A Legal and Policy Argument for Bail Denial and Preventative Treatment for Batterers in the United States

Historically, battering has been a culturally and legally acceptable form of social control within the United States. This article provides an examination of how this legacy of social acceptance has influenced the development of laws and social policies related to battering. We provide a critique of our current approach to battering and our historical reliance on private or social helping agencies intended to hide and protect victims. We call for a transformation of our current policies that provides for the removal of the batterer—not the victim and her children—from the family home through a process of bail denial and preventative detention

Revocation Trends: A Threat to the Legitimacy of Community-Based Corrections

Community-based correctional agencies exist in an institutional environment where maintaining legitimacy is essential for organizational success. Maintaining legitimacy has emerged as an even more salient issue in recent times given the current economic state. This article argues that the growing number of offenders who are incarcerated after their unsuccessful termination from community supervision represents a prominent threat to the legitimacy of community-based correctional organizations. This article draws attention to the relationship between revocation trends and the legitimacy of community corrections. In addition, strategies to enhance legitimacy by mitigating the effects of community corrections failures are addressed. </jats:p

Offender Perceptions of Graduated Sanctions

Finding credible alternatives to revocation for offenders who violate the conditions of their community supervision has emerged as a salient issue in the corrections field. A number of jurisdictions have turned to graduated sanctions as an alternative to revocation. This study addresses one of the major gaps in the research on graduated sanctions by examining perceptions of graduated sanction severity through the administration of surveys to offenders under active supervision. Survey results revealed several important findings. First, offenders do not view jail as being substantially more punitive than community-based sanctions such as community service or electronic monitoring. Second, offenders viewed treatment-oriented sanctions as being more punitive than other graduated sanctions. Third, offender perceptions of graduated sanctions were influenced by a variety of individual characteristics such as gender, age, and education level. </jats:p