NCJ Number
104056
Date Published
1986
Length
122 pages
Annotation
This is an edited version of the record of proceedings of a 2-day community justice conference held in Oak Ridge, Tenn., in 1986, which focused on the costs, benefits, successes, and failures of restitution, reconciliation, and alternative sentencing programs in Tennessee and other U.S. jurisdictions.
Abstract
Comments on the need for alternative sentencing programs note the crisis of prison overcrowding and the ineffectiveness of imprisonment in teaching offenders to be accountable and responsible within the framework of community behavioral norms. Some examples of alternatives to imprisonment are presented from Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Utah, and principally from Tennessee. The programs described encompass victim-offender reconciliation, victim-offender mediation programs, community service for adults and juveniles, victim restitution for juvenile and adult offenders, halfway houses, and intensive supervision. The goals, operations, costs, and effectiveness of these programs are discussed. Other topics addressed include corrections issues in Tennessee, volunteer services in alternatives to corrections, funding for juvenile alternative programs, and the future of crime and justice in Tennessee.