Future of Intensive Probation Supervision and the New Intermediate Sanctions

• NCJ Number: 250460
• Journal: Crime & Delinquency Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: January 1990 Pages: 6-41
• Author(s): James M. Byrne
• Date Published: January 1990
• Length: 36 pages
• Grant Number(s): 85-IJ-CX-0036
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This article examines the intensive probation supervision and the effects of new intermediate sanctions as a solution to the issue of prison overcrowding in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Abstract

The author contend that intensive probation supervision (IPS) has been marketed in the United States as both a solution to the current prison crowding problem and the central component of a new ("get-tough") surveillance-oriented probation image. Unfortunately, a careful review of the development, implementation, and impact of IPS programs suggests that they run the risk of being quickly discarded as the latest, failed panacea. The author begins by discussing the politics of IPS evaluation and then focuses on four key policy issues: purpose, design, implementation, and impact. Based on a review of these issues, the author offers a basic framework for the continued development of intensive supervision and other intermediate sanctions, which combines the use of formal and informal deterrence mechanisms with traditional offender rehabilitation strategies. (Published Abstract Modified)