Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Criminal justice, Administration of--United States; Corrections--United States; Corrections; Criminal justice, Administration of; United States;
Abstract
Since the repudiation of the rehabilitation ideal in the mid 1970s a considerable body of literature has developed in which the social purpose and goal of American corrections are debated. While much attention has been given to the policy issues surrounding the various correctional approaches, the author notes that little attention has been paid to the philosophical foundations upon which these perspectives are based. Chapter 1 traces the development of correctional ideology from its beginning to the present crises. An overview of the current problems faced by corrections is given, focusing upon the lack of conceptual clarity in the criminal sanctioning process. Arguing that a clear understanding of the underlying philosophical concepts is necessary to understand and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of retribution, neoclassicism, and rehabilitation, the author seeks to establish the underlying attributes of these three correctional perspectives. This is accomplished by identifying and classifying each perspective according specified conceptual components which include the perspective's primary purpose, principle, and practice as well as the parameters upon which the perspective's goal attainment is to be assessed. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 use this construct to discuss the concepts underlying retribution, neoclassicism, and rehabilitation respectively. These chapters also present representative models of each perspective in which the conceptual components are illustrated and critiqued. The author further notes that each of these perspectives are not conceptually discrete, but rather share certain conceptual components with the other perspectives. It is argued, therefore, that more perspectives than are currently recognized are possible. Chapter 5 attempts to take the strongest attributes from each perspective and combine them into a new perspective called "logical consequences." Two innovative juvenile programs are identified which anticipate what the author sees as the emergence of logical consequences. This chapter concludes by presenting the strengths and weaknesses of this new perspective and by asserting that logical consequences could potentially be used to reunite American corrections and restore direction to criminal justice.
Year of Submission
1985
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
First Advisor
Clemens Bartollas
Second Advisor
Gene M. Lutz
Third Advisor
Karen Morgan
Date Original
1985
Object Description
1 PDF file (252 leaves)
Copyright
©1985 Steven Jay Cuvelier
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Cuvelier, Steven Jay, "A Philosophical Taxonomy of the Major Correctional Perspectives: Toward a New Approach in Criminal Justice" (1985). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2437.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2437
Comments
If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.