Book Reviews : Community-Managed Corrections and Other Solutions to America's Prison Crisis by Lauen, Roger J. Laurel, MD: American Correctional Association, 1988: 152 pages. Price (soft cover): ACA members, $13.95, non-members $16.95

• Author: Joseph W. Rogers
• Published date: 01 December 1989
• Date: 01 December 1989
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/104398628900500408
• Subject Matter: Articles

257

Community-Managed

Corrections

and

Other Solutions

to

America’s

Prison

Crisis

by

Lauen,

Roger

J.

Laurel,

MD:

American

Correctional

Association,

1988:

152

pages.

Price

(soft cover):

ACA

members,

$13.95,

non-members

$16.95.

If

a

single

passage

captures

the

essence

of

this

excellent

work

it

is:

&dquo;~orrections

needs

to

’get

out of

the

closet’

and

join

the

rest

of

the

world...

[and]

join

the

mainstream

of

life,

especially

the

mainstream

of

human

services.&dquo;

This

monograph

is

actually

two

small

books

in

one.

The

first

renders

a

forceful,

documented

consideration

of

American

corrections;

the

second

provides

the

author’s

case

for

what

he

terms,

&dquo;Community-Managed

Corrections.&dquo;

Each

treatise

complements

the

other

in

an

overall

portrayal

of

a

system

in

crisis;

albeit,

one

with

some

glimmers

of

hope

on

the

horizon.

Lauen’s

primary

assault

is

directed

at

an

archaic

prison

system

sunken

in

a

mire

of overcrowding,

mismanagement,

ineffectiveness,

and

increasing

costs.

A

system which

extracts

funds

from

such

crucial

needs

as

education,

health,

and

the

environment.

He

notes

that

the

United

States

has

one

of

the

highestincarceration rates

on

theplanet,

linking

us

with

such social oppressive

countries

as

South

Africa

and

the

Soviet Union,

where

incarceration rates

are

still

lower

than

the

District

of

Columbia.

Unfortunately,

the

problem

is

exacerbated

by

escalating

prison

populations,

and

fueled

by

myopic

public

faith

in

punitive

policies.

The

trouble,

of

course,

is

that

many

such

policies

(e.g.

mandatory

or

determinate

sentences)

have

little

effect

on

crime

rates,

and

even

make

conditions

worse

throughout

the

criminal

justice

systems.

Fundamental

to

his

analysis

is

that

many

middle

class

citizens

m~isperceive

criminal

sanctions

because

they

are

deterred

by

current

penalties,

have

internalized

values

of the

larger

community,

and

believe

society

is

working

for

them.

But,

adds

Lauen,

&dquo;They

are

not

living

in

poor

housing,

wor~ng

in

marginal

employment,

addicted

to

alcohol

or

drugs.

Hence,

they

are

making

rational

choices

from

areasonably

comfortabteposition&dquo; (p.

28).

Lauen sees

many

offenders,

such

as

those

living

in

Spanish

Harkm

possessing

a

contrasting

set

of values,

shattered

social bonds,

and

thus

having

little

to

lose

through

criminality.

Moreover,

once

warehoused

in

huge,

ove~tu~ed,

impersonal

institutions,

we

should

not

be

surprised

when

prisoners

exit

hardened

by

the

experience.

The

&dquo;secendbook&dquo;

begins

bydeÏ1ningcommunity-managed~

(CMC)

as

(1)

including

a

variety

of

human

services

affered

to

offenders in

natural,

noninstitutional

settings;

(2)

where

services

offered

are

identified,

developed,

and

administered

by

members

of

the

community

m

which

the