Incarceration During Fiscal Restraint - Training Seminars for Key Decision-Makers - Project Summary and Final Report

• NCJ Number: 87943
• Author(s): T R Clear; P M Harris; A L Record
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 111 pages
• Grant Number(s): SD-81-11
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Corrections
• Corporate Author: Rutgers University
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report describes the development and implementation of a seminar which aimed to give crucial decisionmakers in several States the factual basis upon which to determine cost implications of incarceration of alternative punishment in a period of limited resources and fiscal restraint.

Abstract

The seminar had three goals: (1) to present state-of-the-art information on incarceration policy in a format meaningful to major decisionmakers, (2) to provide decisionmakers with the chance to interact with one another around the problem of incarceration policy, and (3) to promote cost-effective change in the incarceration policies of participating States. The 3-day seminar focused on incarceration trends; the relationship between prison populations and incarceration policy; operating, capital, hidden, and opportunity costs; the crime control effectiveness of incarceration policies; punishment policy options; the politics of cost-effective incarceration policy; and strategies for managing incarceration costs. Descriptions of the seminar materials, site and participant selection, and evaluation results are included. It was concluded that the seminars were a successful experiment which helped bridge the gap between research and policymaking. Chapter notes and appendixes presenting seminar evaluation forms and background materials are provided.