1. Community Corrections: Historical Development & Current Trends
Chapter 1
Community Corrections: Historical Development & Current Trends
Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.

2. Student Learning Outcomes
Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.
Student Learning Outcomes
Explain why a text on community corrections is important
Describe what is meant by the term community corrections
Summarize the history of community corrections in the U.S., and describe how current economic conditions have impacted community corrections practices in the U.S.
Describe reentry challenges faced by community corrections offenders

3. Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Prison is commonly thought of when discussing punishment in the criminal justice system due to its visibility and presence in media
However, community corrections sentences account for the largest number of offenders sentenced in the U.S.
Similar to prison, community corrections sentences are sometimes mentioned in medi

4. Reasons for Focus on Community Corrections
Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.
Reasons for Focus on Community Corrections
Community corrections refers to the range of formal criminal justice punishments that are carried out in the community (i.e., outside prison walls)
In the U.S., community corrections sentences emerged in the late 1800s and throughout the 1900s
Two familiar forms of community corrections include probation and parole
Millions more individuals are serving community corrections than the number of all individuals serving time in state and federal prisons and in jails combined
Much the knowledge on community corrections has been developed by researchers in the past several decades
Limitations to the knowledge base are due to researchers focusing on examining prisons
Many texts on corrections are still limited in their inclusion of community corrections
This text on community corrections aims to aid individuals pursuing careers in the criminal justice system by providing insight into community corrections as well as the knowledge necessary to develop policy implications for improvements
Policy implications refer to policies that can be implemented to combat a social problem
With the increased number of community corrections sentences today, examining issues within this field has become increasingly important

5. Brief History of Community Corrections and Trends
Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.
Brief History of Community Corrections and Trends
The shift towards the development of community corrections began in Boston during the 1840s with the development and implementation of probation
Probation is a sentence served in the community in lieu of incarceration
Not well received when first implemented
Probation gained popularity as a possible alternative community corrections sentence 30 years after its development
Probation wasn’t utilized across the nation until over 100 years later
Parole is a sentence served in the community following an incarceration term
It was first implemented in the U.S. in the 1870s
Parole was established as a sentence in all states and the federal correctional systems about 80 years later

6. Brief History of Community Corrections and Trends (cont.)
Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.
Brief History of Community Corrections and Trends (cont.)
Both probation and parole sentences were the primary forms of community corrections sentences until the 1970s
Each community corrections sentence was founded on the ideal of rehabilitation with offenders being permitted to serve these sentences in conjunction with participating in rehabilitative programs (e.g., work training, therapy, etc.)
The use of probation and parole decreased in the 1970s
One reason was due to the shifting ideology of punishment which moved from a rehabilitative ideal to a crime control model which stressed harsh punishments rather than reform
Another reason these sanctions were falling out of favor was due to media coverage sensationalizing them
Some states abolished the use of parole altogether

7. Brief History of Community Corrections and Trends (cont.)
Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.
Brief History of Community Corrections and Trends (cont.)
Following the decreased use of probation and parole, many criminal justice policymakers began to develop other alternative community corrections sanctions, known as intermediate sanctions, that would be not only be harsher but also would enhance community safety
Intermediate sanctions have been defined as “a punishment option that is considered on a continuum to fall between traditional probation and traditional incarceration” (US Department of Justice, 1990, p. 3)
There are approximately 5 million individuals serving probation and parole sentences in the U.S. today (Herberman & Bonczar, 2014)
Since there are no formal records kept on offenders in intermediate sanctions, there is a large number of offenders who are unaccounted for
In recent years, budget cuts to corrections have resulted in an increased use of community corrections sentences as they are less costly

8. Community Corrections and Reentry
Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.
Community Corrections and Reentry
With the increased use of community corrections sentences, some institutions have shifted funding from rehabilitation programs to community corrections compromising the offender’s success at reentry
Offenders serving community corrections sentences face trememdous odds during reentry
Ex. housing, employment, family reunification, coping with drug and/or alcohol addictions, and overcoming discrimination and stigmatization (Gunnison & Helfgott, 2013)
Another obstacle for community corrections offenders during reentry is that they are also saddled with supervision costs for their sentence
These legal financial obligations are fees collected from community corrections offenders which help subsidize the cost of probation and parole
While community corrections offenders face a myriad of struggles on a daily basis to successfully reenter society, correctional administrators and the public predominately concerned with community safety during the reentry process
Specialized community corrections offenders face additional hurdles in reentry such court-ordered treatment or stigmatization
As community safety is a concern, pressure on community corrections officers has also increased

9. Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.
Outline of Text
The text seeks to provide an overview of all forms of community corrections sentences while simultaneously including information on offender reentry and community corrections officers
Chapter 1 discusses historical development and current trends
Chapter 2 reviews the tools utilized in assessment and offender’s placement in the system post- conviction
Chapter 3 reviews the profile of community corrections offenders and specialized populations
Chapter 4 provides a historical overview and the current status probation
Chapter 5 discusses intermediate sanctions
Chapter 6 provides a historical overview and the current status of parole
Chapter 7 reviews juveniles in community corrections
Chapter 8 reviews the challenges and obstacles community corrections offenders encounter when reentering society
Chapter 9 discusses promising reentry interventions
Chapter 10 reviews the revocation of probation and parole
Chapter 11 provides information on community corrections officers
Chapter 12 discusses the ex-offenders fight to regain their place in society
Chapter 13 provides a discussion on the future trends of community corrections

10. Copyright © 2017 Elaine Gunnison. All rights reserved.
The full set of PowerPoint slides is available upon adoption of Community Corrections. If you are a professor using the book for a class, for more information.