CriminologyJustice: Tabetha Cooper

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Community Based Corrections

Posted on 6:02 AM by Unknown

English: National Probation Service - St John's Road (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tabetha Cooper

Many wonder why so many criminal offenders are walking away with what seems to be a slap on the wrist. Community based corrections is the answer. But we must remember that initial perceptions can be misleading. What seems to be a slap on the wrist may in fact be a way to protect the safety of the community while attempting to teach criminals how to live in society. Community based corrections helps offenders to learn how to obey the rules and regulations set forth by society and to be upstanding members of the community. In order to accomplish this, a person must understand what sanctions fall under community based corrections, what those sanctions actually mean, and know the goals that community based corrections are trying to reach.

There are many community based sanctions: restitution, fines, probation, intensive probation, parole, day reporting, deferred sentences, diversionary programs, split sentencing, work release, community service, house arrest, electronic monitory, and boot camp. These are just a few of the sanctions that fall under the category of community based corrections. Restitution is a monetary payment ordered by the court to be paid by the offender directly to the victim or to a public fund set aside for victims of crimes (Bartollas, 2002). Fines are similar to restitution, they are monetary payments ordered by the court to be paid by the offender. Unlike restitution, fines are payments that go to the court.

Probation is probably the most popular and widely used form of community based sanctions (Alarid & del Carmen, 2010). Probation is defined as punishment that allows an offender to stay in the community after his/her conviction with the stipulation that they remain under the supervision of a probation officer and abide by the conditions of probation set forth by the court (Bartollas, 2002). Intensive probation is like regular probation with stricter supervision of the offenders (Bartollas, 2002), such as more frequent meetings, home visits, job training, and more drug tests. Parole is much like probation as far as community supervision goes but parole is a continuation of a sentence, given at the discretion of a parole board, which gives conditions of early release to offenders serving indeterminate sentences (Alarid & del Carmen, 2010). Parolees must report to their parole officers, find and maintain jobs, and find stable places to reside. Day reporting is when an offender on probation must report daily to a special facility. The facility offers counseling, social skill training and other activities that aid toward rehabilitation (Bartollas, 2002).

A deferred sentencing is handed down by a judge. It is generally given to first time offenders or offenders of nonviolent crimes. Bartollas (2002) defines it as “a sentence that delays conviction on a guilty plea until the sentenced offender has successfully served his/her probation term.” Diversionary programs are alternative to imprisonment (Bartollas, 2002). Split sentencing a when a judge feels that an offender needs to see what it is like to be in jail in an attempt to “scare them straight” followed by a set time of probation within the offenders community (Bartollas, 2002). Work release is given to some offenders who have jobs within the community that they will be able to keep even after their sentence is complete. Bartollas (2002) defines it as the release of an offender from jail during the day so they can maintain employment. Some jurisdictions allow the offender to complete their sentences on the weekends while others require them to return to the jail every evening.

The intermediate sanctions under community based corrections are just extensions of probation. Community service is sentence that requires an offender to spend a set number of hours working in the community either for a private nonprofit organization or for a government funded agency (Bartollas, 2002). Bartollas (2002) states that house arrest is a sentence that requires an offender to remain in the confinement of his/her own home for the entire or remainder of the sentence. Electronic monitoring is court ordered monitoring using electronic equipment that shows that an offender is where he or she is suppose to be, like their home or a community correctional center (Bartollas, 2002). Boot camp is a more extreme form of probation. It is a facility that operates in a military style and is used as an alternative to prison. It is mainly used to cut down on prison overcrowding while meeting the demands of severe punishment by the community (Bartollas, 2002).

Community based corrections have the goal of punishing offenders and protecting the public. Community based corrections aims to address the needs of victims as well as do what it can to reduce recidivism rates (Bartollas, 2002). This is done through rehabilitation, reintegration into the community, and restoring justice (Alarid & del Carmen, 2010). Offenders are rehabilitated through drug programs, skill training programs, or life management programs. They are then placed back into the community. Some offenders are put straight back into general population while some offenders first live in group residences, such as halfway houses and privately owned houses set up for offender reintegration. Through this process the goal is to restore justice. Restorative justice is victim oriented and strives for offenders to take responsibility for their actions and to repair the injustices that they have caused (Alarid & del Carmen, 2010).

The composer of this paper feels that community based corrections is a wonderful thing. She feels that the initial idea of community based corrections shared the goals of the current community based corrections. With the modifications over time and the aid of states that have passed the Community Correction Acts, community based corrections has become increasingly successful. She believes that over time and with the right training, many would-be career criminals may have the opportunity to avoid the inside of a prison cell and to be introduced to influences that can change their lives around. She would love to see community based corrections continue to evolve into a form of corrections that has a very low recidivism rate.

An explanation of community based sanctions and an understanding of the goals of community based corrections can put many ‘slap-on-the-wrist’ sentences into a new light. This reveals them as a creative means to make the community a safer place while reserving the prisons for the most violent criminals. Over time, community based corrections have started to play a role in the decision-making processes of bail, sentencing, and reintegration into the community (Alarid & del Carmen, 2010). What parts of the judicial process will community based corrections touch in the years to come?

References

Alarid, L.F. & del Carmen, R.V. (2010). Community-Based Corrections, 8^th Ed. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning retrieved 9/5/2010 from www.peru.edu/professionalstudies/.../powerpointCJUS308Chapter1.ppt

Bartollas, C. (2002). Invitation to Corrections. A Pearson Education Company. Boston, MA. Retrieved 9/4/2010 from Ch. 5, Ch. 6, and Glossary

Posted in community based corrections, correctional systems, corrections, Criminology Amp Justice, Tabetha Cooper | No comments

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Jack, Bert, and Pratt: Was the Court Correct?

Posted on 6:56 AM by Unknown

by Tabetha Cooper

Crime Time (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bert and Pratt where sitting in Bert’s car when Jack approached and attempted to shoot Bert. Jack missed Bert and hit Pratt, killing him. Jack then made a second attempt to shoot Bert but the gun jammed, so Jack decided to leave. He threw the gun in the glove compartment and drove off. Once apprehended Jack’s attorney filed a motion to dismiss the charge of attempted murder on Bert because there was no way he could have killed Bert after the gun jammed. The court granted the motion. In this paper it will be discussed whether or not the court was correct in doing this and any ethical or moral breaches in allowing a criminal to escape punishment based on a defense such as impossibility.

To even begin to decide if the court’s decision to dismiss the charges was correct we need to evaluate attempt. For an attempt to be an attempt three factors need to be present: intent to commit a crime, an act to move toward committing the crime, and to actually fail at committing the crime (Lippman, 2006, pp. 187). There are two classifications of attempts: complete yet imperfect attempt and incomplete attempt. A complete yet imperfect attempt is when a criminal, such as Jack, takes every step to commit a crime but for one reason or another is unable to complete the crime. An

Black's law Dictionary, photo by user:alex756 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

incomplete attempt is when a criminal forgets about committing the crime or when some unforeseen outside force intervenes and prevents the crime from being committed (Lippman, 2006, pp.189-190). In Jack’s case he made a complete yet imperfect attempt. He shot and killed Pratt even though his target was Bert and would have killed Bert had the gun the he was using not jammed.

The defense for that Jack’s lawyer based his motion of impossibility. The defense of impossibility needs to be considered before deciding if the court’s decision was correct. There are three impossibility defenses, factual impossibility, inherent impossibility, and legal impossibility. According to Black’s Law Dictionary (1999), factual impossibility is “impossibility due to the fact that the illegal act cannot physically be accomplished.” Since the act could not be accomplished for reasons beyond the criminal’s control this is not a defense for attempt to commit a crime. Inherent impossibility is when a crime cannot be committed because a condition does not exist. In other words, the failure to commit a crime is based on the fact that a necessary condition to complete the criminal act is gone. Black’s Law Dictionary (1999) defines legal impossibility as “impossibility due to the fact that what the defendant intended to do is not illegal.” In this case the attempt was illegal. Because Jack could not use factual or legal impossibility as a defense, the motion must have been based on a defense of inherent impossibility. Using the defense of inherent

English: Stylized handcuffs. Português: Algemas estilizadas (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

impossibility, the court did not make the right decision in granting the defenses motion to dismiss the charges against Jack.

Even with the court making the wrong decision legally there are also ethical and moral violations to consider when absolving someone of an attempted crime. It is not right to the public to allow a “would be” criminal to not be punished for the crime that they would have committed had there not been something from preventing the crime. In Jack’s case, especially if for some reason he was acquitted for the murder Pratt; it would be unjust to the public to allow him back on the street. Jack would have killed Bert had his gun not jammed. If Jack somehow is acquitted for Pratt’s murder or only serves a few years and returns to the streets, he may again try to murder Bert and this time succeed.

It can clearly be seen that the court made the wrong decision to grant the motion proposed by the defense to drop the charges of the attempted murder on Bert. The law would clearly hold Jack responsible for his attempt. In addition to the law, ethical and moral reasons hold that Jack should have had to stand trial on the charge. The prosecution should appeal the court’s decision to dismiss the charge of attempted murder.

References

Garner, B.A. (1999). Black’s Law Dictionary. 7^thed. West Group. St. Paul. Minn.

Lippman, M. (2007). Contemporary Criminal Law: Concepts, Cases, and Controversies. Sage Publishing. Thousand Oaks, Ca.

Posted in Bert, Black's Law Dictionary, crime, Criminal law, Criminology Amp Justice, Jack, Law, Lippman, Pratt, Tabetha Cooper | No comments

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Psychological Disorders and Treatments

Posted on 9:00 PM by Unknown

by Tabetha Cooper

Part 1:

Investigating the Relationship between Alcohol and Violence

Asch conformity experiment (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have been assigned to do an investigative study to find the relationship between alcohol and violence. Out of all of the methods I have studied that are used to observe human behavior, for this particular study I believe I would select both the naturalistic method and the experimental method. I would use the naturalistic method (observing people in their natural environments without their knowledge) in order to find out what kinds of alcoholic beverages as well as the amount estimated that needed to be consumed to become violent. I would sit in bars throughout the course of a few weeks. I would find which nights were more likely to have violence erupt, what drinks were consumed, and the average amount of drinks it takes to get to the point of violence.

I would then conduct an experiment using the experimental method using the data I had collected. I would set up two experiments running simultaneously. In both experiments I would have a control group which would consist of participants that were served nonalcoholic beverages, a second group that would be served lighter drinks such a beer and wine, and a third group that would be served harder drinks such as bourbon and vodka. As I stated earlier the exact drinks that I would serve would depend on the drinks that were consumed when the most violent episodes resulted during my naturalistic observation. Both experiments I would run would be set in a bar type setting where people would mingle, listen to music, and dance. The difference in the two experiments would be a provocation. In the second experiment (for my own curiosity), I would make the environment more hostile. The server would be rude, the music would be more aggressive, and I would have a person in each of the groups starting little arguments.

I believe that by using these two methods simultaneously with the additional hostile environment experiment that my results would be fairly accurate. I would have the data collected during the natural observation which would give me detailed criteria to use in order to get maximum results in my experiments. I would also be studying whether an aggressive environment contributes more to violence when consuming alcohol instead of just the effects of alcohol on violence in itself. I would have to be aware of the dangers of extreme violence erupting and I would have to inform my participants of this as well. I would have to be sure that all of my participants were over the age of twenty one with no health problem and not substance abusers to minimize the risks of something going seriously wrong. I would have to make sure that my pool of subjects consisted of alcoholics, those who drank on occasion, those with violent pasts, those with no blemishes on their record, and a few people from each cultural background. This would ensure that I have collected a random sample that would accurately represent the general population.

Even very young children perform rudimentary experiments in order to learn about the world. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Upon the start of the actual experiment I would need to get have each participant sign an informed consent that states that they have been informed of all the risks that may be involved in my study. I would have to be sure that each participant is entering the study of their own free will and not doing so because one of my researchers or a friend that wanted to join the study didn’t coerce them to participate. I would have to put precautions, such as bodyguards, into each of my created environments to make sure the risk of someone getting hurt was minimal. Once all the data from the experiments has been collected and analyzed I would then sit each participant down for a debriefing, to let them know all the details of the experiment.

Part 2:

Negative and Positive Reinforcement

Let’s discuss negative and positive reinforcement for a moment. According to Schacter, Gilbert, and Wegner (2009), a reinforcer is any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it. So based on this definition, negative reinforcement is where something that is wanted is taken away so that the likelihood of a particular behavior will increase, in order to get the wanted thing back. A positive reinforcement is just the opposite; it is where something wanted is given to a person to ensure that a desired behavior will reoccur, in hopes of receiving more of the wanted thing.

I will give insight on this with using examples from my own life. A few years ago, I had been in a car accident where I did not have car insurance. State law says that any car on the road must have a valid insurance policy. Upon my first visit to court over this incident I was informed that I may lose my driver’s license. Fortunately for me, I had a spotless record and other means of punishment was given, but taking my driver’s license would be an example of negative reinforcement. I need my driver’s license and cherish my possession of it. The state wants everyone to carry a car insurance policy for precaution of such an event as my car accident. The state taking away my driver’s license would have been perfect negative reinforcement. They would have taken away something that I wanted in an attempt to make sure that once I got my license back I would from that point on always carry car insurance so that I didn’t risk losing it again. Even though I never did actually lose my driver’s license, it did teach me a valuable lesson. My license mean too much to me to lose over something as stupid as the lack of car insurance, since that day I never get behind the wheel of a car unless I know for a fact that that car has an active insurance policy.

My mother’s method of ensuring that I did my chores is a perfect example of positive reinforcement. My mother always worked full time and was away many hours throughout the week. She couldn’t keep up with all the housework on her own. She would give me an extended weekend curfew if I did all of my chores in a timely manner throughout the week. Therefore, she gave me something that I wanted, more time with my friends, in exchange for me doing what she wanted, keeping the house clean. In the process of her having me to do what needed to be done, I learned that even though I don’t get extra time with my friends for keeping the house clean that if I just keep the house clean it does free up time later to do things that I want to do.

Part 3:

My Thinking about Psychology

I have had an internal debate over and over trying to figure out which theory of psychological thought fits best with my own thinking. The way I personally think about psychology pulls bits and pieces from about every form of psychological thought that is a part of and has ever been introduce to the science. I have had a hard time picking just one or two thoughts that have the most influence on me. Upon careful consideration I have selected Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theory as the psychological thought that fits me the most. Although my thinking of psychology goes beyond and may differ slightly from this theory, I think this is the best theory to overall express my thinking of psychology.

The psychoanalytical theory is an approach that attempts to understand human behavior. Freud thought that feelings, thoughts, and behaviors where shaped by a person's subconscious mental process. In his opinion, if you could reveal the forgotten happenings of early life you could better determine why a person thinks, feels, and acts the way they do in the present (Schacter, Gilbert, and Wegner (2009) pg. 15). My attachment to the psychoanalytical theory was strengthened when I learned about Freud’s psychosexual stages and how they develop personality. I happen to agree his thinking. As defined by Schacter, Gilbert, and Wegner (2009), psychosexual stages are “distinct early life stages through which personality is formed as children experience sexual pleasures from specific body areas and caregivers redirect or interfere with those pleasures.”

The stages are oral, anal, phallic, and genital. The oral stage takes place during a child’s first year and a half of life. During this stage they experience the pleasures of mouth such as feeding and sucking. This stage influences a person’s talkativeness, dependence, addictive, and needy parts of personality. The anal stage takes place between a child’s second and third year and is when they experience the pleasures of the lower body through toilet training. This stage affects the orderly, controlling, disorganization, and sloppy parts of a person’s personality. The phallic stage takes place between a child’s third and fifth year and is when a child starts to experience the pleasures associated with their penis or vagina, depending on the sex of the child. Our textbook states that this is when a child starts to experience the pleasure of masturbation, although I only partially agree with this. I think that this is when they child starts to realize that touching themselves in those areas can feel good but I don’t believe it is much has much to do with masturbation but more to do with discovering their own sexuality. This stage influences the flirtatious, vainness, jealousy, and competitive aspects of a person’s personality. The next stage is the latency stage which takes place between ages five and thirteen, where child’s pleasure discovery is at a standstill and they develop their intellectual, athletic, creative, and interpersonal skills. The last stage is the genital stage that takes place in adulthood and when a person develops the personality traits that makes them successful with work, in their love lives, and in relationships in general. Since I personally think that a person becomes who they are through their past experiences, whether or not they consciously remember them, this is the theory that holds the strongest bases for psychology in my opinion.

Part 4:

Psychological Disorders and Treatments

As a counselor working with my first client, I feel that he may have a severe anxiety disorder. The first thing I will have to do is determine what symptoms he presents. Based on the information that was gathered when his appointment was made, my initial thought is that I may be looking for symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, also known as OCD. This is a disorder that plagues a person with intrusive, repetitive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors that are designed to keep a person mind off of those thoughts and it tremendously interferes with a person’s ability to function in their day to day activities.

According to the DSM-IV-TR fourth edition (2000), the symptoms I should be looking for include obsessions or compulsions that are time consuming and cause significant impairment to the patients day to day functioning, the patient has recognized that the obsessions are unreasonable, the patient is not a substance abuser, and the patient doesn’t have a medical condition that could be the reason for the compulsions. I want to find out what the obsession and/or compulsions are. For example is the patient concerned with contamination, have repeated doubts, have needs for things in a certain order, have aggressive impulses, or compulsively thinks about sex or sex related things. I want to be sure that these thoughts are not just simply a result of real problems and are just in the patient’s head.

If I determine that my patient does present with enough symptoms of OCD then I would first want to refer them to a physician to be put on a serotonin increasing drug, in order to help to reduce the patient’s obsessions, thus controlling their compulsions. I would then schedule a series of visits with me where we would try to figure out the basis of the obsessions through psychodynamic psychotherapies. After the patient’s specific obsessions and compulsions have been established, through psychotherapy and exposure therapy, I am going to have them face their problems. For example if my patient can’t leave the restroom without washing their hands three times I am going to encourage them to use the restroom and I am going to only allow them to wash their hands once before returning to my office. After my patient has some control over their obsessions and compulsions I will use cognitive therapy in order to get them to realize that just because they feel they have to complete the compulsion doesn’t mean that their thinking is right. Using cognitive restructuring I want to help my patient be able to step back and ask themselves if they have to really fulfill their compulsion or worry about their obsession or if this just a waste of time. My end goal would be to have my patient to be aware of their obsession and/or compulsion, be able to stand back and realize that it is irrational, and be able to get their mind on something constructive, such as cooking something or going grocery shopping instead of giving in to the obsession or compulsion.

References

Psychology by Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner (2009) Chapter 1

Psychology by Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner (2009) Chapter 2

Psychology by Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner (2009) Chapter 6

Psychology by Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner (2009) Chapter 12

Psychology by Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner (2009) Chapter 13

Psychology by Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner (2009) Chapter 14

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) fourth edition by the

American Psychiatric Association Pg. 456-458