NCJ Number
75284
Date Published
1981
Length
387 pages
Annotation
This book analyzes critical issues in the American correctional system, shows the need to develop strategies for change, and examines the effects of proposed and implemented reform.
Abstract
The critical issues are seen to be interrelated, systemic, and persistent, with each having an ideological element. In an initial chapter the history of rehabilitation is reviewed and its major criticisms discussed. Other chapters examine arguments for and against determinate sentencing and consider the effectiveness of parole and current proposals for its abolition or modification. The increasingly violent nature of American correctional institutions is analyzed, as are special problems of minorities and women within a majority-dominated correctional system. In addition, the increased emphasis on community-based corrections and the problems of system integration and corrections are explored. Other sections analyze the judicial, managerial, and political issues confronting corrections; review the impact of the increasing intervention of the courts into correctional matters; discuss the implications for managing institutions and preparing for change in a turbulent environment; and examine the impact of political influences on correctional policy. Finally, prospects for corrections in the 1980's are explored in two chapters that examine the potential for meaningful reform throughout the corrections system. A reintegration model is proposed that places emphasis on the various systems in which the offender interacts, including the family, the economy, peer groups, and the larger community. An agenda for future research in the field is outlined with specific reference to the major issues addressed in the book. Chapter references, tabular data, and an index are included. For separate chapters, see NCJ 75285-75295.