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Effectiveness of Community Corrections

At first glance, many people would agree that America's criminal justice system is faced with numerous challenges, especially in terms of tackling overcrowding in correctional facilities and reducing recidivism. The United States experienced the highest incarceration rates in the world in the mid-1970s, as criminal justice policy shifted from a rehabilitative to a punitive model. The United States currently detains five to eight times more offenders than any western European country, and three quarters of offenders committed to state prisons are nonviolent offenders, whereas two thirds of these incarcerated individuals are racial and ethnic minorities. Thus, alternatives to incarceration appear to be in a state of flux, as professionals work toward developing programs and policies that attenuate the significant burdens that currently plague the criminal justice system.

Overview of Community Corrections

Prior to beginning a discussion on the effectiveness of community corrections, an operational definition of the term is needed. The term community corrections can be loosely defined as legal sanctions applied to either adult or juvenile offenders on their release from detention. These community corrections programs are typically operated under the supervision of probation or parole agencies and can include multiple components. In addition to providing supervision and monitoring functions within the community, these programs might include additional goals that are designed to facilitate increased accountability of one's actions while also providing offenders with rehabilitation services. There are various types of community corrections, such as diversion, restitution, probation, parole, and halfway houses.

Unfortunately, it appears as though research examining the effectiveness of community corrections programs is scarce. The majority of existing community corrections programs have not been scientifically evaluated, and consequently their effectiveness remains unclear. Promoting quality scientific research efforts that are geared toward assessing the effectiveness of community corrections could perhaps increase the public's overall level of confidence in the court system. Furthermore, these programs are at times delivered in a uniform fashion in which individual characteristics of the offender (such as his or her culture) might not be taken into account when determining the most appropriate community correctional placement. This is problematic, because such individualized care is critical to maximizing treatment efficacy. Decisions to place an offender in a community-based program should be based on careful analysis that is conducted scientifically on a case-by-case basis.

Balancing Community Engagement with Public Safety Concerns

The idea that communities can be more proactive in terms of engaging with the judicial system is growing in popularity. Specifically, the community can help the judicial system by working collaboratively to address increases in less serious, nonviolent offenders, repeat offenders, and overcrowding in correctional institutions. A review of the research reveals that, in the United States, the concept of community justice grew out of the public's awareness that society can do a better job of policing itself. The U.S. government worked to create community courts and various community-based correctional initiatives that are geared toward engaging communities in the battle against crime reduction. Sentencing reform efforts can focus on promoting the development of community-based alternatives to incarceration while reducing recidivism through increased application of evidence-based rehabilitative efforts. Such alternatives, however, have received a good deal of public criticism and raise the issue of the importance of considering the general public's view of maintaining offenders within society as opposed to the confines of a correctional setting. The public's reservations about community corrections are highlighted and exacerbated when news stories circulate about a repeat offender living in the community who has committed a heinous crime. Thus, although the idea of providing monitoring, supervision, and needed services to offenders within the community, as opposed to within correctional institutions, can address issues such as prison overcrowding, some people remain skeptical of whether community-based corrections can be effective in preventing recidivism.

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