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There is doubt that creative sentencing is efficacious in reducing incarceration levels; but, in the long run, that issue is not as important as whether certain freedoms are unduly abused by alternative sentencing practices. Orders of restitution, without full judicial hearing on the loss, represent an obvious danger of injustice. Less obvious is the danger abiding in community service orders where the awesome power of the state compels “good works.” This article argues that criminal sentencing should not be distorted to serve general social goals (“good works”) no matter how noble the sentencing seems to the judge or how much the judge thinks the community might endorse it. Regardless of whether it is true, we assume that the consensus of society supports the criminal law and its enforcement. We can make no similar assumption in regard to the tremendous number of social causes, ideological perspectives and “good works” which a sentencing judge might directly support through the sentencing power. The following discussion considers moral entrepreneurship in various criminal justice contexts, including probation, parole, diversion, clemency and juvenile justice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bureaucracy, often assigned the task of reducing crime, actually contributes to the crime problem in a variety of ways. Several characteristics of bureaucracy are identified as having a criminogenic effect. Some of these characteristics are associated with bureaucracy at its worst, involving outright violations of the law. But others are associated with normal bureaucracy, such as its drive survival, and even with bureaucracy at its best, such as its rationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of increasing public interest in the treatment of criminal offenders, the correctional administrator may find himself more and more frequently invited to address various organizations, to participate in criminological research, and to write articles for publication . Such opportunities offer a challenge to the administrator who, though not a speaker or writer by profession, wishes to ensure a successful presentation. He must be prepared not only to communicate convincingly, but also to meet the questions and arguments that his statements may engender. This article provides the administrator with the fundamental principles of public speaking and research prose. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

While the goals and functions of probation and parole organi zations are expanding, there is often a trend toward narrowing the functions of the individual at the line-operation level. This leads to unbalanced mission orientation between the executive level and the line level. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reviews the article `Symposium on Domestic Violence,' edited by Lawrence W. Sherman in the spring 1992 issue of the `Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.'

Reviews the article entitled `The Future of Juvenile Justice: Is It Time to Abolish the System,; by Robert O. Dawson, published in the Spring 1990 issue of `Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.'

Presents a critique of the article `Guns and Violence Symposium,' which appeared on the Fall 1995 issue of the `Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.' Matter of gun control as a means of reducing violence; Surrogate role for value networks that are not amenable to empirical analysis; Progress of criminological research on the instrumentality of the gun regarding violence.