Abstract:
The following is a proposal, with ideas and beliefs taken from different areas and levels of expertise in the criminal justice system: a judge, a clinical psychologist, several probation officers, and this author who is a Ball State University probation intern. Topics discussed include different types of offenders, how the current probation agencies operate, and how this current systems needs to change. This change requires offenders to negotiate and propose his own sentence to the judge, and then be fully responsible for carrying out the terms of his sentence on his own. This change means alterations in the functions of the courts and probation officers, which ultimately promotes individual responsibility and not unproductive dependency.
