Welcome to Corrections 101- Introduction to Corrections

Please print this page and complete the required sections. The recommend text is American Corrections Todd R. Clear and George F. Cole, Wadsworth Pub Co. The text may be obtained from the publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Web Site or at 1-800-354-9706.  Course Textbooks (and used books) can be obtained from the Rio Hondo Bookstore by calling 562.6998676 or via the web page at http://www.rhc.bkstr.com.  There are no CD's/Audios Required! Please complete the discussion question for each unit. When you have completed your assignments, please submit your work to your instructor. The preferred method of submission is email.

Course Description:  This course is designed to provide the student with an overview of the history and trends of adult and juvenile corrections including probation and parole. It will focus on the legal issues, specific laws and general operation of correctional institutions. The relationship between corrections and other components of the justice system will also be examined.

Course Assignments

Unit 1- email your instructor and acknowledge due dates for completed work and final exams.   

Unit 2 - Overview and Historical Development of Corrections.  Define or discuss the three basic ideologies pf corrections which have been developed and used in America

A.  Punishment, 

B.  Treatment, and 

C.  Prevention. 

Unit Overview:  From Vengeance to Prisons
The history and evolution of corrections in America has been as diverse and colorful as the many cultures that make up the United States. The deep-rooted need for social vengeance, part of humanities makeup from the earliest times, continued to surface in programs developed to punish or house our convicted felons. The first legal codes provided a framework for specific rules and procedures established to ensure the just administration of punishment. Over the years, punishment for wrongdoers had developed from simple personal retaliation into a complex ritual of imprisonment aimed at the eventual rehabilitation of the offender.

Unit 3 - The Legal Process.  Define and discuss the primary differences and the rationale behind these categories. 

    A.  Felonies and 

    B.  Misdemeanors.

Unit Overview:  Fine or confine?
The millions of misdemeanant arrests each year have a tremendous effect on the entire criminal justice system. Dealing with common drunks, alone two million annually, wastes valuable personnel and resources at all points in the criminal-justice process. Despite the increasing recognition that offenders in these categories will only revert to crime if they are imprisoned, the revolving door of the misdemeanor courts continues to spin. Clearly, the first line of defense against increasing chaos in the rest of the system should be established at the misdemeanant level. A community-wide system is one such approach. As a start, it is essential to clarify the difference between misdemeanor offenses that require some kind of confinement and those that can be disposed of by a fine. The old 30 days or $300 philosophy should be abandoned--a sentence of imprisonment must not be linked to an offender's inability to pay a fine. If the offender does not have the cash available, he or she can work out a method of paying the fine with the court. Time payments, weekend work for the city, weekend confinement, or any combination of these alternatives are but a few of the ways a fine might be exacted from a misdemeanant offender. Unless the case requires a sentence long enough for the offender to benefit from some kind of treatment program, there should be no confinement. A second crucial need in misdemeanant corrections is a system of diversionary alternatives to reduce the negative impacts of criminal-justice processing and to provide treatments that will reduce recidivism. Other alternatives for the chronic misdemeanant involve effective coordination with mental health treatment delivery systems. Programs designed for a number of special category offenders can also offer assistance for the drug user, the chronic alcoholic, and those with milder psychiatric and psychological problems. The model programs at Des Moines have shown how some of these goals might be accomplished, but a unified correctional system must include dispositional avenues for treatment of every client's problem. It would seem that a system including maximum treatment and diversion alternatives would sharply reduce the number of misdemeanants who become felons or special treatment problems.

Unit 4 - Incarceration and Alternatives.  Define and discuss the difference between:

A.  Probation and 

B.  Parole.

Unit Overview: Probation
The advent of probation as the most popular alternative to incarceration has been a great step forward for correction,. As one method of keeping the offender away from the deleterious effects of incarceration, probation has shown great promise. But its effectiveness has been hampered by fragmentation of resources and resistance from other correctional agencies. Resistance from the uninformed public, on the grounds that probation does not punish offenders enough, is also a problem. The ideals of John Augustus still stand as a working framework for probation service, but his highly personalized and helpful approach is seldom found today. In place of a style that gives--great latitude and responsibility to the probationer, with a minimal amount of supervision, there are either over supervision and rules to cover almost every possible behavior, or caseloads so high that supervision is nonexistent. One hope for the future of corrections lies in developing a probationary system that will provide the needs of intensive treatment planning, programs, and supervision that are needed to help probationers adjust in the community. Today probation is moving toward a statewide system of service, either through a consolidated state agency or through extensive supervision and funding by state planners.

Unit 5 - Institutionalization/Incarceration and the Inmate.  Define and discuss:

    A.  The various rights available inside the prison and 

    B.  How they came about.

Unit Overview: A Recent Concept
The U.S. Constitution is a remarkable document because it is so dynamic in its application and interpretation. It is continuously being reexamined to determine how well it is keeping pace with the changing standards of American society. For example, the U.S Supreme Court recently extended the rights that belong to offenders in federal cases to offenders being tried by a state. The right to due process in criminal proceedings was confirmed at a time when many civil rights were being provided to the nation's minorities including convicted criminals . The idea that convicted prisoners have some rights under the Constitution is relatively recent. The protection of the confirmed offender from cruel and unusual punishment and a host of other protections were guaranteed through the appellate process, usually under the due-process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Essentially, the most significant protection for both the accused offender and the imprisoned one is the right to due process, the right that opened the door to new appeals.

Unit 6 - The Correctional Client.  Define and discuss the overall role in the corrections system of the:

    A.  Jail and 

    B.  Jail populations 

Unit Overview: The fragmentation of corrections
The preceding chapters have demonstrated that the correctional subsystem is actually composed of a number of other subsystems, each designed to serve a particular clientele and all trying to reach different objectives via different routes. This fragmentation is at the root of many of the problems that exist in corrections today, and eliminating it will be a difficult but crucial task. Though the idea may lie outside the realm of immediate achievement in many jurisdictions, it is a worthwhile goal for which to aim. only when corrections has achieved at least a semblance of unity will equivalent services be available to all its clients, now processed in separate institutions depending on their category. Each category of clientele has its own special problems, but each should have access to corrections' full range of dispositional and treatment alternatives. When students have been introduced to these categories, it is appropriate for them to consider how each might fit into an integrated and unified system.

Unit 7 - Management of the System.  Define and discuss the various components of the correctional system.

    A.  Administrative and 

    B.  Organizational structures.

Unit Overview:  Treatment versus custody
Fragmentation of correctional facilities, resources, and personnel is a major problem in developing a unified and cohesive correctional system. At the core of the problem is the struggle between custody and treatment groups to win sufficient resources for their own particular ends. The internecine battle causes considerable grief and problems for the concerned correctional administrator. if administrators concede to the wishes of the custody staffs they are often considered "piqs" by the inmates, who may respond to the heavy custody emphasis with riots and other disorders. on the other hand, if they give in to the forces of treatment, they are considered soft by the custody staff. Apprehensive about working with the inmates, they sometimes respond to such change by conducting a sick-out or a strike, or triggering inmate disturbances. The administrator, placed on the horns of a dilemma, is forced to walk a very narrow course between the two extremes. Who are the beneficiaries of the problems that are generated by this conflict? The first and most obvious victim in this struggle is the inmate. When the institutional staff does not present a solid front in support of ongoing programs, it is not clear to inmates what they must do to favorably impress the parole board. Therapy programs aimed at restoring the inmate to society are too easily undermined by a custody staff scoffing at the efforts of shrinks and their treatment partners. Since the correctional officer has so much influence over the inmates' conduct inside the walls, it is not surprising that many inmates will side with the custody staff and reject treatment programs. This rejection leaves the inmate at the mercy of the prison subcultures, which demand behavior that conforms to the status quo rather than the goals of treatment. When some inmates are dominated by the goals of other inmates, however, the correctional staff can be faced with severe disciplinary problems. Efforts by the treatment staff are often aimed at the reduction of aggressiveness and hostility in the inmate. Thus while the first group to lose out in the battle between the custody and treatment forces is the inmate, the custody staff also loses. Clearly, in this situation the treatment programs and their administrators will be losers as well. After the correctional administrator has decided to use a particular treatment program, it is necessary for him to allocate resources for this purpose. If a treatment program is properly administered and supported, it is assumed that it will have a positive effect on the inmates. If the programs are derided and subverted by custody personnel who are in disagreement with them, however, they have little chance for success. The effort and money expended for such programs, therefore, is wasted due to the lack of support or understanding from the custody staff. Another loser in this case is the taxpayer, who expects the staff at these institutions to be working together to correct these sentenced criminals.

Unit 8 - Corrections Systems; Local, State, and Federal.  Define and discuss the role of the jail as an:

    A.  Element of the criminal justice system and 

    B.  The relationship (s)

Unit Overview:  Jails and their problems
While practices and activities in many local confinement and correctional facilities remain rooted in the eighteenth century, there have been many promising changes in some areas. The use of alternatives to the general practice of fining or confining misdemeanants has reduced the number of offenders who must be handled in local adult correctional institutions, workhouses, farms, and jails. In order to understand the importance of avoiding confinement, we must reexamine the nature of the places where prisoners are kept. The dismal portrait of the status of jails and local correctional facilities is somewhat brightened by many innovative efforts around the country to clean them up. The local jail must be made a viable component of the correctional system. While the jail has been maligned and cursed as the cesspool of corrections, it remains a potentially effective institution in the criminal-justice system. The jail as a place of detention has been the model of the past. Because jail clientele usually remain for short periods only, the primary emphasis has been on control and custody though, ironically, over 50 percent of those confined in jails have not been tried or convicted. Jail staffs in America lack the background and initiative to correct inmate behavior. The most heartening recent development in the jails has been some movement toward a community correctional center concept in many jurisdictions. When this approach is utilized, the jail becomes one element of an integrated, comprehensive community-based correctional system. Many innovative and hopeful approaches to the problem of ensuring the presence of the accused at the trial, without jailing him first, have been developed. The Des Moines and Vera Bail Projects have shown that a very large percentage of the accused can be released from custody on their own recognizance and still appear for trial. This procedure allows even individuals who cannot afford bail to remain free until convicted, as long as they do not pose a danger to society. Other promising procedures, such as weekend confinement, time-payment of fines, and summons instead of arrest are being increasingly used in many jurisdictions. These and other improvements are helping to bring jails and local correctional facilities out of the dark ages and preparing them for their role in a community-based correctional system.

Unit 9 - Trends and the Future in Corrections.  Define and discuss the: 

    A.  Trends in the delivery of correctional services

    B.  Impact of 

        1.  privatization, 

        2.  technology, and 

        3.  other innovations in the field.

Unit Overview:  The future of corrections
Crystal-ball gazing is not a favored practice among social scientists in particular and the public in general. It doesn't take much acumen, however, to predict what the future of corrections will be if present trends are extrapolated. Corrections for the next two decades has some fairly predictable characteristics. The turmoil in the prisons of the 1980s will continue and most likely intensify, despite positive steps corrections might take, at least for the next two decades. Prison disorders may become even more frequent than at present, as the funneling process continues and the residue problem increases. The courts will probably restrict some treatment techniques" and practices currently in fashion which will be found to violate certain personal rights. This will be especially evident in the areas of mail, visitation, parole, and administrative discretion regarding discipline, and similar matters. Blacks and whites will continue to organize into special interest and voluntary groups separately and together. Inmates and correctional officers will continue to unionize. Institutional administrators (wardens, superintendents, and deputies) will need to-- indeed will be forced to--become skilled negotiators, and will require additional support and leadership from central office staffs in each state. Few trained personnel are available who can perform these complicated and specialized tasks, but increased need will develop methods to train or educate in these skills. Alternatives to institutions will arise and increase in availability. Lumped under a common rubric, these community-based corrections will include a wide variety of pre-institutional alternatives and an even wider variety of post-institutional efforts. There will be widespread use of probation without adjudication (also known as deferred prosecution), increased use of regular probation, probation subsidies for local courts, statewide and regulated probation services for some states, halfway houses, volunteer programs, and group homes. Post-incarceration efforts will see an increased use of parole, halfway-out houses, small and specialized community treatment centers, community reintegrated centers (for parolees in need of more than supervision), sheltered homes for dependent- personality offenders (especially alcohol and drug-related offenders), and centers for those on educational and work furlough. Smaller and highly specialized institutions will be constructed or renovated from old ones. Only about 20 percent of the current prisoners will be confined, but they will be the hard-core incorrigible offenders, the group which instigates a large portion of the damage and disruption in correctional institutions. While these dangerous and aggressive offenders testify to our current inability to create effective means of rehabilitation, they are still too dangerous to be released. New correctional approaches will be attempted that focus on chemical and other therapies, and work in contractual settings. The potential for abuse is so great in these approaches, however, that the courts will be defining their limitations in case after case. corrections will need to join in many of the suits to decide on the constitutionality of innovative treatment programs. Legal remedies will have to be built into each treatment approach, especially those using drugs. State correctional units will need to help the courts determine the limits of societal protection and individual rehabilitation. A few hard-core cases may be defined as medical rather than criminal problems, and the probate courts may well be the most appropriate avenue for processing offenders. Home furloughs and private visits, using electronic surveillance techniques, will become commonplace, even from the maximum security institutions. Finally, if trends continue, professional roles in corrections and the system itself will undergo drastic change. Many of the old time personnel in corrections will be phased out. Heavy staff turnover will necessitate extensive recruiting, followed by training and education of new replacements. As a result, hopefully, corrections will acquire more status as a profession, and appeal to qualified applicants as a new frontier. When this happens the difficult process of change will be worth the price, and corrections will finally be able to fulfill its basic mission of returning the offender to the community, or treating him in the community, as a useful citizen.  

Final Examination: Your grade for the course will be weighted as follows: Written Assignments = 50%, Final Exam = 50%. In order to successfully complete the course you MUST complete the written assignments and, take the final examination. If you live within 50 miles of the campus, you MUST take the final examination on campus. You may contact the Learning Assistance Center at (562) 692-0921 x 4016 or 3169 to schedule taking the final exam. The Learning Assistance Center is located at the Police Academy which is on the main campus on Canyon Drive. If you live over 50 miles from the college the exam may be proctored at your location. Contact your instructor for details.

If you experience any difficulty or need any further clarification, contact the Online Coordinator, Carley Mitchell at mitchellcarley@hotmail.com or in an emergency call him at  (801) 953-6173.

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