What Would You Do? 
As stated before, there are three primary goals for corrections, to punish the offender, to protect society, and to 
rehabilitate the offender. Often the first two goals might be opposing to the last goal. Additionally, doing too much 
of the first one might have unfavorable on the second and third. Here is an example of how this might happen. 
Let’s say there is a guy, who is married, has a couple of kids, a stable blue-collar job, a house /mortgage, and 
is living just a little bit better than a paycheck to paycheck. We can call him the average Joe Citizen. This might 
even sound familiar, and you may even know him. Joe likes to hang out with his friends after his men’s softball 
game, having a beer and catching up on life. For all intents and purposes, Joe is a decent guy. He does not have a 
significant criminal record. Perhaps one misdemeanor when he was a juvenile, and a couple of speeding tickets, like 
tens of millions of other adults. 
However, one time after softball, Joe is driving home and his wife is texting him to pick something up at the store. 
He looks down at his phone at the exact wrong time that someone pulls out in front of him. An accident occurs. No 
one is seriously injured, but the damage to both vehicles is enough to warrant a write up of the accident. This leads 
to police presence. At the scene, the officer smells alcohol on Joe. The officer is obligated to go through standard 
procedures, which results in Joe being arrested. This is not asking you to debate this action, as it is a violation, and 
the officer had every right to arrest Joe. The question is this – what should Joe’s punishment be? 
The reason to ask this is due to both the rule of law and the consequences of those laws. Joe should be punished, 
as he chose to drive after drinking alcohol. But, would Joe’s incarceration lead to other events that may have lasting 
effects? Probably. 
This brings up the question of at what point does the level of punishment last beyond its intended point? If Joe 
receives a lengthy jail sentence, will he lose his job? Will he lose his family? Will this put him a greater risk of 
recidivating in the future? What point has the immediate action caused punishment beyond what the law stipulates 
is punishment? These are all valid questions. There are other alternatives out there, that still cover the concepts of 
punishment, monitoring, sanctioning, and control. However, these alternatives can still allow individuals to stay in 
the community, which this chapter will present with community corrections. 
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