Between Prison and Probation
Between Prison and Probation

Author: Norval Morris

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1991-09-12

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 0195361199

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Across the country prisons are jammed to capacity and, in extreme cases, barges and mobile homes are used to stem the overflow. Probation officers in some cities have caseloads of 200 and more--hardly a manageable number of offenders to track and supervise. And with about one million people in prison and jail, and two and a half million on probation, it is clear we are experiencing a crisis in our penal system. In Between Prison and Probation, Norval Morris and Michael Tonry, two of the nation's leading criminologists, offer an important and timely strategy for alleviating these problems. They argue that our overwhelmed corrections system cannot cope with the flow of convicted offenders because the two extremes of punishment--imprisonment and probation--are both used excessively, with a near-vacuum of useful punishments in between. Morris and Tonry propose instead a comprehensive program that relies on a range of punishment including fines and other financial sanctions, community service, house arrest, intensive probation, closely supervised treatment programs for drugs, alcohol and mental illness, and electronic monitoring of movement. Used in rational combinations, these "intermediate" punishments would better serve the community than our present polarized choice. Serious consideration of these punishments has been hindered by the widespread perception that they are therapeutic rather than punitive. The reality, however, Morris and Tonry argue, "is that the American criminal justice system is both too severe and too lenient--almost randomly." Systematically implemented and rigorously enforced, intermediate punishments can "better and more economically serve the community, the victim, and the criminal than the prison terms and probation orders they supplant." Between Prison and Probation goes beyond mere advocacy of an increasing use of intermediate punishments; the book also addresses the difficult task of fitting these punishments into a comprehensive, fair and community-protective sentencing system.

The Second Chance Club
The Second Chance Club

Author: Jason Hardy

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: 2021-02-16

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1982128607

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A former parole officer shines a bright light on a huge yet hidden part of our justice system through the intertwining stories of seven parolees striving to survive the chaos that awaits them after prison in this illuminating and dramatic book. Prompted by a dead-end retail job and a vague desire to increase the amount of justice in his hometown, Jason Hardy became a parole officer in New Orleans at the worst possible moment. Louisiana’s incarceration rates were the highest in the US and his department’s caseload had just been increased to 220 “offenders” per parole officer, whereas the national average is around 100. Almost immediately, he discovered that the biggest problem with our prison system is what we do—and don’t do—when people get out of prison. Deprived of social support and jobs, these former convicts are often worse off than when they first entered prison and Hardy dramatizes their dilemmas with empathy and grace. He’s given unique access to their lives and a growing recognition of their struggles and takes on his job with the hope that he can change people’s fates—but he quickly learns otherwise. The best Hardy and his colleagues can do is watch out for impending disaster and help clean up the mess left behind. But he finds that some of his charges can muster the miraculous power to save themselves. By following these heroes, he both stokes our hope and fuels our outrage by showing us how most offenders, even those with the best intentions, end up back in prison—or dead—because the system systematically fails them. Our focus should be, he argues, to give offenders the tools they need to re-enter society which is not only humane but also vastly cheaper for taxpayers. As immersive and dramatic as Evicted and as revelatory as The New Jim Crow, The Second Chance Club shows us how to solve the cruelest problems prisons create for offenders and society at large.

Revoked
Revoked

Author: Allison Frankel

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13:

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"[The report] finds that supervision -– probation and parole -– drives high numbers of people, disproportionately those who are Black and brown, right back to jail or prison, while in large part failing to help them get needed services and resources. In states examined in the report, people are often incarcerated for violating the rules of their supervision or for low-level crimes, and receive disproportionate punishment following proceedings that fail to adequately protect their fair trial rights."--Publisher website.

The Criminal Justice System
The Criminal Justice System

Author: George F. Cole

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Company

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 516

ISBN-13:

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This text provides an in-depth look at policy issues related to policing, courts, and corrections. It gives students the opportunity to look at difficult issues related to important topics, through an interesting selection of readings. Flexible in its design, the book includes twenty-seven classic and contemporary articles that promote understanding of important issues in the field and encourage readers to think critically about the links between police, politics, law and the administration of justice. Students will explore everything from the crime policies that do or do not work to the latest hot topics.

Ranking Correctional Punishments
Ranking Correctional Punishments

Author: David C. May

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781594605895

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In this book, May and Wood draw on a number of studies they have conducted with convicted offenders (both in prison and supervised in the community), criminal justice practitioners, and the public in the past decade to provide new insight regarding the continuum of corrections proposed by Morris and Tonry in their 1990 classic work Between Prison and Probation. May and Wood's findings call into question the idea of a continuum with prison on one end and regular probation on the other and discuss the implications of these findings for both sentencing and community supervision strategies. "Ranking Correctional Punishments is a unique volume in that it not only questions conventional understandings and definitions of what constitutes punishment and severity of punishment, but it responds to those questions with answers from those to whom punishment truly matters--offenders themselves, criminal justice system actors, and the public. This is an exceptional book that offers a wealth of information. Students, scholars, practitioners, and anyone interested in the concept of criminal punishment will find it an exceptionally beneficial resource. For those interested in understanding how punishment is perceived and understood, this should be the starting point. As a scholar of American corrections, I found Ranking Correctional Punishments to be a great resource for understanding how offenders, the public, and all who are involved in the conduct of American criminal justice think about and conceive of the idea of punishment. This book provides the most information on the topic, in an easily consumed and understood manner. Students of criminal justice should read this book." -- Richard Tewksbury, PhD, Professor of Justice Administration, University of Louisville "May and Wood provide a fascinating examination of traditional and alternative criminal sanctions. They amass solid evidence--using a consistent and sound research approach--to show how the public, criminal justice professionals, and offenders themselves perceive the severity of various punishments. The data encourage thoughtful reconsideration of the so-called "intermediate" punishments that have become so popular during the last quarter of a century. Policy makers and theorists alike will find important new insights to ponder--penalties do not line up easily along a continuum of punitive severity, and sanctions are perceived differently by different social groups, suggesting a previously unrecognized layer of complexity in how punishments may deter future crimes. This book is well-organized, is written clearly, and it should be high on the reading list of all those interested in sentencing, corrections, and criminological theory." -- Brandon K. Applegate, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies, University of Central Florida "[A]n interesting argument worthy of evaluation and discussion. . . . [A] compelling case for the criminal justice system to modify its current belief on sanction severity and its application as perceived by offenders, practitioners, and the public." -- ACJS Today "May and Wood's programme of research provides an important foundation for what could be a broader assessment of penal sanctions and exchange rates. . . . The book is recommended for researchers, persons working within the justice system, and policy makers." -- Punishment & Society

Ethical Considerations for Research Involving Prisoners
Ethical Considerations for Research Involving Prisoners

Author: Committee on Ethical Considerations for Revisions to DHHS Regulations for Protection of Prisoners Involved in Research

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2007-01-22

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 0309164605

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In the past 30 years, the population of prisoners in the United States has expanded almost 5-fold, correctional facilities are increasingly overcrowded, and more of the country's disadvantaged populations—racial minorities, women, people with mental illness, and people with communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and tuberculosis—are under correctional supervision. Because prisoners face restrictions on liberty and autonomy, have limited privacy, and often receive inadequate health care, they require specific protections when involved in research, particularly in today's correctional settings. Given these issues, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Human Research Protections commissioned the Institute of Medicine to review the ethical considerations regarding research involving prisoners. The resulting analysis contained in this book, Ethical Considerations for Research Involving Prisoners, emphasizes five broad actions to provide prisoners involved in research with critically important protections: • expand the definition of "prisoner"; • ensure universally and consistently applied standards of protection; • shift from a category-based to a risk-benefit approach to research review; • update the ethical framework to include collaborative responsibility; and • enhance systematic oversight of research involving prisoners.

Redemption, Rehabilitation and Risk Management
Redemption, Rehabilitation and Risk Management

Author: George Mair

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-03-01

Total Pages: 259

ISBN-13: 1136651977

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Redemption, Rehabilitation and Risk Management provides the most accessible and up-to-date account of the origins and development of the Probation Service in England and Wales. The book explores and explains the changes that have taken place in the service, the pressures and tensions that have shaped change, and the role played by government, research, NAPO, and key individuals from its origins in the nineteenth century up to the plans for the service outlined by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat government. The probation service is a key agency in dealing with offenders; providing reports for the courts that assist sentencing decisions; supervizing released prisoners in the community and working with the victims of crime. Yet despite dealing with more offenders than the prison service, at lower cost and with reconviction rates that are lower than those associated with prisons, the Probation Service has been ignored, misrepresented, taken for granted and marginalized, and probation staff have been sneered at as ‘do-gooders’. The service as a whole is currently under serious threat as a result of budget cuts, organizational restructuring, changes in training, and increasingly punitive policies. This book details how probation has come to such a pass. By tracing the evolution of the probation service, Redemption, Rehabilitation and Risk Management not only sheds invaluable light on a much misunderstood criminal justice agency, but offers a unique examination of twentieth century criminal justice policy. It will be essential reading for students and academics in criminal justice and criminology.

Convicted and Condemned
Convicted and Condemned

Author: Keesha Middlemass

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2017-06-27

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0814724396

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Winner, W. E. B. DuBois Distinguished Book Award presented by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists Examines the lifelong consequences of a felony conviction through the compelling words of former prisoners Felony convictions restrict social interactions and hinder felons’ efforts to reintegrate into society. The educational and vocational training offered in many prisons are typically not recognized by accredited educational institutions as acceptable course work or by employers as valid work experience, making it difficult for recently-released prisoners to find jobs. Families often will not or cannot allow their formerly incarcerated relatives to live with them. In many states, those with felony convictions cannot receive financial aid for further education, vote in elections, receive welfare benefits, or live in public housing. In short, they are not treated as full citizens, and every year, hundreds of thousands of people released from prison are forced to live on the margins of society. Convicted and Condemned explores the issue of prisoner reentry from the felons’ perspective. It features the voices of formerly incarcerated felons as they attempt to reconnect with family, learn how to acclimate to society, try to secure housing, find a job, and complete a host of other important goals. By examining national housing, education and employment policies implemented at the state and local levels, Keesha Middlemass shows how the law challenges and undermines prisoner reentry and creates second-class citizens. Even if the criminal justice system never convicted another person of a felony, millions of women and men would still have to figure out how to reenter society, essentially on their own. A sobering account of the after-effects of mass incarceration, Convicted and Condemned is a powerful exploration of how individuals, and society as a whole, suffer when a felony conviction exacts a punishment that never ends.