How about putting criminals into the community for education and reform?
Community correction refers to a non-custodial penalty execution method that puts criminals in the community for education and reform. Because of its good effect in punishing and reforming criminals, community correction has become the main measure to prevent and control crime in the United States. At present, the proportion of community correction in the United States accounts for about 70%. Compared with prison correction, it can not only reduce the cost of execution, reduce the state's investment in punishment, prevent cross-infection in prisons, but also help criminals to reform and return to society. The first community correction law in the world was passed by the Minnesota State Assembly in the United States on 1973. It is used to regulate the local government's community correction plan, the development of community correction projects, the execution of penalties and the provision of services to criminals, and to fund the relevant rights and obligations of county-level local governments to carry out community correction. So far, 28 states in the United States have passed community correction laws. In the United States, the federal department of justice has a prison bureau, which is in charge of federal prisons and federal community corrections. Because there is no subordinate relationship between American States, most American States have correction bureaus, which are responsible for managing prisons and community corrections in each state. The basic contents of American community correction system include pre-trial release, probation and parole, and reintegration plan. The diversification of community correction forms is convenient for flexible application according to different situations, which broadens the development space of community correction in the United States. Pre-trial release refers to the non-criminal treatment of criminals who should be subject to criminal punishment but have less circumstances and harm. Before the trial of criminal cases, some defendants were placed under the supervision of community correction institutions through bail pending trial, supervised release and supervised reeducation through labor, and no longer entered criminal trials; Some defendants were transferred through mediation, suspension of prosecution and alternative measures to deal with street crimes, and were also supervised by community correction institutions. This program is especially suitable for juvenile delinquents, providing counseling and education for teenagers so that they can be corrected in the community environment. Specific measures include shelters, children's counseling centers, youth counseling centers and family therapy programs. Probation is the most basic community correction project in the United States, and it is also the most widely used project in practice. It usually puts some convicted criminals into social supervision and suspends the execution of imprisonment. Under the correction and supervision of probation officers, criminals sentenced to probation receive probation supervision in communities or community correction institutions, such as probation centers, rehabilitation centers, labor release centers, halfway houses and treatment communities. Parole is to release criminals who have served a certain sentence from correctional institutions to the community in advance, so that criminals can serve the remaining sentence under supervision. There are special parole officers in American prisons, who help criminals make parole plans immediately after they go to prison and take some positive measures to help criminals get parole as soon as possible. Therefore, the vast majority of criminals in the United States can be released from prison early through parole, which can not only adapt to social life as soon as possible, but also get some supervision and correction; This is conducive to their return and social stability. Although the punishment is not as severe as the death penalty and imprisonment, the punishment function of community correction is undeniable. Once criminals are found to have violated the rules or committed crimes during the restricted period, they can be put into prison at any time. Whether it is probation or parole, prisoners generally have to participate in different community correction programs. One is pre-release training, and community correction institutions set up halfway houses, also known as intermediate prisons or pre-release centers, which are transitional accommodation institutions in the community to help prisoners adapt to social life. Specially set up safety production, social security, health care, medical care, family responsibility and other knowledge training, as well as automobile driving, basic financial management, industrial and commercial technology and other labor skills training and work attitude training programs to prepare prisoners for entering the society. Second, labor release is a system that allows criminals to work outside prison, which is suitable for criminals with less danger and relatively stable living conditions. During the day, they go to the workplace outside the prison to work with ordinary workers in society. No one except the employer knows that they are prisoners and report back to the prison after work at night. Prisoners who are allowed to be released from labor are usually placed in open prisons. Prisoners enjoy more freedom, which is conducive to their transformation from prison to social life, gain labor skills and income, and help prisoners keep in touch with their families and society. The third is to release education, which is a system for prisoners to study outside prison. Such prisoners go to outside schools during the day, such as vocational schools, universities, middle schools, primary schools or night schools, and return to prison at night, with the aim of gradually getting in touch with society and improving their skills and knowledge through learning. The fourth is short-term release, which is a system of giving prisoners who are serving their sentences a certain holiday and letting them go home for a holiday. Most of these prisoners are prisoners in reeducation-through-labor centers or halfway houses, with the lowest risk and good law-abiding records. Their sentences are coming to an end and they can get a short holiday to reunite with their families. Fifth, community assistance, which is a system in which non-governmental organizations help ex-prisoners find jobs and better adapt to the transition from prison to society. There are three basic forms of community correction institutions in the United States: one is sponsored by the state government; Second, sponsored by the local government; The third is private management. In addition, in recent years, semi-militarized management has emerged in the United States, mainly to detain young short-term criminals in military training and correction centers. Correctional institutions are generally equipped with professionals, such as probation officers, parole officers, persuaders and non-professional volunteers. Because community correction can only be limited to a certain range, it can only be applied to juvenile offenders, first-time offenders, occasional offenders, juvenile offenders, parolees and probation offenders who have performed well. Whether to apply community correction to criminals, the United States has established a pre-judgment personality survey system. Judges in the United States require community corrections workers to investigate and make an investigation report before sentencing. The main task of the investigation is to assess the danger that criminals will bring to the community and determine the treatment needs of criminals. The contents of the investigation report include the defendant's personal situation, family status, causes of the crime, performance after the crime, and suggestions on whether to apply imprisonment or non-imprisonment to this case. This scientific pre-judgment personality survey system reduces the risk of community correction and enhances the operability of community correction discretion. In the United States, citizens' participation in criminal correction is considered to be the tradition of American society and the embodiment of the spirit of civil society autonomy and public welfare concept. About 300,000 to 500,000 volunteers join the community correction work every year in the United States, and the United States has certain requirements for the cultural level and work experience of community correction workers. General community correction workers should have a bachelor's degree, and their culture, psychology, body and personality should be tested. After becoming a community correction worker, they should also receive skills training to ensure that they are competent for their work. Community correction volunteers play a variety of roles in participating in the correction work in their own communities. Their activities mainly include: helping criminals to correct by contacting relatives; Carry out some skills and intellectual activities; Organize educational programs to educate and counsel criminals; Carry out religious contacts and activities. American citizens actively participate in community correction, so that criminals feel the support and warmth of society, which is conducive to improving criminals' understanding of society and thus promoting the realization of criminals' goal of returning to society.