DUN BLANE L.

TABARES

MSC 109

FINAL ASSIGNMENT 2

Community Corrections is really important in the society that we live in

today. It has helped a lot of people not just the victims but also the offenders

to be able to regain their lives and be reintegrated to the society. It is a way

for offenders to contemplate on the things they have done and be treated in

a way that they will be accepted again in the society as a new individual.

Community corrections programs attempt to accomplish many goals.

These goals include easing institutional crowding and cost; preventing

future criminal behaviour through surveillance, rehabilitation, and

community reintegration; and addressing victims’ needs through restorative

justice.

Community Correction is the management of offenders in the

community who have already been convicted. Community corrections are an

alternative to imprisonment. Offenders report regularly to their community

officers and may be forced to participate in unpaid community work and

rehabilitation programs. The community corrections include probation, parole

and pre-trial supervision. Probation entails the release of an offender to the

community under supervision, parole is the conditional supervised release

from jail and pre-trial supervision is the close monitoring of an individual

before trial.

Community corrections is more accurately called community- based

correctional services .These community based programs are intended to

continue an offender’s punishment, but in the contest of the community

rather than in a correctional centre. Another term that is often used

synonymously with community corrections is intermediate punishments.

Community corrections sentences and models are designed to consider

both the safety of the local residents as well as the treatment needs of

offenders. Community corrections sentences recognize that some crimes

do not require intervention which calls for imprisonment. Sanctions

developed within the community are alternatives to sentences that remove

the offender from his or her family job and neighbourhood. The underlying

theme of community corrections is that justice is an active process. The

offender must participate in this process. Supporters of community

corrections recognize that many offenders can still be valuable and

contributing members of society despite having a criminal record

(conviction). The way corrections programmes are developed and operated

cannot be understood outside the contest of a variety of socio-political in

influences. Trends, in governments, economics, history and social

movements all affect the policies that are formulated and implemented.

Legislatures, various structures of leadership, civilians, politicians,

researchers and criminal justice practitioners may all have different views

on what is necessary to make community corrections affective. Yet for any

programme to be successful they all must work together. To assess the

quality efficiency and effectiveness of present community corrections

systems, we must first decide what it is we believe such a system should

accomplish. Our ideas and expectations about the goals of punishment are

the cornerstone of our investigation into the value of our current system by

critically analysing the operation and results of contemporary community

corrections; we can visualize ways to improve the system.

Restorative justice assumes that a crime harms the community and

that sometimes there are individual victims involved. Often, victims of

property crimes just want to be paid back or have things restored to their

former condition— something that may not be possible if the offender goes

to jail or prison. Restorative justice emphasizes offender responsibility to

repair the injustice that offenders have caused their victims. Through victim

and community involvement, such as face-to-face mediation sessions,

victim impact panels, and volunteer mentoring, the offender remains in the

community, completes community service, and pays victim restitution.

Restorative justice is most effective for property crimes, particularly those

committed by juveniles or first-time adult felony offenders.

Re-integration: The term refers to the process of re-inclusion of the

discharged released offenders into the community and the change in his or

her inclinations and behaviour. The community and how effectively

rehabilitation is supported by the community in the re-integration process.

Any form of correctional treatment must be linked to the offender’s

integration. Offenders must be prepared for new roles and accepted

participation in community life is central to reintegration. The following are

important characteristics of reintegration:  Close liaison between the

correctional centre or community corrections office and the community is

encouraged. Social reform in correctional centres through bridging the gap

between in institutional and community life is emphasized. The offender is

involved in the decision – making process. Behavioural changes of the

offender are noted, Correctional officials are involved in the rehabilitation

process. The community should be involved and should participate in

offender’s re-integration.

Community corrections also breaks the cycle of reoffending by

developing the offenders capabilities and treating those with problems

such as personality disorders. The community corrections are an

effective way to reduce crime. This is majorly through learning a close

supervision of the offender. The close supervision ensures that the

offender abides to the rules and regulations stipulated. The offender

tries as much as possible to follow the set conditions in order to avoid

jail.