There may be a number of terms to describe it; however, it sounds like you're referring to "Shock Probation".In Shock Probation, a defendant is sentenced to do a short period of time in jail/prison. This prison-time is intended to "scare" (or shock) the defendant out of committing crimes in the future. Then, after a specified amount of time in jail/prison, the defendant will serve the remainder of their sentence on probation.Shock Probation is generally used on young offenders who have not have not served any prison time in the past.