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PENAL REFORM.   Term Paper ID:23726 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Historical overview of penal system & reform efforts, punishment vs. rehabilitation, recidivism, treatment programs, future.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Historical overview of penal system & reform efforts, punishment vs. rehabilitation, recidivism, treatment programs, future. Paper Introduction: Society's desire to control criminal behavior has always been the basis for the establishment and perpetuation of carceral systems the world over. How those systems operate, and the extent to which they are successful, has been of much concern and debate for sociologists, psychologists, criminologists, and the general public, especially in the western world. In America, the establishment of the current penitentiary form of incarceration can be traced to the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as the fledgling country sought to separate itself from its historical and political ties to England and the European continent. Indeed, the American penal reform movement is at least as old as the country. At the time of the Revolution, the main societal controls designed to control and punish criminal Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Does nothing work? . We have managed tosurpass the period of determinate sentencing and are beginning to replaceit with perpetual incarceration envisioned by the various "three strikes"laws enacted in a number of states. Pillsbury (1989)describes this focus as being almost entirely on criminal threats and has inspired an explicit crime control ideology which has challenged the idealism of early reform proponents. 751-752).No other nation in the western world comes close to the U.S. . . Indeed, the American penal reform movement is at least as old as thecountry. The evangelicalhumanitarianism of the eighteenth century which sought to transform prisonsfrom hell-holes to places of "compassion to that part of mankind who arethe subjects of these miseries" (Pillsbury, 1989, p. The establishment of the first penitentiaries paralleled the birth ofthe new nation in the period between 179 and 1815, and resulted from alegislative shift away from mere corporal punishment to incarceration asthe principal form of punishing offenders. . 17-18. did not result from any empirical discoveries. 28). A. . 28).The so-called "punishing smarter" philosophy of the last two decades "haslost its credibility," the authors assert (p. The prisons of the nineteenth andearly twentieth centuries were places of misery, horrible brutality, andlittle rehabilitation. 17). How those systems operate, and the extent to which they aresuccessful, has been of much concern and debate for sociologists,psychologists, criminologists, and the general public, especially in thewestern world. References Hagan, M., and King, R. "With each major change in the nation's penal methods being promotedas the cure for its predecessor, and each reform producing new excessesrequiring further reform . 35 ). (1989). Bureaucrats are quick to seize upon the failures. 733), is beingreplaced by a new spirit of conservatism which seeks vindictive punishment. . Unfortunately, most offender services in the local community areoften found to be subpar. a place where punishmentfor criminal behavior "could be benevolent, which could save the sinnerinstead of damn him" (Pillsbury, 1989, p. 148). America was envisioned as anation of virtue . Yet prisons and prison reforms have never fully achieved theirintended goal of controlling crime in society: to instill values of civicpeace and stability through explicit and implicit appeals to retribution.Punishment of infractions against the norms of society, as delineated inits laws, "inspires a desire for harsher as well as more effectivepunishment" (Pillsbury, 1989, p. . Sociology: The Core (Third Edition).New York: McGraw-Hill.----------------------- 1 349-358. What price will society have to pay before it realizes it can nolonger afford the bill? Hagan and King assert that fear ofpunishment and sanctions is ineffective as a deterrent to juveniledelinquency (1992, p. . Initial reports indicate that prisonpopulations are soaring, yet there has not be a corresponding decrease inthe rate of crime. . Left unsupervised anduntreated, recidivism runs high. A dose of discipline for first offenders.Time, 134:16 (October 16), pp. Community release programs have not fared much better. Recidivism rates of youthcompleting an intensive treatment program in a juvenile correctionalfacility. Understanding penal reform: the dynamic ofchange. 29). H. . It certainly couldn't be any worse. 733). Crime must be controlled at any cost. But as Pillsbury(1989) observes, the penal system which replaced the stocks and pillory"ensured that the penitentiary was a place, not of benevolentrehabilitation, but of often brutal repression" (p. Inmates were "compelled to rise at dawn, eatmeals in silence, [and] speak only when spoken to," and the rest of the daywas filled with "menial labor": swabbing floors, marching in formation,whacking weeds, painting walls (Kane, 1989, p. At the time of the Revolution, the main societal controlsdesigned to control and punish criminal activities in use in the colonieswere those that had historically been in use in England since at least thesixteenth century: the gallows, whipping post, stocks, and pillory.According to Pillsbury (1989), these structures "had stood at the center ofAmerican towns and villages throughout the colonial era [and] were massivestructures, built in urban and rural areas, designed for the collectiveincarceration and reform of a region's criminals" (p. Among them are: intensive, three to ninemonth long treatments which target cognitive and social learning; treatmentmatched to an offender's learning style and personality; positivereinforcement (tangible rewards) outweighs punishments (fines andrestitution) by a ratio of 4 to 1; program structures and activitiesdisrupt the criminal network by placing offenders in situations where pro-social activities predominate (p. 769). The idea is that a criminalknows he or she is facing a specific period of time behind bars as theconsequence of a criminal act, and that alone should be sufficient to deterhim or her from it. (1989). Crime control adherents have seen punishment as both deterrent to, and a retribution for, criminal activity. 726-78 . . the need for a broader perspective on penalchange should be apparent" (Pillsbury, 1989, p. 28-29). 29). 28). Similarly, efforts to create new punishments and treatments asalternatives to confinement have not done much to alter criminal activity.One method employed in the 198 s designed to correct juvenile offenders wasthe establishment of so-called "boot camps" in which paramilitaryhumiliation was employed. Probation andparole officials find themselves inundated with individual case loads inthe hundreds. Society's desire to control criminal behavior has always been thebasis for the establishment and perpetuation of carceral systems the worldover. "The modern enthusiasm forretribution . And still, crime goes on. 729). In America, the establishment of the current penitentiaryform of incarceration can be traced to the late eighteenth and earlynineteenth centuries as the fledgling country sought to separate itselffrom its historical and political ties to England and the Europeancontinent. J. It is a teleological, not instrumental, philosophy." (Pillsbury, 1989, pp.756-757). With the annual cost of housing and guarding asingle inmate now in excess of $5 , , a bed at Motel 6 and breakfast,lunch, and dinner at Denny's seems like a cost-effective alternative toFolsom. Certainly, there areviolent offenders for whom confinement represents the only plausible"treatment." But there are countless thousands of others who are primecandidates for the "cognitive and social learning behavioral/psychologicaltheories" which have proven themselves effective for higher risk offendersthat Gendreau and Paparozzi identify (p. The effectof incarceration as a deterrent to crime is demonstrated by recidivismrates which have not fallen (Gendreau and Paparozzi, 1995, p. As evaluated by the Correctional ProgramAssessment Inventory (CPAI) devised by Gendreau and Andrews, only about tenpercent of such locally-operated programs achieve a passing score (Gendreauand Paparozzi, 1995, p. Over the course of the past two centuries, penal reform hasvacillated between perpetuation of a system based on vengeance andretribution as a deterrent to criminal behavior, to that of the last twodecades which seeks to impose determinate sentencing mandates on judges whoare regarded as being "soft" on criminals. Vander Zanden, J. The problem of punishment and treatment as correctives for criminalacts spans the gulf between moral idealism which argues for treatmentagainst excessive punishment and the conservatism which demands longer,harsher periods of confinement behind prison walls. The purpose of the CPAI, however, is toidentify weak areas and suggest corrective measures. Gendreau and Paparozzi (1995) assert that a data base of some 5 studies on offender treatment programs shows that those programs which havebeen successful at reducing recidivism by between 25 and 6 percent haveseveral common characteristics. 28-3 . The "nothing works"attitude of the late 197 s, which was so readily adopted by criminologistsand sociologists at the time, and legislators of late, is finally givingway to the recognition that "certain types of treatment programs can beeffective in reducing recidivism" (pp. . 29). Corrections Today, 57:1 (February), pp. (1992). . Reform efforts in the 196 s and 197 s which attempted to turn prisonsinto places of vocational and educational rehabilitation, as well aspsychological treatment, have not proved their validity either. Kane, J. Gendreau, P., and Paparozzi, M. Examining what works incommunity corrections. In the wake of the "reforms" of the 196 s and 197 s, the pendulum hasswung back in the direction of lengthy prison terms. Perhaps only when the prison system begins to disintegrate under itsown weight will there be an opportunity for idealism to reassert itself andlead to a consensus. The cost of housing aburgeoning inmate population will be borne by astronomical prison budgetsand massive spending on prison construction to alleviate overcrowding. Nordoes retribution make any claims about making tangible social improvements. P. International Journal of Offender Therapy and ComparativeCriminology, 36:4 (Winter), pp. Pillsbury, S. 727). While this is certainly cost effective, it results inoffender supervision which is, at best, minimal. W. According to Gendreau and Paparozzi (1995), "a quiet revolution isslowly gathering strength at the grassroots level in corrections" (p. The question, however, is, can we afford to wait thatlong? (1995). and the citizenry found the traditional penalmethods ineffective at maintaining a virtuous society. 73 ). in per capitaincarceration (Vander Zanden, 1993, p. In contrast, the programs whichhave been unsuccessful have tended to target low-risk offenders, focused onnon-criminological needs such as self-esteem, anxiety, and depression, andrelied on "Freudian psychodynamic and Rogerian non-directive therapies,"and punishing smarter schemes such as boot camps (p. (1993). Humanitarian proponents of reform envisionedprisons as "monasteries for wayward souls" . . crime control has emphasized the need to increase the severity of punishment as a response to rising crime (pp. 29). The Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 8 :5 (Fall), pp. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.