Probation and Parole Systems - Research Paper Example

Ethical Considerations in Probation and Parole College: Probation and Parole systems have sparked a heated debate due to the ethical issues surrounding the subject. It is clear that the parole and probation supervisory systems subject the victims to negative long-term impacts that affect their social lives and their health status. The use of labels, chemicals and electronic monitory systems affect the offenders as well as the community. Monitoring systems violate the privacy rights of the public. In addition, it is true that in some instances, the supervising officers are involved in acts of bribery and corruption, reducing the efficiency of this criminal justice procedure. This article reveals the various ethical considerations that underpin the probation and parole systems. The idea of the article is that these systems should be reformed to ensure that they are effective and protect the rights of the public. Thus, it is an important contribution to the community correction aspect of the social justice systems. Ethical Considerations in Probation and Parole Probation and parole are some of the criminal correction procedures in many states in the world. Probation in criminal law refers to a period of supervision of an offender outside prison while a parole refers to the release of a criminal from prison before completing their term in prison. The offenders under parole and probation are set free to interact with the community under particular conditions. In the recent past, the conditions that offenders have to serve are raising ethical issues that need to be addressed. While it is clear that this is a better term for offenders, the conditions provided at times are dehumanizing and sometimes may have long term impacts on the community and the offenders. While many researchers argue that a great percentage of offenders prefer these conditions rather than spend their time in prison, these strict conditions have raised questions whether in reality these measures serve their intended purpose. From the fact that the parole and probation conditions may affect the health, privacy and sanity of the offender and the community, it true that there is need to reform these conditions. In the recent past, the parole and probation have become more common forms of community correction methods. The argument of the government is that it is a more friendly approach of reinstating order in the society without necessarily having to imprison the offenders. The rationale for providing probation is that the person is not a potential threat to the community if released. The offender is released under close supervision to monitor their process of reform for a specific period of time. In the recent past, the supervision programs have been criticized for being inefficient and inhuman, and failing to contribute to normalcy in society (Ruderman & Laker, 2010). A research by the US department of justice provided contradictory report that shows that there exists a number of ethical considerations that should be addressed promptly. From the offenders’ side, they felt that parole and probation was a better punishment for them and few had the opposition to the various supervisory measures that the government employs. However, scholars have asserted that in accordance with the theories of justice, it is wrong for the government to apply measures that have long term impacts on the offenders and the society in general (Whitehead, 2000). The government has the responsibility to contribute to social normalcy in the most efficient way possible, without having to cause unnecessary disturbance. Often, ethical issues arise in the supervision of the offenders granted with parole or probation. One ethical issue that has attracted the attention of many analysts of criminal justice is the labels that are stuck on the offenders to ensure that they are identifiable within the community. For instance, they would wear T-shirts to show that they are either shoplifters or drunk drivers. This kind of identification may have a long term impact in the social structure in the society (Whitehead, 2000). The labels make the offenders attract attention from the public conditioning them to isolation and discrimination in the society. While this may be crucial to punish the criminals and to warn the society of such people, it is an act that can have a long-term impact on the life of the person. Those who bear such labels become identified by the society and the public feel that they are threats to the peace even long after the probation period is over. Therefore, this category of people will continue to suffer from discrimination, no matter if they reform after the probation or parole period. This seems to deviate from the government’s role to maintain harmony in the US society. Next, great criticism has been dedicated to the use of electronic monitoring system as a way of supervising those under parole or probation. The electronic system is used to monitor these criminals wherever they go to ensure that they do not perform criminal activities in the societies. Also, this system ensures that the government has a way of reaching them at any time they need to arrest the person. For long now, this has been an effective way to monitor criminals who are likely to revert to crime. However, these methods are intrusive as often they deny the subjects a sense of privacy and they become identities that they can be associated with. As far as the theory of justice is concerned, criminal justice actions should avoid having negative permanent impacts on the offenders to ensure that they can fit properly in the society (Whitehead, 2000). Therefore, there exist the suggestions that the government should look for better strategies to monitor the criminals to ensure that after they have served this term they can fit normally in the society. The privacy of the community and the offenders is an issue that has raised ethical concerns with the realms of justice. For instance, GPS monitoring system require use of software that can show the location of the offender and the environment surrounding them. Therefore, it is possible to monitor even those people who are around the offender. The community has raised ethical concerns as they feel that these methods interfere with their rights to maintain privacy (Petersilia & Turner, 1993). The privacy of the society is an important aspect that is guaranteed within the US legal framework. Constitutionally, every citizen in US has the right to maintain their privacy and the government activities should not interfere with personal privacy. Therefore, such tracking systems have faced wide criticism as they invade the rights of the people while they are not part of the parole or probation deal. While it may seem reasonable to interfere with the privacy of the offender and to aid in monitoring, it is unwarranted to expose the community to lack of privacy (Whitehead, 2000). The great concern that has evolved regarding these monitoring systems has seen the government consider the use of such technologies in monitoring the offenders. Another major ethical concern has evolved due to the health impact of some of the preventive measures that the government deploys to control the behavior of the subjects of the parole and probation grants. For a long time now, chemical treatment has been used to control the behavior of the sex offenders to ensure that their sexual behavior is regulated during the period of the probation. For instance, there is a California law that requires that those who are victims of sexual offence of children below the age of 13 years be injected with Depro-vera, a sexual control chemical (Ohlin, Piven, & Pappenfort, 2000). On the other hand, women found guilty of child abuse are implanted with a Norplant to control their sexual behavior (Whitehead, 2000). This kind of approach has received harsh condemnation due to the impact of imposing such drugs on the offenders. One of the issues that arise is the potential side effects of such drugs that often may be far reaching. Medical tests have proved that women who have Norplant implanted on their body have a risk of not conceiving later in their lives. Also, some women may suffer excessive breeding due to the use of such birth control measures resulting to a bad health effect on the person. The use of control methods that have negative health effects on the offenders is matter of serious concern. In addition, these methods fail to address problems such as drinking behavior and psychological disorders that may lead to such sexual abuses. Therefore, these methods are not only unethical but also inefficient in criminal justice. Another ethical consideration that arises in the parole and probation system is corruption. Although research shows that corruption is minimal in this system of justice unlike in the police prisons, it is clear that these instances happen. When police officers are assigned duties to supervise the criminals throughout the day, they are given the liberty to remain close to the prisoner and this may lead to instances of corruption. In various occasions, it has been identified that police officers supervising the offenders take bribe from them to provide positive reports to the management. The bribe may be in form of money or even sexual engagement (Ohlin, Piven, & Pappenfort, 2000). The impact of this is that the supervisory measures do not achieve their intended purpose and the offenders may end up resorting to crime even during the periods of supervision. In other instances, agencies had to change the fine payment procedures after realizing that the police officers took the fines and did not remit them to the agencies. These instances of bribe and crime have led to the questioning of the efficiency of the system in guaranteeing the reformation of the subjects of the criminal justice procedure (Keiser, Faulkner, & Thigpen, 2012). Corruption leads to inefficiency in the supervision strategies, becoming a point of weakness to the parole and probation measures. Lastly, an ethical issue arises in releasing potential criminals to the community without providing any important prove of reformation. In various occasions the government releases former offenders and allows them to interact with the public. While it is a way of stimulating transformation, it is questionable if it is a wise decision to release these people to the public. Research shows that some subjects of the parole systems are rapists who suffer from mental disorders, and this behavior may recur because they have little control over it. Some other prisoners who are put on parole are potential murderers in the community. Although the government provides a monitoring mechanism, it is clear that at times these criminals revert to crime (Keiser, Faulkner & Thigpen, 2012). The systems used to monitor criminals are not preventive and it is common that the victims get arrested after they have committed crime. Therefore, this justice system in one way exposes the public to potential criminals who are likely to commit the former crimes. The ethical considerations of the procedures are parole and probation has ignited the debate whether this system should be upheld or abolished. From a critical point of view, this is a worthy legal measure that can be streamlined to achieve higher efficiency. While it is questionable whether this system achieves efficiency in reforming the society, it is clear that majority of the offender end up changing and become loyal citizens after the probation period. The ethical issues that arise in these procedures warrant a serious reform if these procedures have to remain worthwhile in the criminal justice system. First, the government should ensure that the measures that they put to monitor the victims do not have serious long-term impact either on the social life or health. This will ensure that the offenders live a normal life after they have served their term. Also, it would be crucial to ensure that the privacy of the society is not interrupted by this system (Keiser, Faulkner, & Thigpen, 2012). They should refrain from electronic objects that monitor the surroundings of the offenders as this may violate the constitutional rights of the public to maintain their privacy. On this ground, it is possible to inject efficient in the criminal justice procedure by reforming the supervision procedures. In conclusion, the parole and the probation criminal justice systems should be reformed to avoid unethical practice and inject efficiency in restoring normalcy in the social systems. While this system serves to reform the community, it is clear that the supervisory procedures of the criminal justice system may have long term impacts on the life of the offenders. Electronic monitoring system, chemical treatments and use of labels have long term social and health impacts on the life of the offenders. Also, these monitoring systems go against the privacy rights of the society. In various occasions, instances of corruption are recorded involving the supervising officers. However, these systems are efficient and scraping them off would weaken the community justice system. Majority of the people have supported these programs, showing that they are a favorite for the public. Therefore, it would be crucial to consider revising the conditions attached to probation and parole to ensure that they become more effective in serving the community. Taking ethical considerations would help to reform the criminal justice system and enable this procedure to reinstate normalcy in the society. References Keiser, G., Faulkner, J., & Thigpen, M., (2012). Liabilities and Other Legal Issues for Probation/Parole Officers and Supervisors. the US Department of Justice and National Institute of Corrections. Retrieved from:< http://www.superiorcourt. maricopa.gov/adultprobation/docs/civilliab.pdf> Ohlin, L. E., Piven, H., & Pappenfort, D. M. (2000). Major dilemmas of the social worker in probation and parole. National Probation and Parole Association Journal, 2(3), 15. Petersilia, J., & Turner, S. (1993). Intensive probation and parole. Crime and justice, 281-335. Ruderman, W., & Laker, B. (2010, Nov 12). State probation & parole official for philadelphia district had firsthand experience - as a fugitive, records show. McClatchyTribune Business News. Retrieved from Whitehead, J., (2000). Ethical Issues in Probation, Parole and Community Corrections. Retrieved from:< http:// narotama.ac.id/files/ Justice,%20 Crime ,%20and %20Ethics%20(6th%20Edition)/Chapter%2013%20Ethical%20Issues%20in%20Probation,%20Parole,%20and%20Community%20Corrections.pdf> Read More