The Effectiveness Of Diversion Programs For Offenders Criminology Essay

The Effectiveness Of Diversion Programs For Offenders Criminology EssayA criminal conviction does not necessarily mean that one-on-ones provide be subjected to jail or prison. In some cases, individuals are afforded the opportunity of attending a amusement program. Depending on the type of crime and the number of offenses, an individual could attend a diversion program with the permission of a judge. Diversion programs are designed to help certain offenders overcome their bad tendencies and drug and/or alcohol addictions. The one lingering question is do diversion programs really help offenders make the transition from prison to society and becoming a nut-bearing member of the society. With diversion programs, offenders are given the resources they need to work through their issues, problems, addictions, and the chances of those individuals committing another crime in the future may decrease.ConceptsNon-violent crimes and recidivismFirst, think about the depot non-violent. A non -violent crime usually means that no physical harm came to any individual. Though non-violent crimes can precedent indirect harm to individuals for lesson, the Bernard Madoff incident did cause some suicides. One reported incident stated that an individual did commit suicide after losing all of the money to Madoff for it was a way to avoid bankruptcy. That is an example of how non-violent crimes can indirectly cause harm but on a different note those kind of incidents do not happen that often. The correctional end for persons convicted of non-violent crimes must include an aggressive education plan. The education for a non-violent crime should fit the concomitant crime in which the individual was convicted of for instance, writing bad checks, nitty-gritty abuse, or theft.Three strikes law and non-violent offendersThe premise of the three strikes laws are best served for sincere or violent crimes and the key word is convicted of a felony. In reality, in that location are gray areas when it comes to the three strikes law and non-violent crimes and offenders. For example, writing bad checks can get a person a jail sentence and if the third cadence a conviction is imposed on a individual they could face the three strikes law. Constant debate over non-violent crimes and whether a person should receive a life sentence for non-violent crimes.Adult diversion programs and 1st time offenders.A good combination for individuals who are willing and are eligible to participate in the program. These types of programs are meant for individuals who are only for misdemeanors such as worthless checks. Felony convictions can attend diversion programs but it would that written recommendations from the judge which would involve some serious commitment from the individual that they do want to be better.Theoretical considerationsAlfred Alders Individual PsychologySocial Learning TheoryKohlbergs Theory of Moral development conjectureJail diversion programs may reduce the rates of recidivism because they provide non-violent offenders who are jailed for the first time treatment options, support groups, and overall the opportunity for a second chance.General approachProgram evaluation of the jail diversion program for incarcerated individuals who may throw off substance abuse or mental nausea issues. Jail Diversion programs provides court-based services to individuals who are eligible with psychiatric and co-occurring (mental distemper and substance abuse) disorders who are arrested on minor or non-violent offenses. GoalsTo know if jail diversion programs are effective in reducing recidivism.Literature ReviewKnight, L., Stephens, M. (2009). Mentally disordered offenders in prison A tale of neglect? Retrieved from http//www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/Knight_Stephens_Mentally_Disordered_Offenders.pdfThe article examines whether inmates who have a mental disorder should be considered as patients or prisoners. Prison system are meant for security and control but when it comes to the housing of inmates with mental disorders it is suggested that those particular inmates should be afforded the opportunity for better treatment within prison walls. The Mountbatten Report in 1966, following a series of escapes from high security prisons, led to great emphasis on security and control (Knight Stephens, 2009). This upgrade in security left gaps in the system because mental ill inmates was disregarded and because of this it caused a tame in the way prisons treat or do not treat mentally ill inmates. Bottom line is that the mistreatment of mentally ill inmates caused human rights issues which prompted a few legislative measures to ensure they get proper treatment for their illnesses.Ashraf, H. (2003). US Supreme Court limits forced drugging of mentally ill before trail. Lancet, 361(9375), 2131. academic Search Premier Database.The article goes on to explain that for the reason of jumping court that mentally ill prisoners can take their prescribed medicine to stand trial. The issue arises for the case of mentally ill prisoners to stand trial for committing a non-violent crime. The article explains how the United States Supreme Court based a decision change the use of force drugs in order to make non-violent offenders competent for standing trials.LaFree, G., Erlanger, H. (2002). Too much democracy or too much crime Lessons from Californias Three-Strikes police force. Law Social Inquiry, 27(4), 875. Academic Search Premier Database.The authors of this article go on explain the problems that were uncovered with some research done on democracy and the effect it has on crime. They also give a history of the Three Strikes Law and note how there needs to be a reform of it. One of the important finds of their study was that they were able to note that with the laws in place there was not a significant drop in the crime rate based on the Three Strikes Law. It was purposed that deterrence tactics were better suited i n reducing crime.Akins, S., Smith, C., Mosher, C. (2010). Pathways to adult alcohol abuse across racial/ethnic groups An application of customary strain and social learning theories. Journal of Drug Issues, 40(2), 321-351. Retrieved from Academic Search Database.This article takes the three largest racial/ethnic groups in the United States of America and applies theories on why drugs and alcohol has different impacts on the number of users. The largest groups are Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics. The application of the Social Learning Theory and the General Strain Theory has different applications on users in these communities. Much of the article can lead to conclusions on why the pattern of drinking could lead to why there are many Blacks and Hispanics that interest our prison systems.Steadman, H., Naples, M. (2005). Assessing the effectiveness of jail diversion programs for persons with serious mental issues and co-occurring substance use disorders. Behavioral Sciences The Law, 23(2), 163-170. Retrieved from doi10.1002/bsl.640The article explains how diversion programs help offenders with mental illness and/or substance abusing behaviors. The purpose of the article is to show that diversion programs can help as it was reported that monitored individuals were not committing crimes after their release from prison.

Quality of the Sustainability Report of British Land

Quality of the Sustainability Report of British grimeThe British demesne go with is a brand of property development and investment attach to, which is one of largest companies in theUnited Kingdom. It focuses on managing, financing and developing prime commercial property. British Land was formed in 1856. Over the years, company has purchased land and then(prenominal) resold it to nodes who wanted to buy it. Nowadays, British Land owns a lean team of 242 people which is establish in the UK and Western Europe. The company manages more or less 14 billion portfolio of office and retail properties. Moreover, company is listed on theLondon Stock stand inand is a constituent of theFTSE 100 Indexand has been a founding member of theEuropean Public Real Estate Association. Their objective is to deliver long-term and sustainable total returns to our shareholdersAs a company, British Land committed to achieve corporate social duty objectives by working hard to look that structure, cust omer propositions and investment programmes are sustainable in society, economic and environment. These activities from April 2013 to March 2014 were described in Corporate Responsibility Full Data Report 2014. As such, the tint of sustainability invoice will be analysed in the following.The tone of voice of corporate responsibility narrative 2014 of British Land potful be evaluated based on principles of guidelines publish by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).The GRI lists six principles to assess sustainability report which is of sufficient quality. They are balance, comparability, accuracy, timeliness, clarity and dependability.Six principles will be defined first and then look at information from British Lands report and then evaluate quality of these principles in practice.BalanceTo produce a blue quality sustainability report, not only it represents the true performance of an governing body, but also endless compulsory public relations. Balanced report means reflect positive and negative aspects of the organizations performance to enable a reasoned assessment of overall performance. XA good focusing to demonstrate equilibrize insurance coverage is to clearly state how the organization performed regarding measurable achievements set in the previous year.Stakeholders can polish those successful targets or if more work.In the corporate responsibility report 2014, British Land reported progress against its three years strategy across all sustainability areas of the business. As we can see, company reported that they had successfully reduced 36% less coulomb emissions than the 2009 baseline in the report. Additionally, British Land has saved 6.9 million energy cost for occupiers since 2009 and achieved 93% of waste am employ from landfill at our properties and 83% on development. X Overall, they got improvement against 2009 and achieved lots of targets in different areas including economic, environment and social.Although British Land has met the greater of their targets in different areas, stakeholders can find out that British Lands report put negative things or so their performance. Take greenhouse gas emissions as an example, the production abut discharged6,953 tonnes CO2e during 2014 which was 300 tonnes higher than the previous year. It was balanced that the report discloses two favorable and unfavorable information and results on a year-to-year al-Qaida. This style of report increased hydrofoil and accountability towards stakeholders or other parties.ComparabilityIssues and information should be selected, compiled, and reported consistently. X This principle means that reported information should be presented in a consistent manner that enables stakeholders to analyse the performance of the organisation over time or against other organisations.First of all, the sustainability report and the information contained within can be compared on a year-to-year basis. It showed that the info of British Land from 2011 to 2014. Stakeholders can compare the performance with different years so as to make decisions.Moreover, British Land increased comparability by means of using the same benchmarks to analyse performance year on year. Take tons of waste as an example, company used these total numbers as well as ratios (waste per unit of production) for analytical comparison. Also, company used kWh as metrics to compare its carbon emissions equal to energy consumption with different years or other organisations.Additionally, company provided and explained different factors in the report such as differences in organizational size, geographical influences, and other limitations that may affect the relative performance of an organization. These will help stakeholders understand the factors that may contribute to differences in performance between organizations.Furthermore, the report used generally accepted protocols for compiling, measuring, and presenting information. The report has utilized where t he GRI Technical Protocol is explicit on the metric to be used for an Indicator such as carbon footprint, days per employee, staff covered and waste, etc. If any metrics were not mentioned by the GRI, British Land used metrics that are generally select by other organisations in their industry. Business in the Community has coordinated the corporate responsibility (CR) index as the UKs leading benchmarking tool for prudent business. XAccuracyThe information contained must be highly accurateso as to produce a high quality sustainability report. Therefore, stakeholders can measure the performance of an organisation with confidence.Data accuracy requires building stringent and robust data collection processes, such as internal quality assurance procedures. The best way to ensure data quality is to have quality assurance built into the data collection process. In the sustainability report 2014 of British Land, there was enough information about process to assure the data collection. T he company had Independent assurance which evaluated the design of the pick up structures, systems, processes and controls for managing recording and reporting the selected information. X For example, five data sites which was selected on the basis of their inherent risk and materiality to the group were visited to understand the key processes and controls for reporting site performance data to the group corporate responsibility team.An alternative way is to commission an external third party to verify or assure data accuracy. The third party is experienced in sustainability reporting and data. In the report, it showed that selected key performance data was assured by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) which is one of big accounting firms over the world. For example, the accounting firm assured that data of carbon strategy was accurate, accredited and objective with no significant omissions that could affect stakeholders to make decision on British Lands performance. XFinally, Briti sh Land has invited wider stakeholders to review their data collection processes and to provide feedback if any data inaccuracies have occurred. In 2014, stakeholders participated in the review and consultation of the different legislative and consumer aspects.TimelinessIf a sustainability report to be useful to stakeholders, it should clearly state the time period covered by the data and to be consistent. Based on a regular timetable, the release assure of the sustainability report should be predicted whether it is annual or biannual. Therefore, stakeholders can assess progress and make informed decisions on the organizations performance.British Land has been reporting year on year on its sustainability performance since 2002. The company has accumulated many sustainability reports, which can all be downloaded and are available in triune languages. The sustainability reports are published in April of every year, which makes it predictable to stakeholders and allows them to integr ate British Land into their decision making process in a timely manner. lucidnessAccording to the GRI, a high quality sustainability report should be written in a manner that is easily understandable, accessible and usable to its range of stakeholders.British Land used lots of visual charts, pictures, tables, infographic, diagrams and other aids tomake its content accessible and information easilyunderstandable. The company increased the attractiveness by using of its report by providing several formats such as on the web, as a PDF report or ebook.However, British Land is a property developmentand investment companies. As such, there are a series of professional terms such that need to be illustrated in its sustainability report. British Land has not published a useful glossary of professional terms. They can create on its sustainabilitywebsites for some references so as to makes its sustainability report easily understandable to its stakeholders,ReliabilityTo producea high quality sustainability report, the information and contents disclosed can be traced to its sources, checked and examined by stakeholders or other parties. Stakeholders should be able to find evidence to establish the ingenuousness in the sustainability report.British Land elected PwC as an independent 3rd party assurer to assess their sustainability report. However, PwC made a conclusion that they planned and performed the engagement to contract limited assurance about whether the selected information is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Also, PwC concluded British Lands declared GRI coat level of B+ was not fairly stated in accordance with the reporting criteria. To increase reliability, PwC did not get enough reference of all veritable sources of data and information used in the report. They just provided a guidance section giving information behind calculations used by the company. The reliability of this sustainability report was not sufficient.Although another big accounting firm KPMG produced anindependent assurance report, minor recommended updates were made to the British Lands procedures in relation to the risk of transplant and corruption in December 2013. British Land did not get audit opinion that increased stakeholder confidence that the data and assertions in thesustainabilityreport can be relied on to make informed decisions.ConclusionTo conclude, the quality the of sustainability report 2014 of British Land is up to standard. Especially for comparability and clarity, the report showed that information and comparisons are both meaningful overtime and it clearly explained the reasons and implications of collected information through visual charts, pictures, tables. However, theres stillroom for improvement in the report.The Directors of the British Land industrious PwC provided limited assurance on the information described in full data report for the year ended 31 March 2014. To increase reliability and accuracy of th e report, company can invite NGOs to review their data collection processes and to provide comments where they think data inaccuracies have occurred. Having more assurances increase stakeholder confidence that the data and assertions in sustainabilityreport can be relied on to make decisions.Furthermore, company can provide other popular formats such as software application in order to increase the attractiveness and use of its report. The sustainability reports as mobile apps can be published that are readable on smartphone and tablets. Stakeholders or businesses can progressively incorporate tablets into day to day activities such as meetings and sustainability reporting apps must beubiquitous. The advantages of these apps over traditional formats are its highly interactive nature, the ability to easily review the report through buttons, and its visual beauty.