NCJ Number
137829
Journal
Research Bulletin Issue: 31 Dated: (1991) Pages: 16-21
Date Published
1991
Length
6 pages
Annotation
The National Standards for Community Service Orders (CSO's), introduced in April 1989, appear to be responsible for both a reversal of the decline in the use of the order and a substantial increase in the number of offenders convicted of breach of requirements.
Abstract
Data were collected from all 55 probation services from April 1989 and were analyzed for the eight quarters up until the end of March 1991 to assess the impact of the National Standards. Both the Probation Statistics and the National Standards Monitoring show an increase in the rate of conviction for breach of CSO's in 1988 and 1989 and continuing through 1990 to the first quarter of 1991. Analysis of the first 2 years of data show an increase both in the number of breaches and an increase in the number of orders started, with a particularly substantial increase in the fourth quarter of monitoring, January to March 1990. The number of convictions for breach has increased steadily quarter by quarter. In both years, the majority of offenders were breached after three unacceptable absences, and there was a decline between the 2 years in the proportion of offenders breached after four or more absences. 2 tables and 10 references