Attitudes of Offenders toward Community Corrections

In the United States, criminal offenders can face a host of potential penalties. Many scholars refer to these varying sanctions as the punishment continuum. Occupying space on this punishment continuum are incarceration and various alternatives to incarceration. Many alternatives to incarceration are programs that exist in a community setting. For this reason, alternative sanctions are often collectively termed community corrections. Under the rubric of community corrections are such programs as parole, probation, intensive (or intense) supervision probation, boot camp, electronic monitoring, house arrest, drug treatment, and community service.

For those who espouse the use of community corrections and alternative sanctions, such penalties offer a number of advantages to imprisonment. First, community corrections can alleviate correctional costs, because typically community corrections programs are less expensive than incarceration. Second, sanctions that are alternative to incarceration can curb prison overcrowding. Keeping offenders in the community does not stress penal systems, many of which are currently at or above capacity. Finally, proponents of community corrections and alternative sanctions argue that these options better serve rehabilitative goals. Specifically, advocates contend that by individualizing programs that do not include a term of confinement, authorities address the specific needs of offenders while avoiding the criminogenic effects of prison. Drug treatment programs are an often cited example of an alternative sanction that targets offenders' risks while eliminating the potentially negative impacts of incarceration.

Although community corrections and alternative sanctions seem to offer jurisdictions viable punishment options, many oppose their implementation. Specifically, opponents of community corrections argue that such programs do not deter criminal conduct, fail to provide an adequate measure of retribution, and overlook the need to incapacitate those who have violated the law. In sum, those who contest the use of alternative sanctions often dispute the efficacy of penalties they view as lenient.

Perhaps understandably, research on criminal justice policy and corrections traditionally portrayed the continuum of criminal penalties as moving from less severe (community corrections) to most severe (incarceration). However, recent research on offenders' perceptions of punishment has revealed that many do not categorize criminal penalties accordingly. Instead, research shows that many criminal offenders, under certain circumstances, would prefer to serve a term of imprisonment rather than participate in an alternative form of punishment. Studies also have shown that offenders routinely devalue the rehabilitative aspects of community corrections programs. These revelations have led some to question the advantages of community corrections and to rethink their position with regard to such programs.