CRJS 318 Web Site

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CRJS 318 Web Site

• http//www.odu.edu/al/cpate/index.htm

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CRJS 318

• Probation, Parole and Community-Based Corrections
• Two Books
• Community-Based Corrections, MML
• Community Corrections, JP

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Instructor Background

• Chris Pate
• Military
• State Government
• Academic
• Practitioner Perspective

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Succeeding In Class

• The Easy Way
• Read Assignments Generally Before Classes
• Attend Class, Participate, Take Notes
• Review Material For Understanding
• The Hard Way
• -Dont Read Assignments Or Attend Class
• -Rely On Someone Else To Carry You

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Rules For Fairness

• Verification required for excused late papers and
  missed quizzes.
• Be considerate. Be on time for quizzes and
  written assignments.
• Honor Code is absolute.

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Extra Credit

• 1. Options listed in online syllabus
• 2. Pre-Approved community service
• Provide verification by due date

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Getting Started

• 1. What is the purpose of our CJ System?
• 2. What is the purpose of incarceration?
• 3. What is CBC expected to accomplish?
• 4. Who are the clients served by CJ system?

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• 5. Does our CJ system work as it should?
• 6. Does CBC accomplish what it should?
• 7. Does rehabilitation work?

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• 8. Should offenders who commit similar crimes and
  who have similar backgrounds receive identical
  sentences?
• 9. Who is being punished worse by incarceration
  offenders or society?

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• 10. How should society decide who is punished and
  who is not?
• 11. Should we be as fair and just with criminals
  as with one another?
• 12. What is punishment?

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• 13. What is sufficient punishment?
• 14. Is prison/jail more punitive than probation
  or parole?

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• 16. If CBC with Intermediate Sanctions punishes
  more than confinement, and if imprisonment
  increases criminal outcomes, why not use more
  CBC?
• 17. Whose responsibility is public safety?

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• 18. Why do resource allocators (Politicians) not
  fund CBC better?
• 19. Who pays the bill?
• 20. Who cares?

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Historical Perspectives

• Public debate on crime has ignored or diminished
  the role of CBC.
• Crime control legislation has all but eliminated
  consideration of PP.

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• Perhaps the only public system in worse shape
  than education and health care is criminal
  justice.
• Perhaps we should call it the legal system rather
  than the criminal justice system.

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Public debate on crime has ignored or diminished
the role of CBC.

• Recent federal crime control legislation
• 1994, Most ambitious crime control bill ever
• 22 Billion to expand prisons, lengthen
  sentences, hire police, TX
• 1995, Increased funding to 30 Billion
• Diverted 5 Billion TX money to prison
  construction and enforcement

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Why is this a problem?

• The majority of criminals, who happen to be
  serving sentences on probation and parole, are
  unaffected.
• Discussion

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Effects

• Governmental cutback mentality and get tough
  mood exacerbate crime.

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Caseload Size
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Simplistic Solutions

• A smart person solves problems. A genius
  prevents them. CJ is filled with wise people and
  short of geniuses.

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False Dichotomy
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CBC Is Partly At Fault

• CBC practitioners need to
• Articulate what they do
• Evaluate programs for effectiveness
• Proactively educate the public
• Facts and Alternatives

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Challenge Balanced Approach

• Make better use of taxpayer funds.
• Recognize incarceration may have a limited impact
  on crime rates.
• Imprison physical threat offenders.
• Redirect some resources to promising CBC programs.

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How Did The Mess Occur?

• Human Nature and Immediate Gratification
• Think of love
• Perfection
• Fireworks
• Promise of Eternal Bliss
• Reality Dawns (Usually)

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The Panacea Phenomenon
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Prior Panaceas The Evolution of CBC

• Community Punishments
• 1700s Quakers, Penitentiaries
• 1870s Indeterminate Sentence
• 1800s-1900 Therapeutic Prison
• 1960s-1970s Flourishing CBC
• 1980s-Present Get Tough On Crime
• 1980s-1990s Punish and Control

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Net Widening

• During the Flourishing of CBC Period

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A Better Idea

• Reasoned Approach
• Consensus Building
• Realize TX Is Not A Euphemism For Leniency
• Realize Control, Properly Done, Will Not Corrupt
  Reform

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Facts

• PP Programs Work When They Are

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Corrections Spending

• Prison and Jail Spending
• Two Cents of Every State and Local Dollar
• Probation and Parole
• Two Tenths of One Cent
• ¾ of Correctional Clients Are In Local
  Communities
• They Receive 1/10 Of Corrections Budgets

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Problem, Reality, Results

• Problem Presidents Crime Commission
• Reality Average national caseload 1501

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Supervision Failures

• Offenders who fail under community supervision
  are the fastest growing component of prison
  populations.
• This costs you .

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Cost Comparisons

• Effective TX Programs
• 12,000 to 14,000 per year
• Prison
• 18,000 to 25,000 per year
• Probation
• About 1,400 per year

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Expanded Prison Policy

• Politicians Cite Public Opinion As The Reason For
  Supporting Expanded Prison/Incarceration
  Policies.
• Fundamental Tenet of Democratic Society
• Government and its institutions should reflect
  the will of the people.

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Problem What Punishes?

• Problem What Punishes?
• Is requiring a runner to run 5 miles punishment?
• Is requiring a lazy person to stay home
  punishment?
• Reality The opinion of the person punished is
  crucial in determining punishment.

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Intermediate Sanctions As Punishment

• Many offenders consider Intermediate Sanctions
  more punishing than prison.
• Balance, Level and Intensity of IS can be
  dreaded.
• One 10 page research paper per semester
• Per week
• Per Day

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Building Consensus

• Common Sense (and Knowledge)
• Target Offender Groups That Make Sense
• Those that commit the most crime
• Those that pose the least physical threat

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Consensus (contd)

• Answer Minor Drug Offenders
• -Greatest number of offenders
• -Drugs generally contribute to crime
• -TX reduces crime

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What Really Works
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Results of PP Cases in TX

• Higher success rates and Lower crime rates
• Each day of TX pays for itself that day
• Crime costs and Health Care costs

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Problems to Address

• How to Control Crime
• Crime Prevention
• De-escalating Criminal Careers

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A Bottom Line Problem

• Federal Crime Control Policy
• Provides to states to support fed policies
• Political Leadership and Guts Is A Major Issue

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False Dichotomy

• Tough Law Enforcement vs. CB Prevention
• To argue between tough law enforcement and
  community-based crime prevention is a false
  dichotomy.
• The choice is not one or the other.