Public Opinion of Community Corrections

Historical Context

Correctional practices in communities date back to some of the earliest civilizations. Crucifixion and throwing criminals into the Coliseum in Rome were early forms of community punishment. In medieval and early modern Europe, a host of corporal-style punishments could be inflicted on criminals. Whippings, hangings, mutilation, the pillory and stocks, and the ducking stool were common and were brought to America with the colonists. While public opinion studies did not develop on corrections until recently, historians report strong favorable reactions to the use of public punishments. Coliseum audiences cheered as they watched “justice” being administered, and crowds would flock to public executions in the Middle Ages to watch their favorite executioners.

As Western societies progressed and the Enlightenment dawned in Europe and America, the allure of public punishment began to fade. Greater sympathy was directed at those receiving punishment and subjected to public humiliation, and suspicions heightened as to whether government authority was being misdirected and abused. In America, Pennsylvania Quakers were instrumental in limiting the use of public punishment as they pushed for the increased use of humane forms of incarceration coupled with hard labor. By the late 1800s, imprisonment, not the various types of public punishment, would become the prominent sanction for serious criminal offenders.

The prison today is viewed as almost inextricably linked to punishment for the worst criminals in society. Since the penitentiary model took root in the 1800s, the American public seemingly has been highly receptive to its use. The United States was in fact the country where the first prison boom occurred. However, while the prison holds an immutable place in the collective American psyche, dissatisfaction with its impact on recidivism and realizations of its limitations as a humane alternative to corporal punishment have surfaced with varying intensity over time. The imperfections of the prison spurred a new age of community corrections, which bears little resemblance to its corporal predecessors. In the mid-1800s, probation and parole appeared and were slowly integrated into American justice. Since the 1990s, community corrections has become multidimensional. No longer is community corrections simply probation and parole. It now covers boot camps, halfway houses, intensive supervised probation (ISP), and house arrest with electronic monitoring, along with a wide variety of community treatment programs.

...