Probation is a form of punishment which is community-based and occurs after a criminal has been convicted. Its primary goal is to offer a chance to a person who complies with the rules of the court to be closer to his/her family while performing some tasks in the community (Brennan,2017). Diversion happens before one is tried and it usually “the halting or suspension, before conviction, of formal criminal proceedings against a person, conditioned on some form of counter-performance by the defendant” (Mears et al., 2016). The primary goal is to offer support services as well as treatment for people who have severe mental problems and drug addicts. Additionally, it helps decrease the rate of reoffending.

On the pros, probation saves on cost and also builds better characters by the end of the program. Diversion as well focuses on making a better person on an offender. On the cons, these programs are not applicable for long-term offenders(Brennan,2017). It is true that diversion and probation meet the goals for which they are used because it is less costly and more effective in bettering the lives of offenders.

References

Mears, D. P., Kuch, J. J., Lindsey, A. M., Siennick, S. E., Pesta, G. B., Greenwald, M. A., & Blomberg, T. G. (2016). Juvenile court and contemporary diversion: Helpful, harmful, or both?Criminology & Public Policy, 15(3), 953-981.

Brennan, S. (2017). 77.4 Characteristics Associated with Successful Completion of Juvenile Mental Health Court Probation. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(10), S115-S116.

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