Correctional Myths and Economic Realities (From National Workshop on Corrections and Parole Administration, Second - Proceedings, P 25-34, 1974 - See NCJ-85059)

• NCJ Number: 85063
• Author(s): B L Wayson
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on microfiche as NCJ-85059

Annotation

Mutual Agreement Programming (MAP), whereby inmates select rehabilitation goals and work toward achieving them to secure a certain release date, conforms more to the economic principles of behavior than the medical model, which views offenders as acting more from sickness than economic judgments.

Abstract

The medical model of corrections assumes that the offender is sick and must be cured by the skills and healing programs of professionals. The view that criminal behavior generally derives from some psychological sickness that can be cured by appropriate treatment is a myth, because it ignores the basic economic principles that operate in survival behavior and the maximization of benefit for the costs involved. MAP takes seriously the fact that behavioral performance is an outgrowth of persons choosing behavioral options that secure desired benefits under given circumstances. By entering into a contract with the correctional department which indicates that the inmate will achieve certain rehabilitation goals in return for the inmate's being released on a fixed date according to the rehabilitation timetable, the inmate's behavior becomes economically motivated. The myths in corrections are those based solely in corrections' efforts to maximize staff and bureaucratic interests, which inevitably end up costing huge amounts while accomplishing little in changing inmate behavior. The most effective correctional approaches aim at structuring inmate choices so that their behavior can bring dependable benefits which are in accord with the protection of society. Thirty-one footnotes are listed.