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51 Prison J. 4 (1971)

handle is hein.journals/prsjrnl51 and id is 1 raw text is: 









FOREWORD


     The  recent trend toward  community-based  corrections has gen-
erated some diverse reaction. Optimism has  been rekindled, a posture
marked  by an unshakeable faith that corrections at last has entered into
the twentieth century and now is on the path toward building an effec-
tive and equitable system. Yet, at the same time, the current interest in
corrections has stimulated an awareness of  its past and has led to a
greater appreciation of the correctional endeavor as it existed in pre\ ious
centuries. Students of such historical material are quick to point out that
many  elements of today's highly touted programs have roots in earlier
practices. From an historical perspective, innovative programs frequently
turn out to be amalgams  of outworn  techniques, neither new nor par-
ticularly likely to succeed.
     Yet it should be possible to view the correctional scene without
being seduced by short-sighted optimism and without being overwhelmed
by cynicism. The  recent and massive entry of the federal government
into the field of corrections does represent, in historical terms, a real
change  in the structure of corrections. Whether this structural change
\\ill generate valuable substantive change is still uncertain, hut the dynam-
ics for movement are present.
     One  of the first areas which has been selected for federal stimula-
tion and support has been that of correctional design, an area in which
there has been little concerted effort or output in recent years. Four of
the five articles in this issue of the Journal originated in work for which
the Law  Enforcement  Assistance Administration  provided support or
cooperation. It should be noted routinely that the views expressed by
these authors (Gilbert, Sommer,  Ackoff, Flynn  and  Moyers)  remain
their own and do  not necessarily represent the views or policies of the
Law  Enforcement Assistance Administration.
     For those who  would seek ready-made  blueprints and floor plans
and for those who would  urge the immediate abolition of prisons, these
articles will be a disappointment. The authors represented here provide
few solutions; rather, they focus on the process of reaching solutions.
In doing so, they evidence a refreshingly new range of concerns and it
is for this reason that a cautious optimism may well be warranted.

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