TY - JOUR
T1 - Organizational Imperatives and Sentencing Reform Implementation
T2 - The Impact of Prison Practices and Priorities on the Attainment of the Objective of Determinate Sentencing
AU - Hepburn, John R.
AU - Goodstein, Lynne
PY - 1986/7
Y1 - 1986/7
N2 - Determinate sentencing, advocated as a means of increasing sentencing equity and reducing inmate release uncertainty and coerced program participation, has been heralded as a major criminal justice reform. Yet organizational theorists caution that successful implementation of a legal reform may be impeded by a number offactors. In this article we concentrate on the implementation of determinate sentencing reform by the correctional system and propose that its objectives will be compromised by its low priority relative to more visible,immediate, and central mandates of prison administration. Focusing on the reform states of Illinois, Minnesota, and Connecticut, the article explores the prison practices and policies governing good time, supervised release, and program participation.We conclude that the objectives of determinate sentencing were affected, to varying degrees, by more central and salient correctional concerns, such as prison crowding and the need to exert social control.
AB - Determinate sentencing, advocated as a means of increasing sentencing equity and reducing inmate release uncertainty and coerced program participation, has been heralded as a major criminal justice reform. Yet organizational theorists caution that successful implementation of a legal reform may be impeded by a number offactors. In this article we concentrate on the implementation of determinate sentencing reform by the correctional system and propose that its objectives will be compromised by its low priority relative to more visible,immediate, and central mandates of prison administration. Focusing on the reform states of Illinois, Minnesota, and Connecticut, the article explores the prison practices and policies governing good time, supervised release, and program participation.We conclude that the objectives of determinate sentencing were affected, to varying degrees, by more central and salient correctional concerns, such as prison crowding and the need to exert social control.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84977063807&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1177/0011128786032003007
DO - 10.1177/0011128786032003007
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84977063807
SN - 0011-1287
VL - 32
SP - 339
EP - 365
JO - Crime & Delinquency
JF - Crime & Delinquency
IS - 3
ER -