NCJ Number
161961
Date Published
1996
Length
46 pages
Annotation
This paper first assesses impediments to effective intermediate sanctions in American corrections and proposes ways to increase the effectiveness of various types of intermediate sanctions.
Abstract
One impediment to the effective use of intermediate sanctions is unrealistic expectations for reducing recidivism through such sanctions, for reducing corrections costs, and for lowering prison populations. Further, the considerable pressures for "net widening" and the formidable management problems involved in implementing new programs interact in complex ways to frustrate new programs. For offenders who do not present unacceptable risks of violence, well-managed intermediate sanctions offer a cost-effective way to keep them in the community at less cost than imprisonment and with at least the same recidivism rate as if imprisoned. Boot camps, house arrest, and intensive supervision are vulnerable to "net widening" when entry is controlled by judges. For boot camps, corrections officials should select participants from among admitted prisoners. For house arrest and intensive supervision programs, corrections officials can control entry to back-end programs, and sentencing guidelines may structure judges' decisions about admission to front-end programs. Community service and monetary penalties are underdeveloped in the United States, and much could be learned from the use of these sanctions in Europe. Day fines are a promising idea. Front-end intermediate sanctions are unlikely to be widely used as prison alternatives unless sentencing theories and policies become more expansive and move away from oversimplified concepts of proportionality in punishment. Further, intermediate sanctions may have promise as a way to get and keep offenders in drug and other treatment programs. 113 references