NCJ Number
205806
Date Published
2003
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This paper analyzes how to get community alternatives accepted and implemented at both the practical and political levels.
Abstract
In order to reduce prison populations, it is vitally important that key players in the criminal justice world, as well as the media and the public, are convinced of the efficacy and effectiveness of alternatives to incarceration. The main issues explored in this paper include how to get alternative sanctions accepted at the political level; how to get the alternative programs implemented at the practical level; and how to deal with the punitive-populist pressure emanating from politicians and the media. Following an introduction in section 1, section 2 turns to an exploration of how to gain support for alternative sanctions at the practical level. Judges, prosecutors, and other professionals within the criminal justice system should be provided with a basic education concerning the realities of prison and the base elements of criminology. The implementation of new policies or laws requires extensive training of the professionals involved through conferences and professional trainings. Moreover, education efforts must focus on underscoring the credibility of community sanctions and must also keep the public informed about the benefits and crime control potential of community-level sanctions. Section 3 turns to a discussion of how to gain support for alternative sanctions at the political level. Overcoming penal populism and raising the rationality of political decisionmaking concerning criminal justice policy is explored, followed by a discussion of the importance of the media and the general public in gaining support for alternative sanctions. Providing the public, the media, criminal justice professionals, and policymakers with accurate information about criminal justice, criminology, and the benefits of alternative sanctions will go a long way toward reducing the prison populations around the world.