By Frank J. Porporino, Ph.D. Criminal Justice Consultant, Ottawa, Canada This article was originally published in Justice Trends magazine (Edition #12) and is reprinted here with permission. It has been copyedited for error correction and style purposes only. In the last several decades, correctional services around the world have marched steadily towards greater acceptance of evidence-based practice (EBP). The pessimism of “nothing works” has been pretty much abandoned and most correctional jurisdictions would claim that they are at least trying to implement EBP. Of course, there are continuing challenges in some regions of the world where resources are stretched to meet even very basic … [Read more...] about Beyond Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: Creating Rehabilitative Experience
Prison vs. Probation…Which Is More Effective?
This month, Frank J. Porporino, Ph.D., shares highlights from responses he prepared to interview questions focusing on the efficacy of prison vs. probation. Question 1 In one of your keynote speeches to the World Congress on Probation, you argued that reliance on incarceration is cost-ineffective and that probation can lower the cost of criminal justice. Can you share some of the data on this? What are the economic and cost-efficiency benefits of probation sanctions instead of custodial sanctions?FP: If we look at just basic cost estimates of imprisonment vs. probation … it’s like comparing the size of a grapefruit vs. a grape … in the U.S., for example, the cost of incarcerating … [Read more...] about Prison vs. Probation…Which Is More Effective?
