Offender Supervision Literature Review

In the article, “Putting Public Safety First: 13 Strategies For Successful Supervision And Reentry” strategy number sixth, which is Supervise Offenders In Their Communities, seen to be the most promising strategy that allows and make offenders accessible to many opportunities to change their lives. Offenders have the opportunity to be accepted in their community once he or she is involved in rehabilitation programs, community service, Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities, Breaking the Cycle, Special Offender Services Program, Probationers in Recovery, The Amity Project, Personnel and Training and Program Violations. According to Sipes (2006), there are two types of supervision that inmates should be aware of. These types of supervision are applied depending on the circumstance of the offender and the nature of the crime that was committed. In intensive supervision, the offender most of the time the has frequent contact with supervising officers, involved in community service, strict enforcement of probation or parole conditions and frequent random drug testing. This type of supervision requires a closer supervision and more reporting requirements than the regular probation. Sipes (2006), also explains that the contact between offenders and supervising officers can be for more than five weeks to almost four months. There are few conditions that offenders must follow when they are on this type of supervision such as: participating in treatment, have a job and attending school. Intermediate supervision is different than intensive supervision because offenders are mandated to be under more conditions such as; more frequent home visits, curfew, electronic monitoring, work release centers, drug testing, referral to day reporting centers, attending 12- step meetings, reporting to criminal justice staff, community service requirement and short jail stays (Sipes, 2006). Throughout the process of supervision in their communities, offenders are encouraged to become a better group by getting a job to support their children and be useful in the society. However, when the offender is unemployed, he or she is required to report to the extensive day reporting program to make sure they are doing well with their rehabilitation while unemployed. Therefore, during their first eight weeks of supervision offenders are mandated to be tested twice a week for drug test, but once they demonstrate that they are continued compliance, frequency for drug testing is decreasing (Alston, 2004). One of the most important goals when offenders are being supervised is to make sure that they are going to success in life and to assure that they will not commit any crime or offense. The purpose is to make a difference once they are in their communities (Alston, 2004). Moreover, John W. (2004) emphasizes that community supervision is a challenge on maintaining a balance. Also that community supervision of criminal offenders only succeeds if the balance is in place. However, by using that balance on supervising offenders in their communities, supervising officers have to make sure that offenders are living up to their conditions of probation and parole and are hopefully taking advantage of the services provided while on supervision. During the process of supervision, offenders are taught to think differently, to see the world in a different perspective to change their thinking patterns (Milam, 2004). Also for a better supervision, supervising officers have to have the ability to evaluate the offenders and be challenged to recognize if the offender is ready to make a positive change. Some of the tools that agencies use to make community supervision successful are: Random or Programmed contact system (voice verification) this system is used to determine if the …show more content…
In addition, “What Works” literature is responsible for the great advancements that have taken place in the supervision of offenders (e.g., Andrews et al., 1990 and Dowden and Andrews, 2004). Analyzing the role of positive psychology in offender supervision implied that positive psychology does not assist abandonment of conflict focused ways like offender risk management, but instead it is focused on having a balance to emphasize on deficits with mental and physical approach. However, psychological help should not just be perturbed with worries and weakness, sadness and relieving suffering, but also its aims should be advocate and benefit on human strengths that offenders in supervision find a meaning and purpose in their lives (Seligman and Csikzentmihalyi,