Helping Offenders Accept Personal Responsibility: Strategies for Controlling Criminal Behavior (From Negotiating Responsibility in the Criminal Justice System, P 155-169, 1998, Jack Kamerman, ed. -- See NCJ-179431)

• NCJ Number: 179435
• Author(s): John Rakis
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Southern Illinois University Press
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article considers ways to control offenders and hold them accountable for their crimes.

Abstract

The criminal justice system does not have sufficient punishment capacity to hold offenders accountable for their behavior. A large expansion of the system would be enormously expensive and not particularly effective at helping offenders become responsible citizens. Punishment capacity could also be increased by expanding probation or parole supervision programs, but these programs usually do not provide meaningful supervision and are mistrusted by the public. The criminal justice system must supplement traditional sanctions with punishments that conserve resources and encourage offenders to take responsibility for their actions. The article discusses five strategies that meet these criteria: fines, making offenders pay for their own supervision, restitution and community service, intensive supervision probation and parole, and boot camps (shock incarceration programs). References