The Future of Community Penalties

Professor Rob Canton
De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

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This presentation covers• What are community penalties?
• Some examples• Origins of probation in England• The purposes of community penalties• New technologies• Strengths, Weaknesses; Opportunities
and Threats• Thoughts about the future2What are ‘community penalties’?
• Sanctions and measures that take placein society• (not inside prison) …
• but should it mean more than this?
• For example, should the community beinvolved somehow?
• ‘Alternatives to custody’3Examples of community penalties• alternatives to pre-trial detention• probation as an independent penalty• suspension of a prison sentence withimposed conditions• community service (i.e. unpaid work) as
actual or symbolic reparation to thecommunity• victim compensation / reparation• victim-offender mediation
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Other examples• treatment orders for drug or alcohol
misusing offenders and those sufferingfrom a mental disturbance that isrelated to their criminal behaviour• restriction on freedom of movement - forexample, curfew orders or electronicmonitoring• conditional release from prison followedby post-release supervision / parole.
5Frederic Rainer
1876: Letter to a
Church of EnglandSociety‘Offence after offence and sentence
after sentence appear to be theinevitable lot of him whose foot has
once slipped. Can nothing be done toarrest the downward career?’6

Advise, Assist and Befriend

Probation supervision was instead of punishment
7Phases in Probation’s history in England• helping• rehabilitative
treatment• ‘nothing works’• alternatives to custody• punishment in thecommunity• what works?
• public protection;offender management• Till 1930s• 1930 – 1970s• Mid 1970s• Early 1980s• Late 1980s – 1990s• Late 1990s• To dateCommunity Service: Unpaid Work
Community service is a community punishment
which involves offenders working without
payment for the benefit of the community as realor symbolic reparation for the harms theircrimes have caused by an offender.

Should Community Service:a)
b)
c)
d)

be a tough and demanding punishment?
do as much as possible to reduce theincidence of reoffending?
involve work of genuine value to thecommunity ?
do all it can to promote reintegration andsocial inclusion?

Can it do all of these things at the same time?

Probation objectives in Europe• Reduce prison numbers by providing
alternatives• Protect the public by controlling
offenders in the community• Reduce reconviction throughrehabilitation• Reparation and Mediation

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Reducing numbers of prisoners• Closing the front door (fewer people
going to prison)• Opening the back door (early releaseschemes)• But prison numbers have increased inmost European countries

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Protecting the public• A political priority in many countries• Multi-agency public protection
arrangements are believed to be very
successful• But the public only becomes aware of thiswhen things go wrong – a serious crime
takes place and arrangements are judged
to have failed• Can community punishment ever matchthe certainty that imprisonment seems tooffer?
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Rehabilitation: Work that focuses on• Risks• Needs• Responsivity• Multi-modal (different methods / skills)• Delivered as intended (programmeintegrity)• Community based14

What works? – where we are now• Some things work quite well – if conditions
are optimal• Some things work in one context but not
another e.g. prison / community• Some things work with some people but notothers – e.g. men / women, young / old• Programmes must be well-designed andtargeted at those who are ready to change• Programmes must be completed and must be
followed up by probation staff
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One to one supervision
Most common …
… and least researched

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Social Exclusion• Prisoners (and people subject tocommunity punishments) experiencehuge social disadvantage• This is linked with their offending …
• … and unless their life chances areimproved, further offending is likely toresult

17Social influences on crime anddesistance• accommodation• education, training and employment;• health• drugs and alcohol• finance, benefits and debt
• children and families• attitudes, thinking and behaviour
18Behaviour - a function of motivation,abilities and opportunities

Motivation

Abilities

Opportunities

19Offender Management andCoordination
Training,Education

Homelessness

OffenderManager

Treatmentfor druguse

Offendingbehaviour
programme
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Relationship• Without a guiding relationship, offendermanagement likely to be uncoordinated• A recurring finding … is that no method orintervention is any more effective than therest; rather it is common aspects of eachintervention that bring about change• Relationship skills … are at least as critical in
reducing re-offending as programme content• Ex-offenders much more likely to recall theinfluence of a person than of a programme21Some models of practice• Risks, Needs and Responsivity (Canada, USA,UK)• The Good Lives Model• Strengths-based models

22Restorative Justice – Reparation andMediationa. the response to crime should repair as much aspossible the harm suffered by the victim;
b. offenders should be brought to understand that
their behaviour has had real consequences forthe victim and the community;
c. offenders can and should accept responsibility
for their action;d. victims should have an opportunity to express
their needs and to participate in determining thebest way for the offender to make reparation;e. that the community has a responsibility tocontribute to this process.

24New technologies• Electronic monitoring

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New technologies• Remote monitoring – for example,
alcohol use• Voice recognition software – reporting toan electronic kiosk

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New technologies – Opportunitiesor threats?
• Will technology add to or replace the personalrelationship?
• Council of Europe prefers electronic monitoring
to be used to support rehabilitation• But in many cases perhaps monitoring isenough• Might some prefer an impersonal intervention?
• We must make sure that we use the technology
to support our work – technology should notlead it27

Strengths• Avoiding the negative effects of prison• Potential to support desistance• Flexibility• Relative costs• Represents the belief that people can change• Tries to promote social inclusion• Encourages communities to takeresponsibilities towards (ex)offenders andprobation can advise how to do this28

Weaknesses• Not easy to explain to courts and to the public• Does not always look like a punishment• Hard to find strong evidence that community
penalties achieve their objectives• Limited community involvement – community
penalties often means no more than ‘not in
prison’29

Opportunities• If used well, can contribute to lower
numbers in prison• To involve the community in recognisingits responsibilities in response to crime• Ensure that offenders have genuine accessto services available to the rest of thecommunity• Greater participation of victims• Potential to solve problems rather than
avoid them
• Starting to change the automatic
assumption that punishment must involve
prison30

Threats• ‘Net-widening’ – can bring more people
into the processes of criminal justice• Commercial expansion• Valued only as a device for reducing thenumbers in prison• More requirements lead to morepotential violations; then tightenforcement leads to more prison• Political demands for tough punishment
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The Future• Penal policy is influenced by social, political,economic and cultural factors• Community penalties have been able to adapt
by being presented in different ways – aspunishment, as rehabilitation, as control• Public confidence / legitimacy is importantand is won by stating clearly what you areattempting to do and then doing it well …
• … not by making unrealistic claims
32One future for community penalties• More surveillance and control• Attempts to be - and to present as punitive and prison-like• Increased technology replacing humanrelationships• More people drawn into expanding
system33

Another future• Community justice• Emphasis on social inclusion andopportunities to desist from crime• Crime seen as an indication thatsomething is wrong …
• bringing an opportunity for change forthe better• User voice34