Discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of two alternative correctional programs.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Alternative correctional programs to prisons and jails are prison farms and camps that are used to detain offenders. Found primarily in the South and the West, these farms and camps have been in operation since the nineteenth century. Prisoners on farms produce dairy products, grain, and vegetable crops that are used in the state correctional system and other governmental facilities. Forestry camp inmates maintain state parks, fight forest fires, and do reforestation work. This program may be effective as they are still in existence and, more innovative programs are currently being developed. Boot camps are another correctional innovation that gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s; they involves youthful first-time offenders in military discipline and physical training. The concept behind boot camps is that short periods of high-intensity discipline and exercise will "shock" the inmate into going straight. Tough physical training is designed to promote responsibility and improve decision-making skills, build self-confidence, and teach socialization skills. There is little evidence that boot camps can significantly lower recidivism rates; therefore, their future is uncertain. The federal government and most state correctional authorities have closed their boot camp programs. Halfway houses are community-based correctional facilities that house inmates before their outright release so they can become gradually acclimated to conventional society. Studies show no definite endorsement of these facilities, perhaps due to a lack of community support.