Learning Objectives

  1. To be able to define probation, community corrections, and alternatives to incarceration.
  2. To learn to explain the goals of probation and its role in the criminal justice system.
  3. To understand the origins of intensive probation as well as its complexity.
  4. To grasp the tension between law enforcement and rehabilitative approaches to probation and what leeway probation officers have to combine them.
  5. To gain a sense of what probation officers do to investigate and supervise their clients.
  6. To understand the interactions between the court, the probation officer, and the probationer.
  7. To be able to discuss different alternatives to incarceration and how effective they might be in increasing public safety.