NCJ Number
155777
Date Published
1994
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This analysis of reconviction rates for offenders in England and Wales sentenced to community service orders, probation orders with requirements of attendance at a probation center, probation orders without requirements, and imprisonment concluded that the sentence by itself did not have a major impact on whether or not someone was likely to be reconvicted.
Abstract
The sample of 18,000 offenders sentenced to community penalties or released from prison in 1987 came from the Home Office Probation Index, Prison Index, and Offenders Index. Information was collected on age, gender, criminal history, the current offense, and the reconvictions occurring within 2 years of the release from prison or the community sentence. Results produced no clear indication that custody outperformed community sentences or vice versa in preventing recidivism. However, four important factors limit these results. The study was unable to include social factors, probation and prison practices have changed over the last 7 years, variations have always existed in the quality of work with offenders, and the findings relate only to recidivism and say nothing about other purposes of sentencing. Figures, table, and list of related publications