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Instructor’s Manual
for
Corrections
Third Edition
Leanne Alarid
Philip Reichel
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CHAPTER OVERVIEW
The primary goal of this chapter is to introduce the evidence-based approach as a key concept in
this book’s content and organization. This is done by first setting the corrections system in the
context of the broader criminal justice system. As the focus turns to corrections specifically, a
distinction is made between community-based corrections and institutional-based corrections.
Because they will receive more complete coverage in later chapters, only brief comment is made
about the U.S. incarceration rate and media’s influence on public opinion and correctional
policy. The chapter concludes with an explanation of evidence-based practices and a description
of criteria used to determine “what works.”
LECTURE OUTLINE
CORRECTIONS: AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
• Figure 1-1 shows the criminal justice system in a flow chart with the corrections system
identified as the final part of the system.
Police
o The criminal justice process begins with the report to the police of a crime by a victim
or witness or, with the observation of a crime by the police.
o After investigation, and depending on the seriousness of the offenses, the police may
issue a warning or a citation, or make an arrest.
o Following an arrest or citation, the case moves to the courts.
Pretrial/Courts
o Prosecutors examine quality of evidence and determine whether to charge the suspect
with a crime or to dismiss the case.
o When the decision is to charge the suspect, the person will enter a plea of guilty or
not guilty and go before a judge to be sentenced (when the plea is guilty) or to have a
trial date set (when the plea is not guilty).
o Prosecutors may make plea offers to defendants that could encourage a guilty plea or
that can result in a sentence recommendation that prosecution and defense feel is
most appropriate given the facts of the case.
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Preadjudication Diversion
o Early in the court process, the judge may offer diversion or deferred adjudication to
misdemeanor or first-time felony defendants.
o Diversion (e.g., deferred probation supervision) allows defendants to be supervised in
the community before pleading guilty. With successful completion of diversion,
charges are dropped and there is no formal record of conviction.
o Defendants not qualifying for diversion may be offered a plea agreement wherein the
defendant pleads guilty in return for a favorable sentence.
Community Corrections
o Sanctions that rely on resources available in the community are referred to as
community corrections.
o Examples include probation and residential community corrections facilities.
Institutional Corrections
o Sanctions that require the offender to live in an institutional environment apart from
their friends and family are referred to as institutional corrections.
o Examples include jail and prison.
INCARCERATION RATES
• The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world.
• The war on drugs greatly increased the number of prisoners in the federal system.
• Latinos and African-Americans are incarcerated disproportionately and this may be the
result of police targeting minorities for closer attention or possibly that minorities are
more likely to engage in behavior for which incarceration is the appropriate sanction.
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Teaching Note: Ask students how the media has influenced their own and/or their friends’ views
about crime and corrections. Draw out specific examples from television, movies, newspaper
reports, and social media. Discuss both positive and negative aspects of media influence.
EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICES
• There is a need for responses to crime that are more cost-effective than imprisonment.
• Using evidence-based practices (EBP) is one way to accomplish that goal.
• Figure 1-5 shows the two parts of EBP: Does it work? and Applying the techniques.
EBP Techniques
o Meeting the six conditions for a rigorous study is difficult.
o Programs are said to “work” when two or more studies show a significant difference
between treatment and control groups.
o At least 12 states have implemented EBP for offender supervision.
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Learning Outcome 2:
1. What factors determine if a case or an offender is qualified for diversion, and who makes the
decision?
• Misdemeanor and some first time felony offenders. Prosecution or judges can make the
diversion decision.
2. Which crimes and/or offender situations would be best suited for community supervision, and
why?
• Community corrections assumes most offenders have made poor decisions along the way,
but their need to retain responsibility and/or change overrides their threat to public safety
and therefore they do not require incarceration.
3. What crimes and/or offender situations would best qualify for institutional corrections, and
why?
• Institutional corrections operates under the philosophy that some people need to be
separated from the elements of daily life to protect others’ safety or to pay for their
crimes by taking away their freedom.
Learning Outcome 3:
1. How can the police, prosecutors, and/or judges correct racial and economic disparities that
exist in their jurisdiction?
• Answers will vary, but may include suggestions for training on racial profiling for law
enforcement officers, changes to police department and prosecutor office policies, and
giving judges more discretion in terms of sentencing options.
2. If the United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, is it because
Americans are just more violent or criminal than the rest of the world, or are there other reasons?
If so, what?
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• Answers will vary, but may include the United States began to increase incarceration for
drug offenders and lengthen sentences for repeat and violent offenders. The war on drugs
increased the percent of incarcerated women.
3. Why did incarceration rates have such a small impact on crime rates?
• Severe punishment has had little effect on decreases in crime.
Learning Outcome 4:
1. What other ways do the media inform public opinion on social issues?
• Influencing opinion and encouraging political involvement in the punishment of
offenders. Television programming also plays a role.
2. How have legislators been major definers of the “crime problem”?
• Policies have been developed in piecemeal fashion by state and federal legislatures for
responses to an immediate problem, or in reaction to something other states are doing.
3. If citizens are in support of alternatives to prison, why haven’t we developed more programs
and options in this direction?
• Answers will vary.
4. What other ways exist to develop rational crime policies?
• Answers will vary.
Learning Outcome 5:
1. How does EBP help achieve public safety?
• Interventions used are based on social learning and/or cognitive behavioral approaches.
2. How is EBP different from the type of correctional supervision used two decades ago?
• Use of rigorous studies to determine what works and what does not.
3. Is EBP applicable to correctional officers in prison who are tasked with supervision of inmates
but not treatment? If so, how? If not, why not?
• Yes. How staff members relate to offenders is extremely important in achieving lasting
behavioral change. Staff should be well-trained in criminal thinking errors, establishing
rapport, increasing offender motivation, and using positive reinforcement with rewards
and incentives over the use of instilling fear through negative reinforcement. Quality of
interaction is more important than quantity.
4. Is EBP seen as more demanding for offenders overall or as an intervention that is less
punitive?
• Answers will vary depending on the specific EBP being discussed.
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