UNIT 1

COMMUNITY-BASED CORRECTION

Lesson 1:

Forms of Community Based Corrections

- Includes all Correctional activities that take place in the community.

- It is a community-based programs directly address to the offenders and aimed at helping them to
become law abiding citizen.

- Is a better substitute for the traditional incarceration on the assumptions that there is no evidence to
show that institutional approach reduced criminal repetitions and served as a deterrent in the
commission of the crime.

Forms under Non-Institutional Correction (Community-Based Correction Program):

1. Probation – is a disposition, under which a defendant after conviction and sentence, is release
subject to the conditions imposed by the Count and to the supervision of a probation officer.
2. Parole - a conditional release from of a convicted person upon service the minimum of his
indeterminate penalty.
3. Executive Clemency- is the plenary power of the President to grant ACCRA: (Forms of
executive clemency)

a. Absolute Pardon – Total extinction of criminal liability,

b. Conditional Pardon - Partial Extinction of criminal liability
c. Commutation of Sentence - Reduction of Sentence
d. Reprieve - Temporary stay of execution
e. Amnesty - power of the President to grant pardon for those who committed politically-
related offenses.
The grant of probation, parole and conditional pardon with parole conditions and Executive
Clemency is collectively called ‘community-based correctional programs’ that necessitates the
formulation of ‘Rehabilitation Programs’ of these convicted individuals who need to live lawful and
productive lives.

In the Philippines today, the Corrections Pillar may either be Institution-based or Non-Institution-
Based also known as Community-Based. Either way, the goals of corrections rehabilitation and the
reformation of the offender intend to help him re-enter society and become a law-abiding as well as
productive member.
Community-based programs are composed of three components:

A. Restorative Justice
• serve as the conceptual framework of the program and as a philosophy and way of life
aims at restoring a broken relationship that resulted from the commission of an offense.
• Thus, it is sometimes referred to as a balanced form of justice because it brings together
the three major stakeholders involved in the healing process: a. the offender, b. the
victim, and c. community.
• It is a means of healing broken relationships;
• refers to a systematic response to a wrongdoing that emphasizes healing the wounds of
victims, offenders and communities as revealed by a criminal behavior.
B. Therapeutic Community (TC)
• is a self-help social learning treatment model, the therapeutic community factors
behavioral and attitudinal change through the help of the community of the family.
• Originally a rehabilitation approach for clients with drug related cases only.
• TC is now implemented for non-drug related clients with serious problems in life.
(Treatment modality)
C. Volunteer Probation Aides (VPA) – “lead community resource”
• a person of good moral character and good standing in the community who has been
selected and trained to do volunteer probation work.

Significance of Community Based Correction.

a. Humanitarian aspects- to subject to anyone to custodial correction are to place him/her in physical
jeopardy, to narrow drastically his/her access to sources of personal satisfaction and reduced self-
esteem.

b. Restorative aspects- achievement of the goals of rehabilitation for eventual reintegration in the
community.

c. Managerial aspects- shifting of custodial control from institution to the individual offender without
however losing the protection of the public.

Meaning of Corrections:

Corrections – it is one of the Pillars of the Criminal Justice system which undertakes the
reformation and rehabilitation of offenders for their eventual absorption into the social and economic
streams of the community through institutional or Community-Based program.

Corrections, as its root word ‘correct’ implies, focuses on correcting a problem or series of
problems in the society. It refers to a broad category of activities ranging from incarceration of offenders,
to assisting ex-offender in securing employment if possible.
Institution-Based and Non-Institution-Based Corrections:

1. Institution-Based Corrections

• Institution-based Corrections refers to the means of correcting an individual by placing

him/her to an institution or place where he/she can be treated well until he/she becomes
fully recovered and accepted by the community.

• In an accused has been involved in several forms of offenses and may therefore be a risk
to the community,

• He deserves to be incarcerated and corrected inside the jail rather that to enjoy the
benefits of a community-based rehabilitation program.

• The jail and the prison are both institutions; therefore, when the accused is placed to
serve his sentence inside jail or prison, Institutional-Based Correction is being
implemented.

Government Entity/Agency that Handle Institutional Corrections:

• The bureau of jail Management and Penology (BJMP) under the Department of Local and
Interior Local Government;
• Local Government Units- Provincial Jails which are under the supervision of Provincial
Governors; and
• Bureau of Corrections (BUCOR) under the Department of Justice.

2. Non-Institution-Based Correction.

Non-Institution-Based Corrections community based-programs such as probation, suspended

sentence for first time minor offenders, parole and conditional pardon.

Government Agencies that Handle Non-Institutional-based Corrections

• The Parole and Probation Administration (PPA) headed by an Administrator;

• The Board of Pardons and Parole (BPP) headed by the Chairman (Secretary of
Justice);and
• The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with the Secretary as its
head.

PPA is mandated by law to handle the investigation of all cases for probation, parole &
executive clemency, and the supervision of probationers, parolees and conditional pardonees.

-it is an agency of the Philippines under the DOJ responsible for providing a less
costly alternative to imprisonment of first-time offenders who are likely to respond to
individualized community- based treatment programs.

BPP is responsible for the grant of parole and recommending Executive Clemency to the
President.
 DSWD renders services for Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL).

• Republic Act 9344 or the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act of 2006 states that a
• CICL who is 15-year-old or under, during the time of the commission of the offense,
• shall be exempted from criminal liabilities.
• On the other hand, those who are 16 and 17 year-old should be assessed if they
• acted on discernment when they committed the crime.
Through Non-Institutional Corrections, there is no need to place the offender in an institution.
Instead of serving his sentence inside the jail, he can be brought back to his community under the
supervision of a Probation and Parole Officer for Probation, parole and Executive Clemency cases.
If the case involves a CICL, the offender is remanded under the supervision of a Social Worker.

FUNCTION OF CORRECTIONS

1. Maintenance of institutions such as prisons, jail, halfway houses and other institutional
facilities to a period of incarceration. A clean surrounding can be of great help in the
retention of stable physical condition of every inmate inside an institution;

2. Protection of Law-abiding member of society. Incarceration of sentences offenders

prevent them from preying on their members of the community;

3. Reformation and rehabilitation of offenders with the function of assisting and guiding
incarcerated offenders to be rehabilitated until fully recovered and be prepared for their
eventual reintegration to the mainstream of society after release;
4. Deterrence of crime. Experience in prison, the fear of isolation and denial of liberty will
influence inmates and potential offenders to lead a law-abiding life. Hence, they would
rather not commit any illegal act so as not to experience the said horrible situation.

LESSON 2:

Advantages and Disadvantages of Community Corrections

Programs

A. Community corrections programs offer some distinct

advantages.

The first is a cost issue.

• Compared to jail and prison, most community programs cost less.

 • Offenders live at home,
• and in the small number of residential programs where the offender lives at the facility, they
help subsidize the cost of living.
• In addition, offenders who remain in the community can continue financially supporting
themselves and their family through receiving wages and paying taxes.
• They are also more likely than incarcerated offenders to compensate their victim through
restitution and to complete community service.

Second, community programs can ease jail and prison crowding

• by allowing convicted offenders the chance to complete a drug program, boot camp,
• or other corrections program, and are thus another form of cost savings.
• A third aspect to community corrections is the flexibility of the programs
• in that they can be used at many points in the criminal justice process.
• Community punishments limit the freedoms of convicted offenders and mandate treatment.
• They can also be used as a pretrial release option and as a diversion to avoiding a conviction
altogether.
• Community supervision also aids in the reentry process after a period of incarceration.

Finally, community corrections programs avoid exposing offenders to jail and prison conditions

• That may be unsafe and at times even violent.

• Some people might be helped more in other ways.
• For example, community sentences can be beneficial for those needing medical attention,
• such as terminally ill, physically disabled, or elderly offenders, who may be better suited for a
sentence within their own residence.
• Other offenders such as developmentally disabled or mentally ill individuals experience higher
rates of victimization in prison and may be appropriately placed and treated elsewhere.
• An institutional environment is not for everyone, and may cause more harm than good B.

Perhaps the most prominent advantage of community corrections can also be its greatest

disadvantage.

• Offenders are more easily able to continue criminal behavior than if they were confined in jail
or prison.
• With funding going to jails and prisons, resources have not kept pace with community
corrections growth.
 • With resources spread so thinly, officers now supervise more offenders and are able to spend
less time on each person.
• Technology is slowly replacing human supervision.
• However, even when home confinement is combined with electronic monitoring technology,
authorities cannot be completely assured that offenders will refrain from criminal activity.
• For example, being that home confinement programs allow offenders to leave their residences
for activities such as work and shopping,
• it is possible that crimes can be committed even when offenders are legitimately away from
home.

Benefits of Community-based Corrections

1. Strengthening family ties through avoidance of broken family relationships – The treatment
and rehabilitation of convicted offender is done outside the institutional facilities hence,
family members will not suffer broken family due to imprisonment of one of its member.

2. Prevention of Influence Contamination – Putting convicted felon to prison may expose him to
hardened criminal who might influence him to be a more hardened criminal than before;
3. Engagement of Community Involvement – Rehabilitation can be more effective with the help
of the member of the community;
4. Assurance of Individualized Treatment Approach – These programs provide individualize
treatment program for the convict s which is if not available, it is hard to attain in correctional
institution;
5. It is more economical than institution-based correction on the part of the Government.

Purposes

1. Facilitating Convict Reintegration;

2. Fostering Convicts Rehabilitation;
3. Providing an Alternative Range of Convicts Punishments
4. Heightening Convicts Accountability

Functions

1. Client monitoring and supervision to ensure program compliance

2. Ensuring public safety
3. Employment assistance
4. Individual and group counseling
5. Educational training and literacy services
6. Networking with other community agencies and business
7. Reducing jail and prison overcrowding