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GLOSSARY OF CORRECTIONS IN CORRECTIONS

Administrative Segregation – A separate, very controlled section of the prison for

troublemakers.

Aftercare – The conditional release of a juvenile from an institution under community

treatment and supervision.

Amnesty – A form of pardon precluding prosecution applying to a group rather than

one individual.

Augustus, John – Considered to be the father of probation. A bootmaker by trade in

Boston, Massachusetts, who voluntarily and on an informal basis aided offenders
released to him by the court.

Banishment – The exclusion of an offender from the social group.

Benefit of Clergy – Original practice extended to members of the clergy in which

their cases were heard in church courts where punishment was less severe than in
secular courts. This was considered as one of the forerunner s of probation.

Boot Camp – Shock incarceration units with programs patterned according to a

military model.

Brokerage Approach – A service delivery strategy that emphasizes the role of

probation officers as community-resource managers, thereby providing a link to
community agencies.

Capital Punishment – The judicially ordered execution of a convicted criminal.

Casework Approach – A service delivery strategy in which the caseworker assumes

major responsibility to change offender’s behavior through a close one-to-one
relationship.

Classical View – Considers free will and choice as major determinants in criminal
behavior.

Classification – An ongoing formal process concerned with identification,

categorization, and assignment of inmates to various levels of security, programs,
and work.

Coed Prison – Prison facilities holding both males and females. To be effective, both
sexes should be managed and treated similarly, and the ration of females to males
should be in the range of forty females to sixty males or sixty males to forty females.

Community Acceptance – A necessary component for successful community-based

correction efforts.
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Community-Based Corrections – Any and all activities involving the community in

efforts to reintegrate offenders.

Community Service – A sentencing alternative that uses a form of nonmonetary or

symbolic restitution to victims or the general public.

Congregate System – Provided for prisoner confinement in separate cells but

brought the inmates together into congregate workshops.

Conjugal Visits – Visits that are private and unsupervised between an inmate and
spouse.

Contraband – Any restricted or prohibited item so designated by the correctional

institution and found in the possession of an inmate or within the facility.

Corporal Punishment – The infliction of physical pain, and sometimes mutilation.

Corporate Model – Managing prison industry according to successful businesslike

principles.

Correction – The systematic and organized efforts directed by a society that attempt
to punish offenders, protect the public from offenders, change offender’s behavior,
and in some cases, compensate victims.

Crime Control – A philosophy emphasizing punishment and incarceration rather than

treatment for juveniles and adults.

Criminal Justice – The formal crime control apparatus comprising police, prosecution,
court correction and community.

Custodial Model – A correction’s model emphasizing restraint and incarceration.

Deinstitutionalization – The process whereby large traditional institutions have been

closed in favor of smaller community-based facilities.

Deinstitutionalized Model – Utilizing smaller community-based facilities rather than

large, isolated institutions.

Deprivation Model – Considers the origin of a prison subculture to be from inside the
prison due to negative living conditions.

Determinate Sentence – A sentence permitting limited discretion that includes a

fixed range of prison time.

Determinism – Views human behavior as the product of a multitude of environmental

and cultural influences.
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Deterrence – Potential illegal behaviors prevented by a particular legal threat.

Detoxification – Process by which an individual who is physiologically and/or

psychologically dependent upon a drug is brought to a drug-free state.
Deviance – To depart from the normal or acceptable standard.

Direct Supervision – Found in third-generation jails where officers spend time in the
living area actively supervising and interacting with inmates.

Discretion – Latitude of free choice within certain legal bounds; when decisions may
be made that are not generally open to reexamination by others.

Diversion – A process whereby an alleged offender (usually a juvenile delinquent) is

“turned away” from further movement into the justice system.

Due Process – A fundamental idea wherein a person should not be deprived of life,
liberty, or property without legal procedures that are fair and reasonable.

Electronic Monitoring – A newer technology to monitor and verify the whereabouts

of offenders by use of electronic devices.

Felony – Considered to be a serious crime, such as armed robbery, assault, murder,

etc.

Formal Reward System – A system to encourage good behavior through increasing

privileges, lowering security levels, and awarding good time.

Free Will – Central to the classical view that emphasizes freedom of choice and the
pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

Funnel Effect – The decrease in volume of cases remaining at successive stages in

the criminal justice process

Furlough Programs – Programs allowing trusted inmates visits to their home

community.

Gaol – Old English term meaning and pronounced the same as jail.

Group Counseling – A planned activity in which three or more people as present for
the purpose of solving personal and social problems.

Halfway House – A variety of community-based programs designed for a variety of

offenders, including probationers and parolees.

Hidden Crime – Criminal behavior that is unknown to authorities.

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Hierarchy of Needs – A theory of human motivation developed by Abraham Maslow

ranking human needs from basic to self-actualizing.

Hustling – Illegitimate economic activities in prison.

Importation Model – Considers the origin of a prison subculture to come along with
prisoners and their prior life experience.

Incapacitation – Any of society’ attempts to render a criminal incapable of further

illegal acts.

Incarceration – Detention in a jail or prison.

Indeterminate Sentence – A discretionary sentence permitting a wide range of

sanctions by judges and parole authorities

Inmate Code – A code of conduct governing relationships in prison according to

inmate-general norms and values.

Inmate Subculture – An enduring complex of norms and values by which inmates

seek to accommodate to life in prison.

Institutional Model – Utilizing larger, more secure, and more isolated institutions
rather than smaller community-based facilities.

Intake – The initial point of entry into the jail and the official entry of the accused
offender into the adult criminal justice system.

Interstate Compact – A cooperative arrangement whereby states may exchange the

supervision of parolees and probationers.

Just Deserts – A rationale maintaining that punishment be administered in the

amount deserved according to the seriousness of the offense.

Lex Taliones – Latin phrase that embodies the concept of retaliation and revenge –
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Lockup – A temporary holding facility or confinement for detained or arrested

suspects.

Mala In Se – Conduct that may be considered wrong in itself.

Mala Prohibita – Conduct considered wrong because of the law prohibiting it.

Maximum Custody Prison – Facilities designed for inmates who require maximum
control and continuous supervision of individuals who have demonstrated behavior
that is assaultive, predacious, riotous, or who pose serious escape risks.
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Medium Custody Prison – Facilities for inmates with a history of conduct showing
some degree of trustworthiness.

Minimum Security – Nonsecure facilities for trustworthy inmates.

Misdemeanor – Considered a less violation of the criminal law, commonly penalized

by a fine and/or a short jail sentence.

Mushfake – A prison-made copy of something that is available on the streets.

Nonintervention Philosophy – A philosophy seeking to avoid or minimize stigma

and labeling as a delinquent.

Norms of Behavior – Expectations regarding what behavior is considered socially

acceptable; guidelines for behavior appropriate and applicable to particular social
situations.

Open Market – Prison-made goods in direct competition with private-sector products.

Open System- Viewing the operation of prisons with numerous input na d output
exchanges with other governmental units such as central office, courts and
legislatures.

Ordered Segmentation – Small cliques and friendship groups often based o n racial,
ethic, and gang membership, reflecting the diversified composition of contemporary
prison populations.

Parens Patriae – A doctrine in which the state assumed authority and responsibility
to oversee neglected and abused children.

Partnership Model – A joint undertaking between the public and private sector in the
operation of prison industries.

Penitentiary – Early prisons where offenders considered to be placed in a state of

penitence to regret their wrongdoing and become a contrite and penitent person.

Positivist View – Considers the multitude of factors that help determine criminal
behavior.

Prison Community – The mix of inmates and staff living in prison who in many
respects have the same daily needs and required services as found in the outside
community.

Probation – A sentencing alternative in which incarceration is avoided and the

offender remains in the community under the supervision of a probation officer.
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Protective Custody – Designated living areas within correctional institutions for

residents who choose not to live with the general inmate populations, usually out of
fear.

Punishment – The infliction on a person by the state of consequences normally

considered unpleasant in response to having been convicted of a crime.

Rehabilitation Model – A correctional model that concentrates on treatment and

changing behavior.

Reintegration – A correctional model that p laces responsibility for change not only
on offenders but also upon the community.

Restitution – The repayment of the offender to victims who have suffered financial
losses as a result of the offender’s crime.

Retribution – Punishment to fit the crime as a payment of debt to society.

Role Conflict – A situation in which incompatibility exists between two or more roles
that an individual is expected to perform.

Sentencing – The process of placing an authorized judicial penalty upon a person

who pleads guilty or is convicted of a crime.

Shock Incarceration – A short period of incarceration designed to frighten offenders

into law-abiding behavior.

Social Control – The complex of formal and informal means to promote socially
acceptable behavior.

Split Sentence – Short-term incarceration coupled with a following period of

probation.

State-Use System – A common from of sheltered market where inmate-produced

products, such as desks or license plates, can only be used by other governmental
units.

Status Offense – Non-criminal behavior, such as truancy and running away from
home that is in violation of law applicable to juveniles.

Technical Violation – A term used when a probationer violates a conditional rule of

probation. This could result in the revocation of probation but is uncommon in many
jurisdictions.

Ticket of leave – Conditional pardons granted to imprisoned offenders.

Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) – provides a measurement of crime based on

crimes known to the law enforcement agencies.
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Utilitarian Doctrine – Associated with Jeremy Bentham. Actions are right insofar as
they contribute to maximizing the happiness of people, wrong insofar as they
decrease that happiness.

Weekend Jail – Convicted persons live at home and work during the week and
report to serve jail time on weekends.

Writ of Certiorari – A written order from a higher court to a lower court requiring that
a case be brought forward for review.

Writ of Habeas Corpus – A written document presented to court to determine the

legality of imprisonment.

“The value of life is not measured on the length of years,

But

In the way we make of it.”