Exam 9: Crime, Juvenile Delinquency, and Correctional Services

Correct Answer:

Verified

Students' answers will vary.
Counseling: Both one-to-one counseling and group counseling are used in prisons and by probation and parole officers. The aim is to identify the specific problems of each offender (including the reasons that motivated him or her to become involved in criminal activity) and then to develop programs for solving these problems. The inmate's needs may be extensive and numerous, including medical, psychological, and financial issues;  drug use and abuse patterns; family and peer relationships; housing; education; vocational training; and employment. Attention is also given to the criminal's attitudes, motives, group and peer relationships, and rationalizations regarding criminality. The effectiveness of counselors (social workers, probation and parole officers, psychologists, vocational rehabilitation counselors) is somewhat mitigated by their "dual" role perception by offenders. Some inmates view them as true helpers, whereas others view them as authority figures in control of rewards and punishments. Offenders with the second perception are reluctant to discuss socially unacceptable needs and motives or to establish a close relationship for fear that information divulged will be used against them.
Prison Education: Education in prison has two objectives: (a) to give inmates formal academic training comparable to schools and (b) to resocialize inmates' attitudes and behaviors. To accomplish these objectives, prisons use TV programs, movies, libraries, lectures, classroom instruction in academic subjects (covering elementary, secondary, and sometimes even college material), religious programs, group discussions, and recreational programs. However, the bitter attitude that most inmates have toward prison and the prison administration often interferes with their accomplishing educational objectives.
Vocational Training: The objective of these programs is to give inmates a job skill suitable to their capacities that will prepare them for employment on release. The quality of such programs in institutions throughout the country varies greatly. In many prisons, vocational training is defined as the maintenance work of the institution: laundry, cooking, custodial work, minor repairs, dishwashing. For a period of time, vocational training was considered the main component of rehabilitation, but now rehabilitation is seen as covering many other areas.
Prison Labor: The idea that prisoners should perform work has always existed. Originally, labor in prisons was seen as a method of punishment. England, for example, for a long time had inmates carry a cannonball on treadmills that had a meter measuring the number of units of work produced. For each meal, inmates had to produce a certain number of units. Additional units were assigned for misconduct. Currently there are two conflicting conceptions of work: (a) it should be productive and train inmates for employment upon their release and (b) it should be hard, unpleasant, or monotonous for retributive purposes. The second view is still rationalized by some authorities as also having a reformative function; it is thought to teach discipline, obedience, and conformity and to develop an appreciation for avoiding criminal activity. Convict labor has been used for building roads, running agricultural farms, fighting fires, conducting insect control programs, doing lumber-camp work, doing laundry, making state license plates, and performing a wide variety of other tasks. Work and educational release programs in jails and in some prisons allow release of inmates during the day so they may work or attend school but be locked up in the evening.
Good Time: Good-time legislation permits a prison review board to release a prisoner early if she or he has maintained good conduct. Most good-time laws specify that, for every month of acceptable behavior, a certain number of days will be deducted from the sentence. Good-time laws are designed to make inmates responsible for their conduct, to provide an incentive for good conduct and rehabilitation efforts, and to reduce discipline problems within prisons. Indeterminate sentences, which were first established in the 1800s, have similar objectives. Many sentences are indeterminate, with a minimum and a maximum limit on the amount of time an inmate can be incarcerated. In recent years, however, a movement to return to determinate sentencing has gained considerable support.
Parole and Probation: Parole is the conditional release of a prisoner serving an indeterminate or unexpired sentence. It is granted by an administrative board (parole board) or by an executive. Parolees are considered "in custody" and are required to maintain acceptable conduct and avoid criminal activity. Parole is designed both to punish (certain behavior is restricted, and there is a threat of return to prison) and to treat the offender (a parole officer generally counsels and helps the parolee meet his or her needs). Probation is granted by the courts. It involves suspending the sentence of a convicted offender and giving him or her freedom during good behavior under the supervision of a probation officer. Probationers are viewed as undergoing treatment. There is, however, the threat of punishment; if the conditions of probation are violated, the offender will be sent to prison. Similar to parole, probation contains reformation and retribution components. Probation and parole officers have a dual role responsibility: a police role and a rehabilitative role. The probation and parole officer functions in the "police" or authority role by closely monitoring the activities of probationers and parolees to observe whether they are violating laws or violating the conditions of their parole/probation. Those being supervised are continually aware that the probation/parole officer has the authority to initiate procedures to revoke the probation/parole, which will send them to prison. Many probationers and parolees are distrustful of the criminal justice system and are therefore wary of anyone (including probation and parole officers) associated with this system. This police role conflicts at times with the second primary function of probation and parole officers: the rehabilitative role. For rehabilitation to be most effective, the counselee must trust the counselor, must feel free to reveal socially unacceptable attitudes and activities to the counselor, and must form a close working relationship with the counselor. Obviously, those probationers and parolees who view their supervising officer primarily in the police role are likely to avoid forming a counseling relationship with that person.
​

Correct Answer:

Verified

​
Criminal justice in the United States is an adversary system. That is, a prosecuting attorney first presents the state's evidence against a defendant, and that defendant, presumed innocent until proved guilty, then has an opportunity to refute the charges with the assistance of a defense attorney. Contrary to public opinion, more than 90% of convictions in the United States are obtained not in court but through plea bargaining between the prosecuting attorney and the defendant, who is often represented by a defense attorney in the plea-bargaining process. For a plea of guilty, a suspect may receive a more lenient sentence, have certain charges dropped, or have the charge reduced to a less serious offense. Plea bargaining is not legally binding in court, but the judge usually goes along with the arrangement. Plea bargaining is highly controversial. It does save taxpayers considerable expense because court trials are costly. But it may in some cases circumvent due-process protections if an innocent person charged with some serious offense is pressured into pleading guilty to a reduced charge. There are four key positions in a court: the prosecuting attorney, the defense attorney, the judge, and the jury. Prosecuting attorneys have considerable discretionary authority in choosing whether to seek a conviction for those arrested and how vigorously to prosecute a defendant. Prosecuting attorneys are either elected or appointed to office and are therefore political figures who must periodically seek reelection or reappointment. Therefore, they seek to prosecute most vigorously the cases they perceive the community is most concerned about. Prosecuting attorneys usually focus police departments' attention on which violations will be further processed by the criminal justice system. Defense attorneys are supposed to represent their clients' interest before the criminal justice system. Impoverished individuals are provided, at the state's expense, a court-appointed attorney. The skills and competency of the defense attorney are major factors in determining whether a defendant will be found innocent or guilty if there is a trial. The wealthy not only can retain the best attorneys but also can afford additional resources (such as private investigators) to help prepare a better defense. Sometimes the poor are shortchanged by court-appointed defense attorneys, who tend to be young, inexperienced practitioners, or less competent older lawyers, who resort to this type of practice in order to survive professionally. Because these defense attorneys depend on the good opinion of their legal colleagues (including judges and prosecuting attorneys) to stay in practice, the client's best interest sometimes receives secondary priority. If a defendant is prosecuted for a minor offense, the case is generally presented before a lower-court judge without a jury. For a serious offense, the defendant first receives a preliminary hearing, which is solely for the benefit of the suspect. At the hearing, the prosecutor presents evidence against the suspect, and the judge decides whether that evidence is sufficient to warrant further legal proceedings. If the evidence is insufficient, the suspect is discharged. If the evidence is sufficient, the accused is held over to await a court trial. (Often the held-over cases are then decided by plea bargaining before they go to trial.) A jury is supposed to be a cross section of the community. However, there is a tendency for retired persons, housewives with grown children, and the unemployed-those who are not inconvenienced by the duty-to be overrepresented on juries. Juries use the standard of reasonable doubt to decide if the prosecution has provided enough evidence for conviction. To obtain the conviction of a defendant charged with a crime, all 12 members of the jury must vote "guilty." A hung jury occurs when a jury is unable to reach a decision. Because of group pressure, only rarely does a lone juror produce a hung jury. Under the bail system, accused people are allowed to deposit money or credit with the court to obtain a release from jail while awaiting trial. Bail is designed to ensure that the suspect will appear for trial. The amount of bail is set by the court and varies according to the offense and the judge's attitudes toward the suspect. The bail system severely discriminates against the poor. Anyone unable to raise enough money must stay in jail while awaiting trial, which may take several months. Those who cannot post bail have less opportunity to prepare a good defense because they are locked up. Also, their cases are further prejudiced when they do appear in court because they are brought into the courtroom in handcuffs and often without proper grooming. Being locked up before trial is a form of punishment that runs counter to the notion that the suspect is innocent (and should be treated as such) until proved guilty. In some cases, a suspect spends more time in jail awaiting trial than she or he spends in jail if found guilty. After defendants have been found guilty or have pleaded guilty, they return to the courtroom for sentencing. Judges usually have fairly wide discretion in assigning sentences; for example, they can place one murderer on probation, commit another to prison, and in those states where capital punishment is legal, order the execution of a third. Judges base their sentences on such factors as the seriousness of the crime, the motives for the crime, the background of the offender, and their attitudes toward the offender. Judges vary greatly in the extent to which they send convicted offenders to prison, use probation, or assign fines. Concern about disparities in sentences has grown in recent years.