NCJ Number
126648
Journal
Criminal Law Forum Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1990) Pages: 297-309
Date Published
1990
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Although higher levels of funding and more vigorous community development efforts by probation officers may stimulate community involvement, the New Zealand experience suggests that the community participation model will not be the new panacea in penal policy.
Abstract
The extent to which the community wishes to participate in the provision of penal services is overstated by its proponents; as a result, community involvement is unlikely to be forthcoming unless the government provides adequate funding to groups and individuals providing such services to offenders. The majority of the community care programs are bureaucratically organized, professionally staffed, and undertaken within the context of structured therapeutic regimes. They thus fall short of the ideal of spontaneous, neighborly concern, which is a strong part of the Western ideology of community. While some programs have involved comparatively noninstitutional and informal relationships between sponsor and offender, these are few in number and have made little impact so far on the way in which the criminal justice system deals with offenders from ethnic minority groups. In sum, there is little to distinguish the majority of programs from conventional attempts at rehabilitation. 36 notes