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1
CHAPTER 6
The Correctional Client
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
2. Describe some of the main similarities among and differences between the general
population and people who end up under correctional authority.
4. Describe the classification process for people under correctional authority and explain why it
is important.
5. Discuss important problems and limitations in classifying people under correctional
authority.
LESSON PLAN
Correlated to PowerPoints
I. Selection for the Corrections System
Learning Objectives 1: Explain how the criminal justice system operates as a large selection
process to determine who ends up in the correctional system and 2: Describe some of the main
similarities among and differences between the general population and people who end up under
correctional authority.
A. The criminal justice system is often described as a filtering process (Figure 6.1).
B. Factors that may influence who becomes a correctional client are as follows:
1. A policy decision that street crimes—committed disproportionately by the
underprivileged—warrant more attention from police than do corporate or white-
2. The decision to grant bail and the amount required is a second factor influencing the
4. The convicted individual’s criminal history comes into play in sentencing.
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6. Hence, many clients feel that they were not treated fairly compared with others
Media Tool
Visit http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/hard-time/videos/prison-intake/
o National Geographic hard times
o This video takes a close look at the Correctional Reception Center (CRC) in Orient, Ohio.
What If Scenario
What if this is my first time being incarcerated and I have no past criminal history yet committed
a felony offense of murder? How would you decide on where to house me and classify my
behavior?
II. Types of Clients
Learning Objective 3: Identify different types of clients in the corrections system and identify
the kinds of problems they pose for corrections.
A. Situational Clients—Haskell and Yablonsky describe this type of client as one who:
1. Committed a felony and are not rearrested. This is estimated to be true for 80
percent of first-timers.
3. Took action that violated the criminal law.
5. Until the time of the offense was committed to the normative system of our society
and was indistinguishable from other persons.
This client presents problems for corrections: the crime is usually a serious, violent
crime; the client usually knew the victim well; fear of the client together with outrage
B. Clients with Careers in Crime
1. There are several specific attributes:
a. Earns a living through crime
2. Research in the 1980s led scholars to believe that a small group of criminally active
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3. This led to a change in thinking that those with as few as three offenses could be
labeled a “career criminal.”
5. Political pressures led to a need to classify all those who repeatedly offend as
“career criminals.”
6. This caused a great many non-professional but intermittent clients to be
misclassified.
Class Discussion/Activity
Have students create a profile of a “career criminal” as it relates to their current community.
Discuss how to house and classify this incarcerated individual. Debate each student’s
perspective of their “career criminal” type in class.
C. Clients Convicted of Sex Crimes
1. Rape: Rape is primarily an act of violence against women, not sexually motivated
2. Child Molestation: Few crimes are so uniformly reviled; as many as 90 percent of
3. Prostitution: Prostitution is an illegal economic transaction between a service
4. Concern About Sex Crimes: Sixteen states have enacted sexually violent predator
statutes, arguing that clients convicted of sex crimes, particularly those convicted of
5. One widespread change in the response to people convicted of sex crimes has been
the creation of sex offender registries, in which people who are convicted of certain
sex crimes are listed on publicly available websites.
What If Scenario
What if I am a convicted of a sex crime for the third time and I am a substance abuser? What
would you do with me and how would you house me (classification)?
Instructor’s Manual
Class Discussion/Activity
Have students review the case of John Couey and Jessica Lunsford. Discuss in depth any
factors that could have led to a different outcome if the client already convicted of a sex
offense had not been let out of prison in the past. Discuss this with your class.
D. Substance Abusers: Four out of five incarcerated individuals in jail or prison “had
been high when they committed their crimes, had stolen to support their habit or had a
history of drug and alcohol abuse that led them to commit crime.”
1. Drug Abuse: Ours is a drug-using culture; one-third of individuals incarcerated in
state prison serving time for violent offenses admitted they were under the influence
2. Alcohol Abuse: Alcohol is widely available and relatively inexpensive, and
consumption is an integral part of life in the United States; problems for corrections
include an ambivalent public attitude and treatment issues.
E. Clients with Mental Illnesses
1. Only 3 percent of people convicted of violent crimes suffer from schizophrenia,
manic depression, or major depression.
2. There is overlap between “career criminals” and “psychopathic” clients.
a. Both engage in frequent criminal activity.
3. Research has demonstrated, however, that the mentally ill:
4. In the coming decades, states will face an increased number of clients with mental
illness due to deinstitutionalization (the release of a mental patient from a mental
hospital and his or her return to the community).
F. Clients with Developmental Disabilities
below 70).
a. Among the correctional population, the proportion is much higher.
b. No known link is there between these disabilities and criminal behavior.
Chapter 6: The Correctional Client
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© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
c. They get duped into offenses due to their lack of mental ability.
d. They get caught more often because they cannot think quickly enough to avoid
capture.
e. Normal course of correctional treatments do not work for these incarcerated
individuals.
2. Because they have difficulty adjusting to the rules of the community, they often
come to the attention of the criminal justice system.
G. Clients with HIV/AIDS
1. In 2010 more than 4,000 incarcerated individuals had AIDS.
3. This represents 1.3 percent of all incarcerated individuals.
a. This is down from 2.3 percent in 1998.
4. Prevention: Knowledge is a key way to prevent transmission; policies have been
5. Housing: Most prison systems segregate those who have AIDS but leave
7. Medical Care: The cost of medical care for this population is alarmingly high—as
much as 50,000 to 145,000 dollars per patient/incarcerated individual per year.
Media Tool
Visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImHEmxrYktg
o AIDS in prison populations
o Discuss this problem and how incarcerated individuals should be classified.
What If Scenario
What if you want to reduce the chance of spreading infectious diseases, such as AIDS, among the prison
population in your state? What policies and practices would you advocate for?
H. Elderly Clients.
1. America’s prison population is aging due to the population getting older and
harsher sentences being imposed.
a. In 2015 more than 121,000 incarcerated individuals were over 55.
b. If this trend continues, there will be over 400,000 incarcerated individuals over
55 years of age by 2030.
2. The elderly in prison have trouble handling the physical strains of prison life, and
they need:
a. Special employment needs.
b. Special housing needs.
Media Tool
Visit http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/faultlines/2010/06/20106383722130548.html
o Elderly prison population
o Discuss this video in class. What might the future of corrections hold?
I. Long-Termers
1. More incarcerated individuals serve long sentences in the United States than in any
2. Program managers must make life livable for them, which is difficult.
J. Military Veterans
1. Eight percent of incarcerated individuals are veterans.
3. Strains of combat action make veterans susceptible to criminality.
See Assignment 2, 3, and 5
III. Classifying People in the Corrections System: Key Issues
Learning Objective 4: Describe the classification process for people under correctional
authority and explain why it is important and Learning Objective 5: Discuss important
problems and limitations in classifying people under correctional authority.
A. Overlap and Ambiguity in Classification
1. In order to combat ambiguities in classification, correctional administrators have
started using classification systems, which apply a specific set of objective criteria to
all incarcerated individuals in order to arrive at appropriate classifications. The
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2. By using objective criteria, these systems reduce the unreliability of the client’s
classification; by limiting to a few relevant facts, overlap is avoided.
B. Offense Classifications and Correctional Programming
1. Some critics have argued that the most important requirement for any correctional
3. Corrections must be able to identify the client’s risk to correctional security and to
the community.
C. Behavioral Probabilities
1. A probabilistic approach to classification, making educated guesses about a
person’s likely future behavior, will more often than not be right.
2. Like automobile insurance companies and actuarial risk factors, clients with higher
risk characteristics can be classified as more likely to pose a threat and, therefore, pay
a penological “premium”: higher bail, closer supervision, tighter security, etc.
D. Sociopolitical Pressures.
2. Corrections are forced to respond to changing public demands in managing clients.
E. Distinctions in Classification Criteria.
2. Three criteria are used to classify clients: seriousness of the crime committed;
probability of future criminal conduct; the nature of correctional treatment
appropriate to the person’s need and situation.
What If Scenario
What if you are serving your sentence in a minimum-security prison and you repeatedly break the rules
and cause trouble? Can you be moved to a different security level?
Class Discussion/Activity
Research your state’s correctional classification system. Additionally, review the classification
system of your local jails. Discuss whether the classification system should handle an increased
amount/type of clients. Determine if they are successful with classifying incarcerated individuals
through statistics on incarcerated violence. Discuss this in the classroom.
Class Discussion/Activity
If possible, have students watch the interview between Diane Sawyer and Jaycee Dugard
(http://abcnews.go.com/US/jaycee_dugard/jaycee-dugard-interview-diane-sawyer-future-
surviving-philip/story?id=14040269). Discuss this case and the background history of her
abuser. What classification should this accused individual be placed in and how different could
the case have been if law enforcement had searched his property?
Instructor’s Manual
8
See Assignment 1 and 4
LECTURE NOTES
This chapter focuses on the correctional “client." An interesting way to start this discussion is to
point out that someone in the room has likely been incarcerated. Additionally, several people in
the room likely know someone who has been incarcerated. Doing so will humanize those who are
correctional clients. It also makes the chapter’s content relevant on a personal level.
In order for students to understand the classification process, the authors organize clients into
types. Discuss this, and also remind students that no two clients are truly alike nor are any two
offenses alike. That being said there are indeed common ways by which clients are grouped, and
In order for students to fully comprehend the complexity of classification, they must recognize
that rarely does someone fit neatly into one category. This topic could stimulate a conversation
about the weaknesses of bureaucracies and the frustrations of those who must operate within
them. Start a conversation about how students are grouped and have them discuss ways in which
this process enhances or aggravates their education. How does student and professor
classification affect their experience at the school? Students should be familiar with the purpose
of client classification and be aware of the key issues in client classification: overlap and
ambiguity, behavioral probabilities, sociopolitical pressures, and distinctions in classifications
criteria. Address whether these same key issues operate at the school and influence classification
in that setting as well.
Chapter 6: The Correctional Client
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KEY TERMS
Situational client
A person who in a particular set of circumstances has violated the law but who is not given to
criminal behavior under normal circumstances and is unlikely to repeat the offense.
Career criminal
A person who sees crime as a way of earning a living, who has numerous contacts with the
criminal justice system over time, and who may view the criminal sanction as a normal part of
life.
Alcohol abuse
The disruption of normal living patterns caused by high levels of alcohol use, frequently leading
to violations of the law while under the influence of alcohol or in attempting to secure it. Chronic
alcohol abusers are generally referred to as alcoholics.
Mental illness
A health condition involving changes in thinking, emotion, and/or behavior that can cause
problems in social, work, or family activities.
Instructor’s Manual
10
Classification systems
Specific sets of objective criteria, such as offense histories, previous experiences in the justice
system, problems in life circumstances, and substance abuse patterns, applied to all clients to
determine the best correctional programs.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. Divide your class into groups. Have the groups develop a classification system, including
specific criteria, with housing, work, educational and activity consequences clearly spelled
2. Have students contact a local community corrections agency to see if a meeting can be
3. Frontline’s The New Asylum video focuses on the client with mental illness. Have students
4. Show a video completed by National Geographic series Hard Time. After showing this
video, have students discuss what incarcerated individuals learn while in prison and what can
5. Have students conduct research on PTSD and open an in class discussion regarding veterans
and their connection to criminality. Discuss what can be done to help this group of clients.
ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Although the answers provided below will vary from student to student, the responses should
include at a minimum a discussion of the following key points.
1. Is the process by which correctional clients are selected discriminatory? What might be done
to reduce actual or perceived discrimination?
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© 2019 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or
in part.
• Yes, selection is discriminatory.
• The correctional population differs significantly from the general population.
• Street crimes—committed disproportionately by the underprivileged —warrant more
attention from police than do corporate or white-collar crimes committed by the middle
and upper classes.
• The decision to grant bail and the amount required is a second factor influencing the
filtering process. (This operates in multiple ways and responses may vary).
• The judge bases the sentence not only on the offense but also on the defendant’s criminal
history.
• People unfortunate enough to have few resources and to have had prior contacts with the
justice system are generally treated the most harshly.
2. How does the classification of correctional clients reflect the fragmentation of corrections?
3. What role should public opinion play in categorizing various people for the purpose of
punishing them?
4. Is classifying people who have been convicted of a crime according to the probability of future
criminal conduct a good idea? What are the dangers of the practice? What are its advantages?
5. What policy recommendations would you make with regard to the way career criminals are
handled?
