CHAPTER 4
Probation and Community Corrections
Learning Objectives
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To provide you with an historical context for modern probation and community corrections
To acquaint you with the mechanisms by which probation is provided, monitored, and revoked in
contemporary US jurisdictions
To introduce you to the evolving topic of community corrections
To help you understand the issues and trends in probation and community corrections
Chapter Outline
I.
II.
The History of Probation
A. Probation – the conditional freedom granted an offender by a court
B. Forerunners of Modern Probation
1. Judicial reprieve—the suspension of a penal sanction for a fixed time
2. By the eighteenth century, English judges suspended sentences in return for a
specified period of good behavior
3. Bail—money or property pledged to, or held by, the court to ensure that an
arrested and charged individual will appear for trial
4. Release on recognizance (ROR)—the accused posted a bond or surety deposit
with the court
5. Habeas Corpus Act of 1679—an act of the English parliament allowing the
Magistrate to discharge prisoners taking their recognizance with one or more
sureties
C. John Augustus: The Father of Probation
1. A wealthy shoemaker in Boston
2. Had an 18 year association with the courts in a quasi-official capacity
supervising individuals convicted by the court but released into his care for a
period of time
3. Helped probationers secure jobs and home
4. Supervised them in the community
5. Reported to court on the probationers progress
D. The Growth of Probation Services
1. After Augustus’s death, volunteers continued his work
2. 1878—City of Boston hired a professional probation officer
3. 1897—Missouri adopted a bench parole law—authorizing the courts to suspend
sentences under certain conditions
4. Other states quickly followed these examples
The Administration of Probation
A. Eligibility for Probation
1. United States v. Birnbuam (1970)—probation is a privilege, not a right
2. Probation is prohibited for murder, kidnapping, or rape
B. Probation Officers
1. Sworn officers of the judicial branch of government
2. Judges or court administrators hire, train, evaluate, and fire probation officers
C. Presentence Investigation and Report
1. A detailed examination, prepared by a probation officer, caseworker, or other
court officer, of a criminal defendant’s life
III.
IV.
2. PSI reviews the offender’s records (school, police, and medical) and the
thoughts of those exposed to the offender
3. The court will base their decision on the PSI, plea bargains made by the
prosecutor, and the crowding situation in the jail or prison
D. Risk-Management Classifications, Caseload and Workload Issues
1. Administrative is the lowest risk offenders—generally viewed as posing no
serious threat;
2. Minimum supervision—offenders who pose no significant public safety threat;
no history of serious crime
3. Medium supervision—offenders who pose no significant threat to public safety
but have a history of serious crime
4. Intensive supervision—offenders with a history of violent behavior
5. Caseload—number of clients assigned to a given supervision officer
6. Workload—refers to the amount of time needed to complete various tasks
associated with supervising one’s clients
E. The Conditions of Probation
1. General conditions—a board set of conditions for all probationers
2. Specific conditions—tailor-made conditions for an individual probationers
F. Intensive Supervision: Does It Make a Difference?
1. Varies from state to state, but all monitor probationers closely
2. Curfews, multiple weekly visits, strict enforcement conditions, unscheduled drug
testing, and community service
3. Drug testing required for many probationers
4. Findings indicate that intensive supervision reduced recidivism
G. The Length of Supervision
1. Some jurisdictions impose as little as one year and as many as ten years of
supervision
2. The average amount of supervised time is 22 months
H. Models of Supervision Officers
1. The Law Enforcement Model—Surveillance Model Officers
2. Treatment Model Officers
3. Synthetic Officers—try to balance the demands of each model creating a hybrid
model
Violations of Probation
A. Technical Violations—Violation of one or more conditions of probation
B. Violating a technical violation can lead to a revocation hearing
C. The Preliminary Hearing
1. Mempa v. Rhay (1967) and Gagnon v. Scarpelli (1973) led to states adopting a
standardized process for revocation
2. Determines probable cause that a violation has occurred
3. If the probationer waives the preliminary hearing the next step is a revocation
hearing
D. The Revocation Hearing
1. In Mempa v. Rhay the Court set specific guidelines for revocation
2. Proof at a revocation hearing need not meet the standard proof beyond a
reasonable doubt; instead a preponderance of the evidence applies
E. Sentencing
1. If found not guilty, probationer returns to probation
2. If found guilty, the judge has options: continued probation, additional conditions
to the probation, or revocation.
Probation Services Today
V.
VI.
A. Probationers Services
1. Four in seven of all adults are under some form of correctional supervision in the
United States
2. 99. 8 percent of all probationers were under the supervision of state agencies
B. Profiles of Probationers
1. Average probationer is a white male
2. Women—constitute 7 percent of those convicted and 24 percent of state
probationers
3. Blacks account for a smaller proportion
4. Half of all probationers’ in 2010 committed felonies (47 percent)
5. In 2010—nearly 4 million probationers in United States
6. Nearly 7 percent had absconded
C. Trends in Probation
1. Number of adults on probation grew every year from 1983 to 2008
2. Beginning in 2009 and into 2010, probation population has declined
The Role of Community Corrections
A. Extrainstitutional punishment—criminal sanctions administered outside a secure
correctional facility
B. Intermediate sanctions—extrainstitutional punishments: they include all types of
correctional programming between traditional probation and prison
C. Diversion—the process of removing individuals from the formal system of prosecution
and adjudication and placing them in a less-formal treatment setting
D. Origins of Diversion
1. Labeling—the process through which individuals adopt the characteristics of
whatever it is they have been designated by those powerful enough to make the
new status stick
2. If we suspend proceedings before society labels the offender as delinquent
criminal, we can prevent the negative effects of the label
E. Types of Diversion Programs
1. Focus on self-awareness: educational or informational programs
2. Focus on counseling or self-help programs
3. Focus on first offenders
4. Goal to keep first offenders from becoming persistent offenders
F. Success and Failure
1. Net widening—occurs when a diversionary program designed to reduce the
overall volume of contacts with and depth of penetration into the justice system
does just the opposite
2. Most diversion programs might be net widening
3. Diversion programs increase the offender population in the programs themselves
4. Diversion programs may have the effect of increasing our capacity to punish
Types of Intermediate Sanctions
A. Fines, Forfeitures, and Restitution
1. Day fine—(see chapter 3)
2. Asset forfeiture—used in the war against organized crime under the Federal
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Statute
3. Restitution—serves as an economic sanction
4. Success and Failure
a. Economic sanctions are the fastest-growing penalties in community
corrections
b. Economic sanctions generate revenue
B. Community Service
VII.
1. An area of community corrections that has grown enormously since the late
1970s.
2. The Objectives of Community Service
a. To secure benefits for the community and the offender as well
b. The offender benefits by avoiding incarceration and by not incurring a
financial cost
3. Types of Programs
a. Working in government parks
b. Cleaning government offices
c. Work in hospital emergency rooms
d. Clinics
e. Libraries
4. Issues in Community Service
a. Ensuring offenders’ accountability presents problems
b. The jobs may not be meaningful to the offender
c. Issues concerning the supervision of the offender performing the service
d. Many do not see community service as a true punishment
5. Success and Failure
a. Community service will continue to be a part of sentencing
b. Existing enabling legislation keeps community service from being
punitive
C. House Arrest with Electronic Monitoring
1. House arrest—old punishment combined with new enforcement through
electronic monitoring
2. April, 1983—first court ordered electronic anklet for a probation violator
3. Surveillance officers—sworn peace officers or other probation employees with
limited arrest powers
4. The Objectives of House Arrest with Electronic Monitoring
a. An alternative to incarceration
b. Savings to the public
c. Save institutional space and minimize the stigma and trauma of prison or
jail
5. Success and Failure
a. One problem with the new correctional programs is they claim to be the
solution to the problem
b. The costs of electronic monitoring is not as cost-effective as originally
thought
c. Frequently, offenders placed on electronic monitoring are not really on
the way to jail or prison
d. Electronic monitoring monitors a specific place not specific behavior
Issues in Community Corrections
A. Government and Private Sponsorship
1. Halfway house—can be joined publicly with private funding for substance
abusers
2. Relying on government funding has two major drawbacks
a. Uncertainties of government spending
b. Some programs are offered in the community and not in the institution
c. Multiple funding sources are either accountable to everyone or to no one
B. Administering Community-Based Programs
1. They attract energetic and creative employees
2. Intense and demanding job
3. Turnover is constant
C. Supporters
1. Some say that the community approach could work and that it would do not
worse than institutional programming
2. A positive aspect: cost-effective
3. The relative absence of stigma is a positive aspect
4. Community based programs work with offenders in their natural environment
5. Reintegration—institutional makes it difficult for offenders to return to outside
life
D. Detractors
1. Some argue that the more we use community programs, the more they contribute
to the upward budget spiral
2. Net widening draws in more offenders
3. Community programs fail to protect the public
4. Do the programs work?
E. The Special Care of Community Stakeholders
1. Politicians
2. Policy makers
3. Community-corrections planners
4. Members of the public
F. The Future of Community Corrections
1. The trend of relying on community corrections appears to continue
2. Offenders can be expected to help defray the costs of their sentence
3. The practical limit of the number of correctional institutions we can support may
be close to the limit
4. Program effectiveness should be a factor in judicial selection of community
corrections over institutionalization
Key Terms
allocution—to speak out formally
asset forfeiture—an economic sanction frequently used under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations (RICO) Statute
bail—money or property pledged to, or held by, the court to ensure that an arrested and charged
individual will appear for trial
caseload—number of clients assigned to a given supervision officer
community service – the offender provides a service to the community as required by the court
diversion—the process of removing individuals from the formal system of prosecution and adjudication
and placing them in a less-formal treatment system
extrainstitutional punishment—criminal sanctions administered outside a secure correctional facility
Habeas Corpus Act of 1679—an act of the English parliament allowing the Magistrate discretion to
release a prisoner on their own recognizance
halfway house—community-based supervised residential program generally used as a bridge between
prison and freedom
intensive supervision programs (ISPs)—the monitoring of releasees closely with curfews, multiple
weekly contacts with case managers, strict enforcement of conditions, unscheduled drug testing
and community service
intermediate sanctions—extrainstitutional punishments that include all types of correctional programming
between traditional probation and prison
judicial reprieve—the suspension of a penal sanction for a fixed time; common practice in medieval
English courts
labeling—the process through which individuals adopt the characteristics of whatever it is they have been
designated by those powerful enough to make the new status stick
mixed caseload—both misdemeanants and felons among the probationers supervised by a Probation
Officer
needs principle—assess criminogenic needs and target them in treatment
net widening—occurs when a diversionary program designed to reduce the overall volume of contacts
with, and depth of, penetration into the justice system does just the opposite
presentence investigation (PSI)—a detailed examination of a defendant’s life prepared by a probation
officer, caseworker, or other court officer
probation—the conditional freedom granted an offender by a court
release on recognizance (ROR)—the accused posted a bond or surety deposit with the court
responsivity—measures the risk and need for offender assessment and rehabilitation
restitution—either alone or with probation; serves as an economic sanction
risk principle—assess criminogenic needs and target them in treatment
surveillance officers—typically sworn peace officers or other probation employees with limited arrest
powers
technical violation—a violation of a condition of probation
workload—refers to the amount of time needed to complete various tasks associated with supervising
one’s clients
Chapter Summary
Probation and community corrections are similar correctional programs, but differ in important ways as
well. From this chapter, you should especially note the following:
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Probation carries the major corrections burden for both adults and juveniles.
The growth of probation services, which expanded tremendously during the 1980s and 1990s, has
slowed in recent years.
It is unclear whether increasing the surveillance on probationers will result in lower recidivism.
Likewise, supervision that is more intensive has a tendency to yield higher failure rates.
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Intermediate sanctions, as a form of extrainstitutional punishments, share the goal of diverting
offenders from deeper and more lasting movement through the labyrinth of contemporary
criminal justice.
Many but not all forms of intermediate sanctions function as diversion from the system; some,
especially fines and restitution, are viewed as add-on sanctions for both probationers and
incarcerated offenders.
Modern technology and old-fashioned approaches to holding people accountable for their actions
permeate the movement toward intermediate sanctions.
Modern criminal justice could not function in the United States without probation services, even
though community-based corrections enhance the service delivery; eventually, the emphasis
remains on traditional forms of supervision long associated with probation.
Discussion Topics
1. Trace the history of probation in the United States. Which parts of the original probation are
still in practice today?
2. Is probation an actual punishment or a waste of time? What are the advantages of sentencing an
offender to probation? What are the disadvantages?
3. Discuss the role of community corrections in punishment. What are the various types of
intermediate sanctions being utilized to sentence offenders? Are they working?
Web Activities
1.
Go to the American Probation and Parole Association website.
Locate the Resources Tab and click on Pubs and Reports. Click on View our free Pubs and
Reports.
Download the PDF: Trends in Probation and Parole in the United States. Read and write a 1-2
page paper explaining how probation and parole plays a critical role in the United States.
2.
View the YouTube video: So you want to be a Probation or Parole Officer. Use this video to
generate a class discussion, an online discussion board, or a paper.
3.
Using the internet go to the 2013 Minimum Salary Schedule for Probation Officers
Review the pay scale. Use this to generate a class discussion or online Discussion Board
regarding salaries of Probation Officers.