NCJ Number
74671
Date Published
1980
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Planning within the criminal justice services is examined from an Australian criminologist's perspective with special reference to the United States after the establishment of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration.
Abstract
LEAA's approach in offering funds for the development of plans based on coordinated action by police, courts and corrections is noted with approval, although the plans did not work in practice at the early stages because the needed interdepartmental coordination was not achieved. Cost effectiveness is a major problem in criminal justice services planning because the ideological aims of justice administration can often be achieved only by disregarding costs. Crime is a social phenomenon with ramifications extending beyond the preserve of the criminal justice system. The ideological, social, and political complexities involved in operating the courts, the police, and correctional institutions prevent the simultaneous achievement of their stated objectives and of cost effectiveness. Penal philosophies exemplify the problems involved in setting planning goals which are implementable as well as cost-effective and acceptable to the various components of the criminal justice system and to the public at large. For example, whether corrections should pursue retribution or rehabilitation of convicted offenders is a question still unsettled. Within the constraints imposed by ideological objectives it should be possible, however, to allocate funds with a measure of reliance on costs and benefits related to clearly stated priorities within the criminal justice services.