NCJ Number
146958
Journal
Federal Probation Volume: 57 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1993) Pages: 3-9
Date Published
1993
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article examines DiIulio's four most important predictions about the future of corrections and suggest sdirections for State and local corrections policymakers.
Abstract
In 1991, John DiIulio wrote "No Escape -- The Future of American Corrections," in which he bleakly assesses the future of corrections in America. His assessment is based largely on the notion that the recent past is the best predictor of the immediate future. First, he argues that there is no escape from the future of a much larger correctional system. Second, he predicts there is no escape from the need for more prison and jail space, since correctional systems are already near the limits of their capacity to manage offenders in the community. Third, he believes there is no escape from a future of institutional overcrowding, because supply (prison space) always lags behind demand (number of offenders sentenced to incarceration). The last prediction is that there is no escape from the need to look more closely at community-based corrections and to identify those programs that may reduce recidivism. Whether these predictions are fulfilled depends on how legislators and correctional administrators view the basic purpose of any sanction: Punishment/retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, and control. The key to understanding where the correctional system is headed is to determine how these various aims are prioritized by policymakers at the Federal, State, and local levels. What is needed to avoid DeIulio's predictions are alternatives to incarceration and traditional probation, stand-alone intermediate punishments, and a community-based model of probation. 19 references