Contemporary Corrections: A Critical Thinking Approach introduces readers to the essential elements of the US corrections system without drowning students in a sea of nonessential information. Unbiased and accessible, the text includes coverage of the history of corrections, alternatives to incarceration, probation/parole, race/ethnicity/gender issues in corrections, re-entry into the community, and more. The authors' unparalleled practical approach, reinforced by contemporary examples, illuminates the role corrections plays in our society. The authors have reinvigorated earlier work with additional content on international comparative data to increase our understanding of how prison officials in other nations have developed different types of responses to the problems that challenge every US correctional administrator, a new chapter on correctional personnel, and an integration of race and ethnicity issues throughout the book. Unrivaled in scope, this book offers undergraduates a concise but comprehensive introduction to corrections with textual materials and assignments designed to encourage students' critical thinking skills.
This successful collection chronicles the evolution of the field of community corrections by bringing together twenty-five articles that describe, & sometimes question, traditional practice in the field.
One of the first contemporary works to bring together research focused on community corrections officers, Professional Lives of Community Corrections Officers: The Invisible Side of Reentry, by Faith E. Lutze, helps readers understand the importance of community corrections officers to the success of the criminal justice system. The author brings the important work of these officers out from the shadows of the prison and into the light of informed policymaking, demonstrating how their work connects to the broader political, economic, and social context. Arguing that they are "street-level boundary spanners" who are in the best position to lead effective reentry initiatives built on interagency collaboration, the author shows how community corrections officers can effectively lead a fluid response to reentry that is inclusive of control, support, and treatment. This supplement is ideal for community corrections or probation and parole courses to supplement core textbooks.
This edited collection brings together leading international academics and researchers to provide a comprehensive body of literature that informs the future of prison and wider corrective services training, education, research, policy and practice. This volume addresses a range of 21st century issues faced by modern corrective services including, prison overcrowding, young and ageing offenders, mental health, sexual assault in corrective facilities, trans communities in corrective services and radicalisation of offenders within corrective services. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach and drawing together theoretical and practice debates, the book comprehensively considers current challenges and future trajectories for corrective systems, the people within them and service delivery. This volume will also be a welcomed resource for academics and researchers who have an interest in prisons, corrective services practice and broader criminal justice issues. It will also be of interest to those who want to join corrective services, those who are currently training to become personnel in corrective services and related allied professions, and those who are currently working in the field.
This book, which incorporates Rosecrance's 20 years of experience as a probation and parole officer, gives students a feel for what it is really like to work as a probation or parole officer and allows them to recognize this work as an assignment at which they can succeed. The book includes real -life examples, quotes from practitioners and clients, and authentic descriptions of contemporary practices give insights to the practical side of probation, parole, and community corrections and help students make informed decisions about whether they wish to pursue a career in this field. "
Corrections in the Community, Sixth Edition, examines the current state of community corrections and proposes an evidence-based approach to making programs more effective. As the U.S. prison system approaches meltdown, options like probation, parole, alternative sentencing, and both residential and non-residential programs in the community continue to grow in importance. This text provides a solid foundation and includes the most salient information available on the broad and dynamic subject of community corrections. Authors Latessa and Smith organize and evaluate the latest data on the assessment of offender risk/need/responsivity and successful methods that continue to improve community supervision and its effects on different types of clients, from the mentally ill to juveniles. This book provides students with a thorough understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of community corrections and prepares them to evaluate and strengthen these crucial programs. This sixth edition includes a new chapter on specialty drug and other problem-solving courts. Now found in every state, these specialty courts represent a new way to deal with some of the problems that face our citizens, be it substance abuse or reentry to the community from prison. Chapters contain key terms, boxed material, review questions, and recommended readings, and a glossary is provided to clarify important concepts.
Over seven million Americans are either incarcerated, on probation, or on parole, with their criminal records often following them for life and affecting access to higher education, jobs, and housing. Court-ordered monetary sanctions that compel criminal defendants to pay fines, fees, surcharges, and restitution further inhibit their ability to reenter society. In A Pound of Flesh, sociologist Alexes Harris analyzes the rise of monetary sanctions in the criminal justice system and shows how they permanently penalize and marginalize the poor. She exposes the damaging effects of a little-understood component of criminal sentencing and shows how it further perpetuates racial and economic inequality. Harris draws from extensive sentencing data, legal documents, observations of court hearings, and interviews with defendants, judges, prosecutors, and other court officials. She documents how low-income defendants are affected by monetary sanctions, which include fees for public defenders and a variety of processing charges. Until these debts are paid in full, individuals remain under judicial supervision, subject to court summons, warrants, and jail stays. As a result of interest and surcharges that accumulate on unpaid financial penalties, these monetary sanctions often become insurmountable legal debts which many offenders carry for the remainder of their lives. Harris finds that such fiscal sentences, which are imposed disproportionately on low-income minorities, help create a permanent economic underclass and deepen social stratification. A Pound of Flesh delves into the court practices of five counties in Washington State to illustrate the ways in which subjective sentencing shapes the practice of monetary sanctions. Judges and court clerks hold a considerable degree of discretion in the sentencing and monitoring of monetary sanctions and rely on individual values—such as personal responsibility, meritocracy, and paternalism—to determine how much and when offenders should pay. Harris shows that monetary sanctions are imposed at different rates across jurisdictions, with little or no state government oversight. Local officials’ reliance on their own values and beliefs can also push offenders further into debt—for example, when judges charge defendants who lack the means to pay their fines with contempt of court and penalize them with additional fines or jail time. A Pound of Flesh provides a timely examination of how monetary sanctions permanently bind poor offenders to the judicial system. Harris concludes that in letting monetary sanctions go unchecked, we have created a two-tiered legal system that imposes additional burdens on already-marginalized groups.
Offering comprehensive coverage with an applied, practical perspective, Community Corrections, Second Edition covers all the major topics in the field while emphasizing reintegration and community partnerships and focusing strongly on assessment, risk prediction, and classification. Author Robert D. Hanser draws on his expertise with offender treatment planning, special needs populations, and the comparative criminal justice fields to present a complete assessment of the issues and challenges facing community corrections today. Insights into how the day-to-day practitioner conducts business in community corrections are illustrated by such things as the increasing role technology plays in the field.
Explores the challenges faced by convicted offenders over the course of rehabilitation and reintegration. Each chapter focuses on a specific phase of the process.
