Glossary of Terms (A - M)

Adult community residential service
A community-based program that provides a group residence for probationers, parolees, and other residents in incarcerated status.  Also provides services on a non-residential basis. (also referred to as halfway house). Residents are allowed extensive contact with the community.
 
Adult correctional institution
A confinement facility, usually operated by state or federal agency, that has custodial authority over sentenced adults, when a sentence to confinement is for more than one year.
 
Aftercare
Post-release supervision and treatment program for juveniles. The term is sometimes used for other programs that provide support and services during the reentry into community of inmates from jails or prisons.
 
Alternative sentencing
A sentence that may include community service or victim restitution or any other court ruling other than incarceration.
 
Alternates to incarceration
Programs in corrections that involve probation, parole, early release, work release, and halfway houses, as opposed to imprisonment.
 
Anger management programs
Treatment programs which help individuals identify circumstances which trigger anger, train them in how to reduce the anger, and ways to change the behaviors that bring about the anger.
 
Anti-psychotic drugs
Chemically diverse but pharmacologically similar class of drugs used to diminish symptoms of schizophrenic, paranoid, schizoaffective and other psychotic disorders, as well as manic-depressive disorders.
 
At-risk youth
Preteens and teenagers that live in areas with high incidences of poverty, crime, teenage pregnancy, alcohol/drug abuse, and similar indicators, which are associated with criminal involvement, and may lead to a criminal life style.
 
Bail
The cash or bond that is provided by the defendant to assure that he or she will appear at a further criminal proceedings and submit to the jurisdiction and judgment of the court.
 
Child abuse
An act of physical, sexual or psychological abuse and cruelty which affect a child’s physical or mental well-being.
 
Cognitive-behavior programs
Approach to therapy in which the attempt is made to change the offender’s cognition, attitudes, values and expectations that maintain their antisocial behavior.  Therapy involves training in problem solving, reasoning, self-control, and self-instruction. 
 
Cognitive skills training
Training which teaches offenders techniques in creative thinking, empathy, communication, problem solving, critical thinking, and abstract reasoning. Goal is to increase self-esteem and decrease criminal behavior.
 
Community corrections
Programs that deal with offenders in the community. Those programs often involve work release, home detention, probation/parole, pretrial release, community services, and restitution.
 
Community residential programs
Correctional programs housing residents in structures from which the residents are allowed to depart, unaccompanied by any officials, for the purpose of employment or community service.
 
Confession
A voluntary statement made by a person admitting to behavior that constitutes the offense of which he or she is accused. May be verbal or written statement.
 
Conjugal visits
Unsupervised visits between inmate and their spouses, usually over weekend, which permit sexual contact.
 
Contact visits
Prison visitations that permit visitors and inmates to have limited degree of non-sexual physical contact, such as hand holding, while under supervision.
 
Correctional officer
Personnel who directly supervise inmates in prison (CO’s).
 
Corrections
Corrections are the official response by the criminal justice agencies to the punishment of convicted offender.
 
Count
Process of determining the whereabouts of all offenders in a correctional environment by physically counting them.  Counts are conducted several times a day and all activities usually stop until all offenders are counted.
 
Custody
Legal or physical control of or responsibility for a , child, adult, or thing.
 
Delinquency
Actions or conducts by a juvenile that violate criminal law and result in status offence.
 
Department of corrections
Government agency that is responsible for overseeing the work and operations of correctional facilities and programs, and is headed by an appointed director who develops policy.
 
Deterrence
To discourage or restrain from future criminal behavior, both individually and generally.
 
Domestic violence
The psychological, physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse of one family or household member by another which may include public humiliation, verbal assault, and financial control.
 
Drug abuse
Long-term, pathological use of drugs, which may be forbidden by law, characterized by daily intoxication, inability to reduce consumption, and impairment in social or occupational functioning.
 
Drug addict
Individual that is physiologically or psychologically dependent on an addictive substance.
 
Drug dependence
The state of psychological or physiological dependency on a drug after a prolonged period of use.
 
Drug-related crimes
Offences committed in relation to drug use, to financially support drug dependency, or committed while under the influence of drugs.
 
Drug treatment programs
Programs for individuals with drug-dependency, which may provide counseling, rehabilitation and social services in addition to detoxification or methadone treatment.
 
Early-release programs
Release process that includes early parole or sentence reduction for certain offenders, in order to reduce overcrowding in accordance with court imposed population caps.
 
EBD (Emotional or Behavioral Disorders)
Involves an established pattern characterized by aggressive or impulsive behaviors, withdrawal or anxiety, pervasive unhappiness, depression or wide mood swings, severely disordered thought processes manifested by unusual behavior patterns, atypical communication styles or distorted interpersonal relationships. The established pattern adversely affects education performance and results in failure to attain or maintain a educational or developmental progress.
 
Education programs
Programs that involve formal academic education or a vocational training, designed to improve employment capability of an inmate.
 
Exculpatory evidence
Proof of fact(s) presented at a trial which tends to indicate the innocence of a defendant and to which defendant it entitled.
 
Ex-offender
An individual who is no longer under supervision of the criminal justice system.
 
Eviction
An action by a landlord that compels a tenant to leave the premises (as by rendering the premises unfit for occupancy), with or without physical expulsion or legal process involved.
 
Facility
A place, institution, building, or area, that is used for the lawful physical custody and/or treatment of individuals.
 
Family reunification
The process of reuniting an offender with his or her family on or prior to release, or reunification of a child with his/her family after the child was places in foster care.
 
Felony
A criminal offence that is punishable by death or by incarceration in a state or federal prison, generally for a year or more.  Violent felonies include murder, rape, abduction, and robbery.
 
First Time Offender
A law violator who is prosecuted for the first time.
 
Foster home
A community placement for juveniles which provides a substitute family setting.  They offer juveniles the privacy and intimacy of family life with less supervision.
 
Group counseling
A model of counseling based on group processes as a framework for problem solving, social interaction and human learning.
 
Halfway houses
A non-confining residential facility designed to help rehabilitate adults or juveniles, or those subject to criminal or juvenile proceedings.  It is intended to provide an alternative to confinement and probation, and also to be used by the released inmates during the period of readjustment to the community after confinement.
 
Hospitality houses
Affordable and safe temporary lodging for inmate families during their visits to prisons. Usually offering overnight lodging, information, and support to families visiting loved ones in prison.
 
Incarceration
A confinement of a defendant or probationer to prison, penitentiary, or jail.
 
Inmate
An individual confined in a correctional facility, whether in pretrial, unsentenced or sentenced status.
 
Interstate transfer of prisoners (Compact)
The Interstate Compact for the supervision of Parolees and Probationers is a legal
agreement between the fifty states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The Compact was established to allow for travel and relocation to other states and territories when to do so would improve the employment and social situation of the parolee or probationer and would further their rehabilitation process.
 
Jail
A confinement facility intended for adults, but sometimes also containing juveniles, usually administered by a local law enforcement agency.  It holds persons pending adjucation and /or persons committed after adjudication for sentences of a year or less.
 
Juvenile offender
An individual subject to juvenile court proceedings for purposes of adjucation and treatment based on age and offense limitations as defined by state law.
 
Life skills program
Educational programs that provide inmates with practical knowledge on employability, job searching skills, consumer skills, use of community resources, health and safety skills, parenting and family skills, and civic skills.

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