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Decade of Experimenting With Intermediate Sanctions: What Have We Learned?

NCJ Number
178290
Journal
Corrections Management Quarterly Volume: 3 Issue: 3 Dated: Summer 1999 Pages: 19-27
Author(s)
Joan Petersilia
Date Published
1999
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article reviews what has been learned during the past 15 years about restrictions and costs of intermediate sanctions, punishments that lie somewhere between prison and routine probation.
Abstract
Various intermediate sanction programs (ISPs) that incorporate intensive supervision, home confinement, community service, boot camps, and day fines have been developed in recent years. ISP evaluations indicate that, in terms of sheer numbers and investments, the programs are more symbolic than substantive in their achievements and specific components must be place for them to work. Further, ISP evaluations show that research findings may influence the design of correctional programs and contribute to an emerging community justice model that may create a major paradigm shift in community corrections. Conditions and events that have driven the development of ISPs since the mid-1980s are examined, and the effectiveness of ISPs is specifically assessed in terms of program costs, recidivism, prison crowding, and neighborhood probation. 13 references