Little is known about life imprisonment and the process of releasing offenders back into the community in Ireland. Addressing this scarcity of information, Griffin’s empirical study examines the legal and policy framework surrounding life imprisonment and parole. Through an analysis of the rationales expressed by parole decision-makers in the exercise of their discretionary power of release, it is revealed that decision-makers view public protection as central to the process. However, the risk of reoffending features amidst an array of other factors that also influence parole outcomes including personal interpretations of the purposes of punishment, public opinion and the political landscape within which parole operates. The findings of this study are employed to provide a rationale for the upward trend in time served by life sentence prisoners prior to release in recent times. With reform of parole now on the political agenda, will a more formal process of release operate to constrain the increase in time served witnessed over the last number of decades or will the upward trajectory continue unabated?

Aimed at undergraduate courses in criminal justice that offer modules in community corrections, probation and parol, this text covers the necessary topics in community corrections but with a more practical approach than other texts. Subjects covered include: the history of probation and parole; arguments for and against the treatment of offenders; the point and purpose of community corrections; and jail facilities and detention centers. The book offers a unique perspective given the author′s expertise with both special needs populations and in the comparative fields. It is supported by an online study site and instructor′s resource materials.

A former parole officer shines a bright light on a huge yet hidden part of our justice system through the intertwining stories of seven parolees striving to survive the chaos that awaits them after prison in this illuminating and dramatic book. Prompted by a dead-end retail job and a vague desire to increase the amount of justice in his hometown, Jason Hardy became a parole officer in New Orleans at the worst possible moment. Louisiana’s incarceration rates were the highest in the US and his department’s caseload had just been increased to 220 “offenders” per parole officer, whereas the national average is around 100. Almost immediately, he discovered that the biggest problem with our prison system is what we do—and don’t do—when people get out of prison. Deprived of social support and jobs, these former convicts are often worse off than when they first entered prison and Hardy dramatizes their dilemmas with empathy and grace. He’s given unique access to their lives and a growing recognition of their struggles and takes on his job with the hope that he can change people’s fates—but he quickly learns otherwise. The best Hardy and his colleagues can do is watch out for impending disaster and help clean up the mess left behind. But he finds that some of his charges can muster the miraculous power to save themselves. By following these heroes, he both stokes our hope and fuels our outrage by showing us how most offenders, even those with the best intentions, end up back in prison—or dead—because the system systematically fails them. Our focus should be, he argues, to give offenders the tools they need to re-enter society which is not only humane but also vastly cheaper for taxpayers. As immersive and dramatic as Evicted and as revelatory as The New Jim Crow, The Second Chance Club shows us how to solve the cruelest problems prisons create for offenders and society at large.

Offender supervision in Europe has developed rapidly in scale, distribution and intensity in recent years. However, the emergence of mass supervision in the community has largely escaped the attention of legal scholars and social scientists more concerned with the mass incarceration reflected in prison growth. As well as representing an important analytical lacuna for penology in general and comparative criminal justice in particular, the neglect of supervision means that research has not delivered the knowledge that is urgently required to engage with political, policy and practice communities grappling with delivering justice efficiently and effectively in fiscally straitened times, and with the challenges of communicating the meaning, legitimacy and utility of supervision to an insecure public. This book reports the findings from a survey of European research on this topic, undertaken during the first year of a European research network that spans twenty countries. As such, it provides the first comprehensive review of research on offender supervision in Europe, opening up an important new field of enquiry for comparative social science, and offering the prospects of better informed democratic deliberation about key challenges facing contemporary justice systems, policymakers and practitioners, and the societies they seek to serve.

This book assesses the powers, practices, and processes of Garda (Ireland's police force) for compliance with international best practice in human rights standards. It offers a unique critique of the law, policy, and practice on policing in Ireland from a human rights perspective. The book is divided into four sections, with Part I examining human rights and policing in general. It offers a detailed and comprehensive account of human rights standards applicable to key aspects of policing, such as: arrest * detention * interrogation * the right of access to legal advice and medical treatment * the taking bodily samples * stop and question/search * entry, search, and seizure * surveillance * the use of informers * the improper use of intelligence * public order * the use of force * the treatment of victims * the treatment of ethnic minorities * complaints * internal discipline * accountability to the law * governance and democratic accountability * gender and diversity in the composition of the police organization * the rights of police officers with respect to trade union membership, political activity, and disciplinary procedures. The human rights standards on each of these aspects are extracted from international sources, such as: the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, the Council of Europe's Code of Police Ethics, the reports of the Council of Europe's Committee on the Prevention of Torture, the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, and examples of best practice from other jurisdictions. This is supplemented by an account of relevant Irish human rights standards as extracted from Ireland's Constitution, the common law, and legislation. On each of these key aspects of policing, attention is drawn to how and where Irish law falls short of international best practice and what is needed to remedy the deficiencies. Part II offers a structured and comprehensive account of the human rights concerns that have affected policing in Ireland over the past decade or so. It gives an overview of the human rights failings that have been revealed by sources, such as: the Morris Tribunal of Inquiry into events in Donegal * the Barr Tribunal into the fatal shooting of John Carthy at Abbeylara * the Garda Siochana Complaints Board and Ombudsman Commission * the European Committee on the Prevention of Torture * judgments from Irish courts * the Ionann Human Rights Audit on the Garda * investigative journalism. Part III offers a critique of the Garda policies and processes that have been and are being taken to address the human rights deficiencies outlined in Part II. This includes an expert analysis of the internal formulation and dissemination of human rights policies and the monitoring of compliance with those policies and human rights standards within the force. In Part IV, the book concludes with a body of broad recommendations on the further actions that are needed to ingrain human rights standards at the heart of all aspects of policing in Ireland.

Essentials of Community Corrections offers students a concise and practical perspective on community corrections while emphasizing successful offender reentry through strong community partnerships. Author Robert D. Hanser draws on his expertise with offender treatment planning, special needs populations, and the comparative criminal justice fields to present a complete introduction to community corrections today. A variety of practical pedagogical tools offer students insights into the daily lives of those working in the field, encouraging students to start thinking like practitioners. Key Features: What Would You Do? assignments give students the chance to apply what they have learned by analyzing real-world scenarios to determine the best course of action for common challenges in community supervision. Applied Theory inserts throughout the book provide a focused application of a specific theory to particular issues in community corrections. Cross-National Perspective boxes demonstrate common themes in community corrections around the world, as well as different approaches used in other countries. Applied Exercises encourage students to reflect on their understanding of each chapter′s content and to demonstrate their competence in using the information, techniques, and processes that they have learned. Food for Thought features at the end of each chapter guide students through a recent research study related to community corrections and include follow-up questions to help students think critically. Sharing Your Opinion questions at the end of each chapter empower students to express their own views on the issues covered in the text. The free, open-access Student Study site features carefully selected video links, access to SAGE journal articles, and more! Instructors.

Contemporary probation practice is developing rapidly and is become increasingly professionalized. Probation officers are typically described now as offender managers, and the creation of NOMS (National Offender Management Service) has broadened the remit of the Probation Service. As well as bringing an increased emphasis on skills and qualifications it has also introduced a new set of ideas and concepts into the established probation lexicon - including institutional, legal, political and theoretical terms of its own as well as importing concepts from the disciplines of sociology, criminology and psychology. This Dictionary is the essential reference book. This Dictionary is part a new series of Dictionaries covering key aspects of criminal justice and the criminal justice system and designed to meet the needs of both students and practitioners: approximately 300 entries (of between 500 and 1500 words) on key terms and concepts arranged alphabetically designed to meet the needs of both students and practitioners entries include summary definition, main text and key texts and sources takes full account of emerging occupational and Skills for Justice criteria edited by a leading academic and practitioner in the probation and offender management field entries contributed by leading academic and practitioners in probation and offender management.