Criminal Law Today, Essay Example

The intermediate sanction that would be most effective in the management of offenders is the boot camp sanction. Since the boot camp sanction is a combination of a short term confinement period followed by probation, correction officers have a unique ability to work with criminals full time to achieve rehabilitation before they are released back into the community (Schmalleger & Hall 148). The major benefit of boot camp sanctions is that they are an effective alternative due to long-term confinement. Studies have shown that probation is statistically more effective than incarceration, and boot camp serves as a middle grounds for the criminals who would not be trusted to return to society immediately. Rather, boot camp gives them an opportunity to demonstrate that they can be released in addition to providing with information concerning their expectations while they are on probation.

While many critics argue against the military style treatment of criminals, these activities help distract them from many negative behaviors. For example, individuals who were involved with drug related crimes and need help with anger management will benefit from the second phase of the program, which addresses these specific issues through discipline. The first phase is also effective and the third phase reinforces the discipline that was taught. Correctional professionals argue that teaching criminals discipline before beginning treatment will allow them to more adequately focus, thereby achieving their goals more rapidly. Even more importantly, the boot camp sanction provides corrections officers with time to understand each individual under their care, allowing them to develop long-term strategies that will help each of them throughout their rehabilitation.

Intermediate sanctions are forms of discipline that fall between the two intensities of incarceration and probation. The several varieties of intermediate sanctions include intensive supervision probation, drug courts, fines, community service, day reporting centers, remote-location monitoring, residential reentry centers, and boot camps. Intermediate sanctions are considered effective because they ultimately allow criminals who are not considered dangerous to repay their communities for the crimes they have committed (Schmalleger & Hall 125). A lot of these sanctions are designed to prevent against prison overcrowding and to provide prisoners with effective rehabilitation.

Intensive supervision probation is similar to normal probation, but is implemented when there is a greater worry that the individual undergoing rehabilitation will slip back into old habits if they are not watched carefully. For example, it will reduce the likelihood that an individual will commit a petty crime if they are being supervised and constantly reminded that they have better options available to them. The purpose of this program is to promote public safety while providing individuals with a reasonable support system for recovery. An example of when this would be reasonable is for a drug addict who needs a constant reminder that drugs will not be beneficial to them and this reminder would help them fight their urges.

Drug court is utilized to determine an appropriate rehabilitation procedure for individuals who were sentenced with drug possession. An example of this would be a teenager who was caught carrying a small amount of marijuana with no intention to sell. This is less severe than incarceration, but puts a system in place to ensure that adequate recovery methods are set in place for the criminal and that they are serving a punishment.

Fines are implemented in order to control for the direct damages that a crime causes to a community. The most frequent example of a fine is for traffic and parking violations. The purpose of a fine is to provide a small punishment to an individual for an offense with minor damages.

Community service is work that is unpaid and takes time and energy in order to complete. An example in which community service would be an effective punishment is for criminals who damage property but are no physical threat to the populace, such as vandals. They would potentially be asked to clean the walls of public property or be asked to work for a non-for-profit organization to compensate for the time and money that would be needed to clean up the graffiti. Community service is an effective punishment when poor individuals who could not afford to pay fines wish to avoid a jail sentence.

Day reporting centers are used to ensure that criminals are behaving properly and they are watched carefully to ensure that their schedules are followed. A criminal who may be asked to follow this type of correction is an individual who was involved with gang violence. This allows individuals to return home to be with their families while being under the watch of law enforcement officials.

Remote location monitoring is used for low risk probationers, such as sex offenders. This allows them to serve a probation period in their homes, which helps fight against prison overcrowding. Residential reentry centers allow criminals to leave the facility during the day, but they are expected to return in the evening. This is typically for individuals who were previously incarcerated and are preparing for their return to the community. It is also ideal for low-risk probationers in order to avoid jail overcrowding.

Lastly, boot camps are modelled after military activity to enact discipline. This is effective for individuals who are convicted of domestic abuse and related anger crimes. This also helps reduce prison overcrowding because these individuals are put to work during their sentence and then released into a probation program.

Works Cited

Schmalleger F, Hall DE. Criminal Law Today, 5^th Edition. Prentice Hall, 2013.