ABSTRACT
The legal policies themselves provide a general orientation to the administration of sentences, and differ from one jurisdiction to another in the relative emphasis placed on penal and correctional objectives. The decisions of probation officers are made within the broader context of the organization of the probation system. Currently the administration of probation is involved in a transitional period of organizational conflict as a consequence of moving from a politically oriented to a professionally career-oriented service. The objective of custody creates its own form of communication and decision-making within the prison. The ability of a treatment program to be administered with any success in an institutional setting varies according to the ideology and structure of the prison. Several administrative means are used for releasing inmates from the prison. The original sentence may be modified by the executive in the form of pardon, commutation, or amnesty.
