The first prison to use simple confinement as a punishment for crime was developed by the Quakers in Pennsylvania nearly 200 years ago (Rogawich, 1987, pp. 16-19). This system, designed to be a substitute to execution, has expanded so that now it is used throughout most of the world. Prisons, thought to he rehabilitative institutions, however, have become overcrowded beyond the bursting point. With major increases of arrests for drug and gang related crimes expected to continue into the 1990's and beyond, the future of America's prison systems looks dim. Conservatives suggest building more and larger prisons. For instance, President Bush "called on Congress to authorize an additional $1 billion for federal prison construction" (Glazer, 1989, p. 430). However, opposition points out that this is only a temporary solution, and that alternatives such as probation, parole, educational rehabilitation, and even electronic surveillance must be developed and used.
Probation officially began in 1841, when a Boston shoemaker named John Augustus began to assume responsibility for offenders who would otherwise have gone to jail (Champion, 1988, p. 1). After careful screening of prospective candidates, which included interviews and background checks, Augustus would either accept or reject offenders, post their bail, and appear with them in court. If the judge decided that the offender's behavior had changed, the potential sentence of incarceration was lifted. Augustus played probation officer for almost 2000 offenders during his life, claiming that only one had betrayed his trust.
Since Augustus had a strong interest in temperance, his charges were primarily people who had been involved with alcohol and had committed a crime. Today's criminals however, are charged with much more heinous crimes, and the opposers of probation claim that probation merely coddles these criminals. "Today's trend toward longer and even mandatory sen...