NCJ Number
162097
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 75 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1995) Pages: 479-496
Date Published
1995
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article examines and substantiates the argument for focusing on crime prevention and community corrections rather than on punitive incarceration.
Abstract
Crime prevention solutions coming out of Washington are politically attractive, but they are at odds with strategies advocated by practitioners, scholars, and numerous expert panels. Elected government officials have recently proposed spending more funds on prison construction at the expense of prevention programs. Pursuing such a reactive approach does not deter young people from becoming criminals, nor does it address the behavior and attitudes of the majority of convicted offenders, who are serving sentences on probation and parole. Despite the fact that both recent Federal crime bills were touted by their proponents as comprehensive approaches to the crime problem, neither the 1994 crime act nor the 1995 Taking Back Our Streets proposal even mentions probation or parole, much less provides funding or direction for revising programs or practices. Moreover, the Federal bill will likely take money away from community corrections budgets, already at dangerously low levels, to fund the expanded prison space required to comply with Federal mandates that require State prisoners to serve 85 percent of their sentences. This article addresses the public safety consequences of current probation and parole practices. It contends that current crime policies are not comprehensive and will not be effective unless they focus on the needs and risks posed by probationers and parolees. The author suggests developing "surveillance plus treatment" programs for drug- involved probationers, including offenders who are convicted of drug possession and use but not of trafficking. 3 figures, 1 table, and 27 references