Transcript Slide 1
Corrections
Prisons are the new ghetto, filled not only with people of
color, but increasingly by immigrants. The mass
incarceration model does not appear to be leveling out,
and is now reaching unimaginable proportions, levels that
not even the “prison works” proponents would have
deemed or dreamed possible just a decade ago. This new
form of genocide, this civic genocide if you will, is being
realized due to the chronic ambivalence on the part of the
general public. We are, for all intense and purposes,
burying people alive. We have gone beyond just deserts
and have adopted a model of penal harm. It is a national
disgrace.
American overuse of incarceration
The United States has 4.5% of the world’s
population, but 25% of the world’s prisoners.
There are currently 2.5 million people incarcerated
in America.
This translates to 1 adult in 99 being behind bars
in the U.S.
International Imprisonment
Rates/100,000
United States – 750
Russia – 613
Poland – 224
Mexico – 209
Turkey - 161
England/Wales – 153
Hungary – 152
Malaysia - 141
Portugal – 120
Canada – 116
Austria - 99
South Korea - 97
Bolivia – 83
Finland – 67
Denmark – 66
Japan - 63
The world average is
roughly 160 to 170
Problems with the overuse
of incarceration
Expensive
Biased/discriminatory
Unconstitutional conditions of confinement
Overcrowding logistics
Aggravates the crime problem
Short term (tipping point theory)
Long term
Incarceration Options
State Prisons:
roughly 1,350 state prisons
1.4 million inmates
Federal Prisons:
84 federal prisons
59 military prisons
216,000 inmates
Private Prisons:
270 private prisons
130,000 inmates (8% of the inmate population)
Prison Demographics
104,000 females in prisons (13.5: 1 ratio, male to
female)
Racial demographics of all prison inmates
White: 34%
Black: 38%
Hispanic: 21%
Other: 7%
Incarceration Rate/100,000
White
Black
Hispanic
Overall
Male
478
3,023
1,238
932
Female
51
129
71
65
Overall:
Prison incarceration rate – 492
Prison and Jail incarceration rate - 750
Incarceration options…continued
City/County Jails:
750,000 inmates on any given day
13 million formal jail admits/year
11 day average stay
$136/day
Juvenile Training Schools:
1,200 state facilities
1,850 private facilities
80,000 youth are housed in juvenile facilities
10,000 youth are housed in adult facilities
Mental health facilities
Probation
Court administered program, in lieu of incarceration
Behavioral contract, the violation of which could result in
probation being revoked and a prison/jail sentence
imposed
4.2 million people are currently on probation
Different levels of supervision and monitoring
methodology:
Regular
Intensive
Electronic
Home detention
Halfway house confinement
Parole
Post prison release mechanism
Generally administered by the Executive Branch
Behavioral contract, the violation of which could result in
parole being revoked and being returned to prison
820,000 people are currently on parole
Different levels of supervision and monitoring
methodology:
Regular
Intensive
Electronic
Home detention
Halfway house confinement
Parole
Parole release decisions are irregularly applied. Several
factors do weigh in, including:
Institutional behavior
Crime severity
Criminal history
Length of incarceration (usually not eligible until 1/3 of the
maximum sentence has been served)
Mental state/Mental illness concerns
Victim input
Reintegration factors (place to live, family situation,
employment opportunities)
Alternative Sanctions…continued
Community-based options:
Pretrial release/pretrial diversion
Street diversion (via problem solving policing)
Halfway houses
Restitution/community service sentences
Drug/alcohol treatment diversion
Mental health diversion
Misc. therapy and counseling programs
Family relations and life skills classes
Educational and voc training and assistance programs
Employment preparation and expectation courses
Employment assistance programs
Intermittent incarceration
Fine schedule/waiverable offense schedule (citations)
Prison/jail furlough
Other Sanctions
Shaming:
Car bumper
Newspaper article
Sign on front door
Corporal punishment:
Chemical/physical castration
Whipped
Dismembered
Capital punishment
Does Anything Work?
Rehabilitating and reintegrating
Reduce crime via incapacitation:
Short term
Long term
Reduce crime via general deterrence
Reduce crime via specific deterrence
Fiscally responsible
Future of Incarceration
Build more prisons/continue mass
incarceration
Tear down the prisons that exist
Build no more prisons:
Divert to community based alternatives
Selective incapacitation
Shorter sentences
Less intrusive classification
Future of Incarceration…continued
Build humane facilities:
Smaller prisons
Inmate/guard interaction
Divert to community based alternatives
Selective incapacitation
Shorter sentences
Less intrusive classification
Punishment Perspectives
Do we send people to prison as punishment or to
receive punishment?
What is just punishment – a punishment that fits the
crime or the criminal?
What punishment options will have a good effect upon
individuals in the long run?
What punishment options will likely be de-
habilitating in the long run?
Why do we Punish?
To resolve conflict
To maintain values/social borders
To get people to stop doing things
To make ourselves feel better
To hold people accountable
To protect society
To rehabilitate/treat the offender
Why do you punish, as a parent, as a teacher, as a coach,
as a supervisor?
Philosophy of Punishment
Individually oriented punishment
philosophies (past tense orientation):
Retribution
Revenge
Society-wide oriented punishment
philosophies (present tense orientation):
Control/order maintenance
General deterrence
Philosophy of Punishment…continued
Individually oriented treatment philosophy
(future tense orientation):
Medical rehabilitation
Mental rehabilitation
Societal reintegration
More Punishment Perspectives
1. Why do we punish?
2. Should society punish, and why/why not?
3. Which of the punishment theories best fits your
perspective?
4. Which of these philosophies of punishment
would yield a more just society?
5. Is there ever justice in punishment?
6. What philosophy should we use in response to
your misbehaviors?
7. What philosophy should we use in response to
the person who raped your little daughter?
8. Is the answer to questions 6 and 7 the same?
Punishment Perspectives…continued
9. Should punishment be more context based?
10. Should punishment be based on the legally
defined act, the circumstances surrounding the
act, and/or the characteristics of the actor?
11. When should we punish? How soon after the act
should the punishment be meted out?
12. Should we punish for what they did, for what
they might yet do, or some combination thereof?
Recidivism
Time dimension
Type of violation:
Felony/Misdemeanor
Violent/Non-violent
Drugs issues
Type of violator (population sample dimension):
Maximum security releases vs. Pre-trial
diversion participants
Career criminal vs. 1st time offender
Recidivism…continued
Level of intrusion
Arrested
Convicted
Sanction
Prison (max, med, min)
Jail
Probation
Parole revolked
Halfway house
Other community-based options
Recidivism v. Relative Adjustment
Recidivism – dichotomous negative oriented
justice system reentry measure
Relative Adjustment – multivariate positive
oriented overall societal reentry/relative
adjustment measure
We want those who receive correctional
treatment to not just be NOT re-arrested/reconvicted/re-imprisoned, we want them to
successfully re-enter society as contributing
members, and we should measure this
according
Relative Adjustment
Time Dimension – if we can lengthen the lag
time between offenses, that is a success
Measurement Dimension & Orientation
We use a dichotomous justice system indicator
to measure the impact of our sociopsychological economic correctional
treatment programs (a negative measure)
We need to use a time-based, multi-variate
social-psychological economic instrument to
measure reentry success (a positive measure)
A Relative Adjustment Scale
Lose points (and the loss is greater over time) for
A dirty urine result
A speeding ticket
A shoplifting arrest
Get points for
living at the same residence for a certain time
keeping your job for a certain time
clean urine tests over a certain time
earning your GED
Correctional Law
Wolff v McDonnell - inmates have the right to an
institutional disciplinary hearing, written advance notice of
the hearing, to present evidence/witnesses/testify in their
own behalf at the hearing, and a formal ruling is to be
placed in their file
Morrissey v Brewer - parolees have no right to legal counsel
at parole revocation hearings
Gagnon v Scarpelli - probationers have the right to an
attorney at probation revocation hearings
Further in the system, the fewer rights available
Correctional Law…continued
Wilson v Seiter - made it more difficult for inmates to
win unconstitutional conditions of confinement cases;
inmates must demonstrate specific unconstitutional
conditions of confinement, and specific intent on the
part of specific prison officials to maintain those
unconstitutional conditions
Micro – Macro
De Jure – De Facto
Legal Reentry Obstacles
(the 2nd prison)
Bills of attainder – de jure
Bills of attainder – de facto
Civic restrictions
Insurance restrictions
Educational restrictions
Occupational license restrictions
Bonding restrictions
Government employment restrictions
Public Housing restrictions
Corrections Reforms
Prisons/Jails
Remove from the public sector
Prison industry
No forced rehabilitation programming
Presumptive release date
Adjust sentences
Selective incapacitation (divert more to
Community based alternatives)
Shorter sentences
Less intrusive classification
Habitual Offender Law Concerns
Low offender perceived certainty of apprehension
factor
Targeting wrong age-based population
demographic
Poor predictive capability/targets in an ex post
facto context
Replacement phenomenon
(see Kovandzic, The Impact of Florida’s Habitual
Offender Law, Criminology, February 2001, pp. 170-203.)
Corrections Reforms
Prisons/Jails:
Remove from the public sector
Prison industry
No forced rehabilitation programming
Presumptive release date
Adjust sentences
Selective incapacitation (divert more to
Community based alternatives)
Shorter sentences
Less intrusive classification
Corrections Reforms…Prison/Jails continued
Expand furlough programs:
Work release
Study release
Family furloughs
Community furloughs
Graduated release programming
Parole people faster
Increase voc training/education programs
Hold seminars on family relations, employment
preparation/expectations and
general life skills
Ramp up reentry programs
Reentry Challenges
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
8.
Civic restrictions
Insurance restrictions
Educational restrictions
Occupational license restrictions
Bonding restrictions
Government employment restrictions
Public Housing restrictions
Limited access to adequate health care
Family stabilization issues
Collateral Consequences of Imprisonment
Attenuated community acceptance/social stigmatization
Curtailed employment/economic opportunities
Political alienation
De-stabilization of the family and impaired development of
children
Diminished mental and physical health
Homelessness
Reentry Strategies
Front end options – drug/alcohol/mental health
centers, halfway-in houses, intensive probation with
an employment focus, volunteers in probation, more
use of day fines, community courts, intermittent
incarceration/weekend confinement, pre-trial
diversion, pre-trial release programs, bail hostels, one
strike “hug-a-thug”.
Back end options – early parole, halfway-out houses,
tax incentives to hire ex-offenders, removal of the de
facto bills of attainder (restricting occupational
licensing, government employment, housing
assistance, etc), employment assistance programs (be
employment focused), volunteers in parole.
Reentry Strategies…continued
Custodial options – re-classify more to
minimum security, more work release, study
release, family furlough, extended furlough,
pre-release programs, encourage prison visits,
vocational training and education programs,
employment preparation and expectation
courses, seminars on family relations,
interpersonal relations, and life skills.
Long Run Strategies
Develop a Less Punitive Correctional Model
Less reliance on prisons
Shorter sentences
Minimize classification level (Scuba analogy, Social
distance)
Develop a More Effective Correctional Model
Scientific criminology
Political criminology
Overcome the Lingering Cultural Orientation of Attainder
(Singapore Yellow Ribbon Project)
Singapore Yellow Ribbon Program Goals
Create awareness of giving a second chance to exoffenders.
Generate acceptance of ex-offenders and their
families into the community.
Inspire community action to support the
rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-offenders.
Yellow Ribbon Activities
1. Ex-offenders are recognize as being crime and drug free at an annual award
ceremony.
2. Public concerts are held regularly, where top-run celebrities perform with exoffenders.
3. Job fairs, specifically designed for ex-offenders, are held regularly.
4. High level conferences on corrections and re-integration are regularly convened.
5. Docu-dramas featuring inspiring success stories of ex-offenders are televised.
6. Hundreds of thousands of yellow ribbons have been distributed to citizens of
Singapore who wear them in public as a visual representation of their support
for this program and for ex-offender reintegration.
Perhaps most important element of all is the fact that the program has the active
support of prominent corporate and political leaders. They frequently make public
appearance and public statements supporting the Yellow Ribbon initiative.
Long Run Strategies…Again
Develop a Less Punitive Correctional Model
Less reliance on prisons
Shorter sentences
Minimize classification levels
(Scuba analogy, Social distance)
Develop a More Effective Correctional Model
Scientific criminology
Political criminology
Overcome the Lingering Cultural Orientation of Attainder
(Singapore Yellow Ribbon Project)
Corrections Reforms…continued
Prisons/Jails
Ramp up reentry programs
Democratic prisons
Release older inmates
Tax incentives to hire ex-offenders
Be employment focused
Allow more prison visits
Move to a “full service” rehabilitation prison model
Overall, there is a need to get the prison population down, to
impact less negatively on the individuals while they are there, and
help them to become successfully reintegrated within their family
units, their communities and the workforce, once they leave the
prison setting. We can do this by:
Short-term/Medium term
Front end options
Back end options
Custodial options
Long term
Develop a Less Punitive Correctional Model
Develop a More Effective Correctional Model
Overcome the Lingering Cultural Orientation of
Attainder
Parole Reforms
Expand pre-parole furlough programs
Grant parole earlier
Volunteers in parole
Eliminate the technical violations
Mandatory residential reentry center participation
(halfway-out houses)
Reduce parole officer caseload size:
Social service focused officer to some
Custody oriented officer to others (intensive/electronic)
Probation Reforms
Increase the use of probation (vs. prison)
Great use of volunteers
Reduce PO caseload size:
Social service focused officer to some
Custody oriented officer to others (intensive/electronic)
Reduce supervision of low-risk offenders
Greater Use of Community-Based Options
(generally minimize the level of intrusion into the system)
Pretrial release/pretrial diversion (including drug
courts)
Street diversion (via problem solving policing)
Community courts (victim/offender mediation)
Probation
Halfway houses
Restitution/community service sentences
Drug/alcohol treatment diversion
Mental health diversion
Greater Use of Community-Based Options
…continued
Misc. therapy and counseling programs
Intermittent incarceration
Family relations and life skills class
Educational and voc training and assistance
programs
Employment preparation and expectation courses
Employment assistance programs
Expanded fine schedule/waiverable offense
schedule (citations)
Prison/jail furlough programs
Bio-Criminology Options
Crime can be reduced by:
1. Balancing out the hormones and enzymes produced by the
body (serotonin, dopamine, melatonin, testosterone,
estrogen, MAOA, CSF/serum albumin,
phenethylamine/MAO-B, oxytocin).
2. Removing the excessive caustic externally absorbed
components (lead, mercury, cadmium, PCBs, manganese,
nicotine in the prenatal period).
3. Balancing/increasing the intake of healthy substances
(dietary adjustments with a focus on healthy nutrition,
general vitamin therapy and particularly zinc, iron,
chromium, omega 3 and 6, DHA, protein in the prenatal
period).
Bio-Criminology Options…continued
4. Utilizing a nurturing environment to overcome the
latent/genetic-based vulnerabilities, including the use of
genetic screening to identify those with the highest levels of
vulnerability.
5. Being alert to/compensating for insufficient brain
development/brain abnormalities.
6. Miscellaneous Bio-criminology proposals – galvonic skin
implants, anti-adrenaline injections, castration (physical and
chemical), pink rooms
In sum, crime can be reduced by altering the bio-chemical
makeup of the body.
Future of Corrections?
The real need, is a change of communal attitude, for we
are far too harsh and are only making the crime situation
worse. We need to be willing to have:
Less reliance on prisons
Send fewer to prisons
Shorter sentences
Minimized classification
Greater use of alternative sanctions
Minimize the ex-con stigma/ostracizing
Legally
Socially
Footnote Points and Concluding Comments
Problems:
We have surplus laborers with limited legitimate
market skills, limited academic skills, poor health,
insufficient housing situations; the underclass.
They gravitate, as likely did their parents, to the
illegitimate markets as they have no chance of functioning
within the legitimate markets (anomie).
They inevitably get caught by justice officials and are
thrust into the downward spiraling justice vortex.
Justice system processing accentuates the situation,
pushing folks into the justice vortex where the
negative forces and factors in their lives become even
further compounded/aggravated and problematic;
few are ever able to escape.
Footnote Points and Concluding Comments
Solutions:
Provide middle class economic opportunities as the base
(nutrition and disease analogy).
There is more to solving the crime problem than
aggregate gainful employment (need to utilize other
crime preventative and curative options), but that is
where you start because gainful employment reduces the
aggregate crime vulnerability/susceptibility factor, and
then you build on that base from person to person as
unique individual situations present themselves.
If a gainful employment base is not in place, there is
virtually no chance for longitudinal rehabilitative
success.
Singapore’s Yellow Ribbon
Project
http://www.yellowribbon.org.sg/