NCJ Number
143738
Journal
Forum on Corrections Research Volume: 5 Issue: 2 Dated: May 1993 Pages: 19-21
Date Published
1993
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Recent events and public opinion surveys in Canada support the conclusions that the correctional system must respond more effectively to the public and to crime victims and that the public does not uniformly demand the abolition of all forms of early release or does not understand the complexities and challenges of dealing with offenders.
Abstract
Instead, the public is interested in strengthening regulations regarding parole release for specific kinds of offenders, who account for a small percentage of the Federal custodial population. Finally, greater efforts are needed to provide the public with information on the correctional process, because some of the public's opposition is based on misperceptions of how the system functions as well as of the statistics themselves. Canadians overestimate both the number of inmates receiving parole and the levels of recidivism associated with parolees. Many Canadians also believe that parole amounts to a change in a sentence rather than just a change in the location in which the sentence is served. This belief suggests the need for greater truth in sentencing either through changes to make the time served in prison closer to the imposed sentence or through better efforts to convince the public of the need for a conditional release. Footnotes