The delivery of Community Corrections takes place in a highly charged political environment, often played out in the media
Introduction
Community corrections oversee individuals who are under the custody of the criminal justice system yet are neither in jail or prison (VERA, 2013). A basic motivation for encouraging the adoption of community corrections is the need to minimise the dependence on the incarceration system by offering the less severe lawbreakers with an alternative to carry out community programs (Harris & Smith, 1996; White and Graham (2013). The societal attitudes, the political climate, as well as the media play a critical role in the delivery of community corrections. As Astbury (2008) explains, one fundamental reason for this is because the media shapes public opinion and attitudes towards punishment. For instance, the media may advocates for community corrections, by contending that the alternative is relatively humane, cost-effective as well as an efficient approach to corrections compared to the conventional incarceration (Mair, 2013). In turn, the public and politicians would be influenced to pursue reforms based on this contention. This essay argues that the delivery of community corrections is more efficient in a politically charged setting, although this depends on the perspective the media take as regards the feasibility of this options.
The media influences community attitude and the political climate, which in turn influence the realisation of viable reforms in rehabilitative programs, including the realisation of the objectives of the community correctional programs. According to Beale (2006), the media, community attitudes, and political climate within a particular political setting influence the realisations of legislations intended to bring about law and order that can respond to crimes. The Australian Human Rights Commission (2013) and Golden (2013) also show that media is a vital tool that can be used to influence...