NCJ Number
174837
Date Published
1995
Length
234 pages
Annotation
The author of this book promotes both reformation and control of convicts, and his efforts have helped make staffing prisons a nonpolitical career service, improved inmate academic and vocational education, divided large prisons into autonomous smaller units, expanded treatment for drug addicts, fostered prisoner contacts with their families, and encouraged new types of counseling.
Abstract
The author has also developed more intensive supervision and assistance for parolees and probationers and has promoted rigorous evaluation research in corrections, including assessment of practices by controlled experiments. He presents a historical perspective on some of the most recurring and controversial issues in corrections, such as drug and alcohol treatment, conjugal visits, recidivism, and rehabilitation. The author notes traditional government reactions to criminals and describes his initiatives in California prisons and community corrections. He emphasizes the importance of coordinating all components of the criminal justice system and forecasts the future of corrections in terms of reduced confinement, increased preparation of prisoners for post-release life, the replacement of parole boards by professional release tribunals, the consolidation of community-based correctional programs, computerized criminal justice information systems, and increased guidance by empirical research. References, notes, tables, figures, and photographs