be
male, young, single, poorly educated, and marginally skilled
- dispropritionaly indigenous or black
- are likely to have a history of unstable lives
- many have grown up in dysfunctional families
- problem-solving skills are minimal
- high rates of alcohol and drug problems
- unstable work histories
- high rates of communicable diseases
- have a variety of treatment needs
persons on remand outnumber
those in sentenced custody; high security institutions with minimal programs and services
women inmates
- fewer female offenders than male offenders
- indigenous overrepresentation is even worse among women than men
- as with male offenders, females often have a marginalized background of poverty, alcohol and/or drug dependency, limited education and minimal employment skills
- pathways to crime are distinct from male inmates and they require gender-specific programs and interventions
Women inmates have
- higher % have suffered sexual and physical abuse before incarceration
- human rights may have been violated
- housed in facilities that are far from their home communities
- may be responsible for children or stepchildren
- three in four have children under the age of 18
- almost all were single caregivers at the time of the arrest
- generally have greater physical and mental health needs
- high rates of eating disorders, depression and sleep disorders
- x as likely as male inmates to have been hospitalized for psychiatric reasons and to have mental health issues
- at high risk of self-injurious behaviour
managing indigenous inmates presents unique challenges because
of the challenges they themselves have had to face.
segregation
a correctional management strategy that is used for disciplinary or administrative reasons and often involves an inmate locked in a cell for 23 hours a day
- also referred to as solitary confinement
=
- the corrections and conditional release act includes provisions fro two types of segregation
- disciplinary segregation: is used when an inmate has been found in violation of an institutional rule
- administrative segregation: imposed when an inmate has attempted or intends to act in a way that is deemed to threaten the prison population
several high-profile cases involving the lengthy periods of time in solitary confinement and, in some cases, death prompted the federal government to pass legislation in 2017 that restricted
the use of solitary confinement
- CSC introduced new regulations prohibiting the use of segregation cells for vulnerable inmates
- others have called for outright abolition of solitary confinement
The Arbour report
- On April 22, 1994, a brief but violent physical confrontation took place between 6 inmates and several correctional officers at the Kingston prison for women
- an independent judicial inquiry was subsequently conducted
- the inquiry’s final report was extremely critical for the actions taken by correctional staff, the ERT personnel, and the warden
- the same reportsharply criticized the response of senior CSC officials
ensuring that suitable candidates are recruited for the position of CO and providing training that prepares the recruits for work inside correctional insitutions
- variability between the training for federal correctional officers and their provincial and territorial counterparts
- lack of diversity among correctional officers
- correctional training program completion is required of all new federal correctional officers
- staff selected to work in women’s facilities must complete “women centred training” course
- no national standards for provincial or territorial corrections
Authority of correctional officers
- Custodial agenda
- Correctional agenda
- correctional officer subculture
- The custodial gender of COs centres on control and the enforcement of regulations
- the correctional agenda involves COs functioning as change agents by assisting inmates
- there is a correctional officer subculture that includes a code of behaviour designed to maintain occupational solidarity
Correctional officer issues
- relationships with inmates
- corrections officer abuse of authority
- relationships with administration and treatment staff
Relationships with inamtes
- subtle, non-verbal cues that will help them “read” individual inmates
- need to learn inmat4e social system
- inmates will “test” new COs
Corrections officer abuse of authority
- affected by inmates offence and criminal history
- discretionary powers may be abused, violate laws
Relationship with administration and treatment staff
- may be viewed with mixture of distrust and cynicism
- many COs pessimistic about treatment programs
Status degradation ceremonies
- the processing of offenders into correctional institutions whereby the offender is psychologically and materially stripped of possessions that identify them as a meber of the “free society”
Pains of imprisonment
- the deprivations experienced by inmates confined in correctional institutions, including the loss of autonomy, privacy, secuirty, and freedom o of movement and association
The inmate social system
- inmate subculture
the patterns of interaction and the relationship that exist among inmates confined in correctional institutions
the inmate social system
- prisonization
the process by which inmates become socialized into he norms, values and culture of the prison
the inmate social system
- state-raised offenders
inmates who have spent the majority of their adult lives confined in correctional institutions and, as a consequence, may have neither the skills nor ability to function in the outside, free community
The inmate social system
-institutionalized
inmates who have become prisoned to such a dress that they are unable to function in the outside, free community
Social (or argot) roles
roles that inmates assume based on their friendship networks, sentence length, and other factors related to their criminal history and activities in the institution
- inmates tend to group themselves into niches or friendship networks
- networks provide the individual inmate with security and support
inmate code
a set of behavioural rules that govern interactions among inmates and with institutional staff
- most inmates pay at least lip service to the code
- an inmate’s greatest source of danger is other inmates
family members may feel isolated and neglected by correctional authorities
- an offender’s family may also be stigmatized and marginalized in the community
- they may have concerns related to finances, housing, and isolation from the community
- partners of offenders may experience trauma, shame, isolation and depression
- children whose parents are incarcerated can suffer from emotional, behavioural and academic problems
classification
categorizing inmates through the use of various assessment instruments to determine security level and program placement
static risk factors
- attributes that predict recidivism but are not changeable
- criminal history, prior convictions, past performance on release
dynamic risk factors
- attributes that can be altered through intervention
- levels of education, employment skills, addictions, cognitive thinking ability
Case management
the process by which the needs and abilities of offenders are matched with correctional programs and services
correctional plan
determines the offender’s initial institution placement, specific training or work opportunities, and preparation for release
institutional treatment programs
target criminogenic and anti-social behaviours through substance abuse, relapse prevention, education, and anger management interventions
Principles of effective correctional treatment
- based on empirically supported models of correctional change
- incorporates the principles of risk, need and responsivity
- monitore, evaluated, accredited
- focuses on the dynamic risk factors
- implemented by well-trained, dedicated program staff
throughcare
the notion that there should be continuity between institutional treatment and programs and community-based services for offenders
traditional method to determine success:
recidivism rates
- the number of offenders who, once released from confinement are returned to prison
using recidivism rates as a measure of success is problematic
- prevents an assessment of the “relative” improvement of offender
- offender’s return to the community may have been successful due to factors unrelated to the treatment intervention
- offender may have returned to criminal activity and not have been detected
According to Forman, his country, U.S.A
- locks up more people, and for longer, than anyone else in the world
- continues to use the death penalty after other western countries have abandoned it
- is the only country to lock up juveniles for life
- has prisoners serving 50 year sentences for stealing videos from Kmart
- will give a sentence of life without parole for possessing 1.5lbs of cocaine, while Germany prohibits this sentence for murder
- has prisons that deny food to inmates to turn a profit (Alabama)
- makes jokes about prison rape a part of popular culture
Paul Butler’s background
- a former federal prosecutor from Washington D.C.
- African american
- was an avowed penal populist: wanted to put as many people in prison for as long as possible
- thought he was giving protection to the high crime communities that needed it most
- until he saw the CJS from the other side after being wrongfully accused of assault
the “moral argument”
- emphasizes the harm that American criminal law inflicts on disfavoured groups
- typically argues “that it is morally wrong to arrest, prosecute, or incarcerate members of relatively powerless groups at such high rates”
- Loury: “our society… creates criminogenic conditions in our sprawling ghettoes, and then acts out rituals of punishment against them as some awful form of human sacrifice”
- black/white disparity for unemployment: 2:1 . infant mortality 2:1. imprisonment 8:1
the problem with the moral case
-“if the goal is to persuade Americans to care about mass incarceration, does it make sense to frame arguments around how the policy harms racial minorities?”
the “collective self-interests” argument
- everyone “should care about mass incarceration because it makes us all less safe”
- too many nonviolent criminals, esp, drug offenders, incarcerated. many become more dangerous after being with violent offenders in prison
- tipping point: taking so many adults out of inner-city neighbourhoods disrupts social organization of communities
- kids with no parents, teens normalizing prison, waves of men and women coming home from prison needing jobs and support
- more crime-fighting power for the state= less civil liberties
- and its outrageously expensive
- overpricing in marginalized communities undermines the ideal that the government should be colour-blind
- for those who argue that blacks are too race conscious… putting an end to policing that reinforces a sense of racial grievance should be a high priority.
challenges to the collective self-interests argument
- many of the CiS’s costs (esp. social costs) are hidden from advantaged communities
- eg. privileged communities don’t suffer the costs of aggressive law enforcement
– less subject to scrutiny and searches
– addiction results in treatment, not law enforcement - despite the difficulty, argeuments that seek common cause among unlikely allies are nonetheless essential to criminal reform
Conditional release
a generic term for the various means of leaving a correctional institution before warrant expiry whereby an offender is subject to conditions that, if breached, could trigger revocation of the release and return to prison
Parole is one type of conditional release
- the vast majority of offenders confined in correctional institutions are ultimately released back into the community
- federal offenders are more likely to apply for a conditional release since their sentences are longer
- provincial/territorial inmates are often released outright without any supervision until their warrant expiry date
Probation vs. Parole
Probation
- probation ordered by judge at sentencing
- can be up to 3 years
- can follow a provincial prison term (an d federal sentences of 2 years)
- violation does not automatically lead to incarceration- a new charge is laid for breach of probation
Parole
- granted by parole board, applies to prison inmates
- allows them to serve portion of sentence in community
- begins with release, ends at warrant expiry date
- violation may result in revocation of parole, which returns offender to correctional institution
Parole boards
Ontario and Quebec are the only two provinces with provincial parole boards
- National parole boards= parole board of canada
- hears conditional release applications for federal inmates and, in all jurisdictions except the two above, for provincial inmates
- PBC members are centralized in five regional offices and travel to institutions for hearings
section 100 of the corrections and conditional release act states
the purpose of conditional release is to contribute to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society by means of decisions on the timing and conditions of release that will best facilitate the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens
Section 102 of the corrections and conditional release act states that the parole board of canada or a provincial parole board may grant parole to an offender if
1) the offender will not, by reoffending, present an undue risk to society before the expiration, according to law, of the sentence the offender is serving; and
2) the release of the offender will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating the reintegration of the offender into society as a law-abiding citizen
The release of an offender from custody can occur at any three points in the sentence
1) the parole eligibility date, for either day parole or full parole
2) the statutory release date, which generally occurs at the two-thirds point in a sentence
3) the warrant expiry date, which marks the end of the sentence imposed by the court
Cold turkey release
when federal inmates are released at the warrant expiry date, and provincial inmates at the 2/3 probable discharge date” this is known as cold turkey release
- discharge from custody without conditions or supervision
- data suggests that cold turkey releases are less likely to be successful
The parole process
- a release plan
- the plan sets out the residential, educational, and treatment arrangements made for an inmate who is applying for conditional release
a key component of the release plan is the community assessment
an evaluation of the feasibility of the release plan, the level of supervision required, and the availability of community resources
there is a disparity in the grant rates for female and male applicants as well as for indigenous and black inmate applicants
- black federal inmates are less successful in their application for day parole and have a much lower grant rate for provincial full parole
- indigenous offenders serve a higher proportion of their sentences prior to day or full parole release and have the lowest federal and provincial full parole grant rates
- asian offenders have the highest federal and provincial full parole grant rates
- female offenders have higher deferal and provincial parole grant rates than male offenders
Under section 142 of the corrections and conditional release act victims can request a variety of types of information, including
- the offender’s eligibility dates for conditional release including temporary absence
- hearing dates for conditional relase
- the offenders destination upon release
- if the offender is transferred from a federal institution to a provincial or territorial instituion, the name and location of that caility
The Canadian victims bill of rights also contains provisions that require authorities to inform
crime victims of any hearings related to the conditional release of an offender and any conditions that are attached to a conditional release
- victims also have the right to attend parole hearings
- they may also submit a victim impact statement, either in person at the hearing, or via audio ro video, or a written statement
Parole hearings are
- usually presided over by two board members
- generally held in the institution where the inmate is being held
- in federal parole hearings, the inmate-applicant is accompanied by his or her case manager;
- the parole board is an adminsitrative tribunal and not a court of law
- federal indigenous offenders may have an elder or cutural advisor present at the hearing
the parole board considers a number of documents contained in the inmate-applicant’s parole file and generally include the following:
- police reports
- official record of convictions
- classification reports
-institutional staff reports - correctional plan progress report
- victim impact statements
- pre-sentence reports
- letters of support
- community assessment
Parole denied
- level of risk the inmate-applicant presents is not manageable in the community
- board will set out how to improve chances of release in the future
- the parole board considers a number of documents contained in the inmate-applicant’s parole file and generally include the following:
- police reports
- official record of convictions
- classification reports
-institutional staff reports - correctional plan progress report
- victim impact statements
- pre-sentence reports
- letters of support
- community assessment
parole granted
- certificate of parole is prepared
-mandatory conditions, such as obeying the law and keep the peace - additional conditions such as substaining from intoxicants
issues in parole board decision making
Boards may be subject to influence
- no special training or expertise required
- appointments to parole boards have long been patronage appointments
lack of feedback about results of decisions
- few, if any, mechanisms to allow them to know ultimate outcomes of their decisions
absence of clearly defined release criteria
- no guidance for members on how to prioritize or weigh all the information
Reintegration is a process, not an event
- it is the process whereby an intimate is prepared for and released into the community after serving time in prison
- many newly released offenders are left to their own devices to adapt and survive
- the goal of reintegration is to avoid recividism in the short-term
pains of re-entry
the difficulties that inmates released from prison encounters as they try to adjust to life in the community
- life on the outside is everything prison is not, unpredictable, fast-paced, and filled with choices
- it can be very difficult for long-term offenders who have had little opportunity to become familiar with changes that have occurred in the community since they were confined
ex-offenders can apply for a record suspension (pardon)
this requires a wait time of 5 years for summary offences and 10 years for indictable offences
critical for the successful reintegration of offenders
securing employment, stable housing, and education have been found to be critical
offenders with special needs require access to
programs and services, including mental health services; addiction programs and counselling; and, in some instances, family counselling
offenders who are released from incarceration may suffer from
post-incarceration syndrome
indigenous offenders serve a higher proportion of their sentence before being released on parole
- seriousness of the crimes they have committed
- lack of community supports available to them
- rural and remote communities
- limited access to indigenous-specific treatment programs
activities and responsibilities of parole officers
- conducting assessments of offenders to determine their risk and needs
- preparation of materials for the parole board including the community assessment
- monitoring the offender’s behaviour and enforcing the conditions of the parole certificate
- counselling
- serving as an officer of the court
Dual function of parole supervision
1) being a resource and confidant to counter the pains of re-entry
a) offering job search advice
b) referring clients for counselling
c) advocating with welfare authorities on their behalf
2) monitoring and enforcing parole conditions
a) must have the capacity to understand their clients
Facilities and programs for offenders on conditional release
- community correctional centres
- halfway house
predictors of success
- support network
- stable housing
- employment
- participation in treatment
- the decision to be pro-social
- demographics
Suspension of conditional release
a process initiated by the supervising parole officer (or in some instances by the parole board) in cases where the parole has allegedly failed to abide by the conditions of release
revocation of conditional release
a decision by a releasing authority, such as a parole board, made in connection with an offender whose release has been suspended
