| Abstract: | Community-based corrections (CBC) is advocated as a solution to many of the problems of contemporary American corrections. Its smallscale, treatment-oriented approach, emphasis on employment and adjustment programs, and stress on greater accessibility are cited increasingly as reforms needed by a system now dominated by overcrowded and highly expensive prisons. Yet, the implementation of CBC programs has been slow and very often little actual reform is evident. This paper offers an explanation for the failure of CBC initiatives using Delaware's experience as a case in point. The domination of American correctional thinking by an ideology of incarceration and the stable-state requirements of prisons are identified as the crucial factors shaping the fate of CBC. |
