Running head: SENTENCING AND CORRECTIONS

SENTENCING AND CORRECTIONS

Name
Institution

SENTENCING AND CORRECTIONS

Table of Contents

Introduction:

Alternative methods to incarcerating prison inmates:

Elucidate solutions for handling this problem without incarceration:

Give reasons to support the solution:

Conclusion:

Reference List:

SENTENCING AND CORRECTIONS

Introduction:
Incarceration of offenders has become a growing concern among nations. Apart from
hampering personal development and affecting the society on a whole, incarceration also
calls for spending too much money behind each and every inmate. The assignment attempt to
take a look at various alternative methods to incarceration, provides solution, and provides
supportive reasons in favour of choosing alternative methods to incarceration. (Famm.org,
2016)

Alternative methods to incarcerating prison inmates:

An alternative method to incarcerate prison inmates would be residential drug
treatment programs (Forman Jr, 2012). The objective of the program will be to reduce nonviolent drug offenders from relapsing into drug-abuse. This will be done by diverting such
offenders to community dependent residential drug treatment. Henrichson & Delaney (2012)
says that the program will be put to effect by incorporating three fundamental components;
high level of organization, lengthy periods of involvement, and flexibility. However, Phelps
(2013) points out that offenders have to be 18 years or older and must be in need for
substance abuse treatment. The individual alleged of drug abuse will be recognised to
receive such treatments only after the individual pleads guilty for his or her felony (James,
2013). Special drug courts can be established within already existing ones, where offenders
having drug abuse problems will be provided court-administered community supervision and
drug treatment. The abuser will be provided intensive, long-term, residential drug treatment
care for a period of 15-24 months. The program will include providing counseling sessions
both at group and individual level, emphasizing on self-help recovery, and using active
communal living methods to teach offenders about personal, positive, and social values to
bring a change in their attitudes and behaviour (Subramanian & Shames, 2013). Additionally,

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Stein, Deberard & Homan (2013) states that the program will offer in-house assignments to
prepare individuals for employment post treatment. Individuals on successful completion of
the treatment will be released and their case dismissed.

Elucidate solutions for handling this problem without incarceration:

Treatment or substance abuse programs can help people having mental health
disorders to recover and lead a normal life. Considering almost 15-20% of prison inmates
suffer from mental ailments and over 40% have drug abuse histories, mass incarcerations will
not be a pragmatic solution to reduce such felony (Sevigny, Fuleihan & Ferdik, 2013).
Instead, Hiday, Wales & Ray, (2013) argues that prison inmates can be subjected to effective
treatment programs where their addiction will be treated instead of being rebuked. Several
constructive programs can be conducted within these residential programs like family and
individual counseling programs to emphasize on relationship development, group counseling
to encourage interaction between more such drug offenders to enable them to help each other
out. Low-level and non-violent use of drug cases demand maximum police time, waste
courts time and fill prisons thereby incurring lot of expenses. Laws must be designed to
focus more on serious felonies first and low level non-violent substance abusers can be given
the option to opt for treatment programs. Community correction programs can be
administered on offenders to restrict them within the community and limit their freedom,
conduct random drug checks on the alleged and arrange meetings with the probation officer
to keep a check on the persons drug abuse (Rossman et al. 2011). Furthermore, government
can conduct various after school programs and community service activities to keep teenagers
and youths busy thereby preventing them from drug abuse and nipping the problem in the
bud.

SENTENCING AND CORRECTIONS

Give reasons to support the solution:

An article estimated that about one-half of the 2.3 million inmates present in US
justice system have a record of drug or substance use. All the nations are fighting to keep
prison inmates in check as budgets have increased drastically past two decades resulting in
drug related incarcerations reach new heights. It costs more than $28,000 to keep an
individual in federal jail for one year. This makes alternatives to incarcerations cheaper, cut
down on prison overcrowding, and save money. The year after Rockfeller drug laws was
introduced, courts in New York directed more than 77% people to drug treatment which
saved taxpayers a whopping $5,144 per offender. Treatment programs declare an offender
guilt-free provided he or she has successfully completed residential-drug treatment program
enabling the individual to spend a respectable life henceforth. This kind of alternative
protects community by reducing crime rate. Over 40% of people leaving prison commit
crimes and are back in prison in less than 3 years from the time of their release (Mitchell et
al. 2012). Alternatives to incarceration address the underlying causes to felony thereby
preventing offenders from committing any more crimes in future. Hiday, Wales & Ray,
(2013) says these alternative methods to incarcerate offenders can test new ideas,
comprehend which method works best in improving the lives of drug offenders and are
certainly more cost-effective.

Conclusion:
The assignment points out how drug treatment and community supervision methods
are more effective than incarcerating the alleged in helping drug abusers end their felony. The
constructive activities taught under these treatment methods address the underlying causes of
such abuses helping the individual reflect upon their problem. Alternative methods help the

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nation to save millions of money on a whole that would have otherwise been depleted in
taking care of excessive number of prison inmates.

SENTENCING AND CORRECTIONS

Reference List:
Books:
Rossman, S. B., Roman, J. K., Zweig, .J. M, Rempel, M., & Lindquist, C. H., 2011. The
Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation. 2 ed., Washington D.C.: The Urban Institute.
nd

Subramanian, R., & Shames, A. 2013. Sentencing and prison practices in Germany and the
Netherlands: Implications for the United States. New York, NY: Vera Institute of Justice.
Journals:
Forman Jr, J. 2012. Racial critiques of mass incarceration: Beyond the new Jim Crow. NYUL
Rev., 87, 21.
Henrichson, C., & Delaney, R. 2012. The price of prisons: What incarceration costs
taxpayers. Federal Sentencing Reporter, 25(1), 68-80.
Hiday, V. A., Wales, H. W., & Ray, B. 2013. Effectiveness of a short-term mental health
court: Criminal recidivism one year post exit. Law and Human Behavior, 37(6), 401.
James, N. 2013. The federal prison population buildup: Overview, policy changes, issues,
and options (Vol. 42937). Congressional Research Service.
Mitchell, O., Wilson, D. B., Eggers, E., & MacKenzie, D. L. 2012. Assessing the
Effectiveness of Drug Courts on Recidivism: A Meta-Analytic Review of Traditional and
Non-Traditional Drug Courts. Journal of Criminal Justice 40: 60-71

Phelps, M. S. 2013. The paradox of probation: Community supervision in the age of mass
incarceration. Law & policy, 35(1-2), 51-80.
Sevigny, E. L., Fuleihan, B. K., & Ferdik, F. V. 2013. Do drug courts reduce the use of
incarceration?: A meta-analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice, 41(6), 416-425.

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Stein, D. M., Deberard, S., & Homan, K. 2013. Predicting success and failure in juvenile
drug treatment court: A meta-analytic review. Journal of substance abuse treatment, 44(2),
159-168.
Website:
Famm.org, 2016. Alternatives in a Nutshell. Accessed on: 30 April, 2016. Available at:
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