NCJ Number
137893
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1992) Pages: 133-149
Date Published
1992
Length
17 pages
Annotation
While the 1970's saw the decline of the rehabilitative ideal among professionals in the British criminal justice system, there is now new enthusiasm for the rehabilitation of heavy end offenders through programs of community treatment.
Abstract
In the late 1980's, the Home Office developed an intermediate treatment initiative, central to which was the justice model. The initiative aimed to reduce the incarceration of juvenile and young offenders, reduce the criminogenic effects of incarceration, prevent crime, and reduce recidivism. Some of the effects of the implementation of the justice model have been to legitimize the government's attempts to promote an alternative, noncustodial sentencing tariff; to deprofessionalize the probation service; and to stifle diversity and initiative among probation service officers. The justice model is wedded to the notion that the offender is a free and equal actor who offends as a result of rational calculations. Unfortunately, according to the author, the model requires magistrates, probation officers, and offenders to believe that the severity of the penalty must outweigh the potential rewards of future crimes. 53 references (Author abstract modified)