Some Consumer Guidelines for Prison Alternatives (From Policy and Theory in Criminal Justice, P 128-139, 1990, Don M Gottfredson and Ronald V Clarke, eds. -- See NCJ-130506)

• NCJ Number: 130514
• Author(s): M R Gottfredson; J S Goldkamp
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: Avebury Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This analysis of punishment argues that taxpayers should use a consumer perspective to examine incarceration and alternatives to incarceration.

Abstract

Leslie Wilkins has contributed greatly to research efforts on governmental alternatives. He has insisted that those responsible for criminal justice programs be held accountable to the public and that ordinary principles of evaluation be used to assess performance. Wilkins's consumerist principles suggest several guidelines to aid the public policy debate about the growth in criminal justice expenditures, especially those for incarceration. The principles are that the criminal justice system is a self-interested lobby group, that lobby groups shape data to support their position, and that the labels given to offenders are unreliable. Other principles are that efforts to save money can be expensive, that the criminal justice system should not make all the decisions, and that criminal justice administrators and scholars should not make all the decisions regarding punishments. The public should become involved and should be aware of the research that supports Wilkins's conclusion that the less severe methods were just as effective as more severe methods in reducing recidivism. 17 references