Book Reviews : The Case for Radical Alternatives to Prison R.A.P., 104 Newgate Street, London, E.C.1. 10p

DOI10.1177/026455057101700209
Published date01 June 1971
Date01 June 1971
Subject MatterArticles
60
Inevitably
such
a
system
would
need
a
large
increase
in
the
staff
of
the
prisons’
wages
offices.
But
in
view
of
the
drop
in
the
amount
of
work
going
to
the
Department
of
Health
and
Social
Security
that
would
result
from
the
loss
of
prisoners’
&dquo;custom&dquo;,
staff
that
would
become
redundant
might
transfer
to
the
prisons
wages
offices
after
some
training.
The
money
sent
to
the
dependants
would
come
from
the
prison
rather
than
the
local
Office
of
the
D.H.S.S.
and
so
would
only
come
from
a
different
pocket
of
the
community
rather
than
being
an
additional
drain.
This
system
would
cost
more
when
prisoners
arc
engaged
only
on
purely
internal
work
such
as
cleaning
or
maintaining
the
establishment,
and
the
employers
contribu-
tion
to
the
insurance
stamp
that
the
prison
may
pay.
There
would
be
other
problems
of
administration,
but
these
could
be
solved,
especially
.if
more
consideration
could
be
given
to
the
individual
circumstances
of
each
prsoner
in
respect
of
work
needs.
The
hardest
problem
to
overcome
would
be
the
finding
of
sufficient
work
of
the
right
kind
for
often
unskilled
prisoners,
and
providing
the
premises
for
it.
Even
so,
there
is
often
sufficient
work
and
premises
for
the
payment
of
wages
in
the
way
suggested
without
waiting
for
the
ideal
work
situation.
Obviously
also
the
co-
operation
of
employers
and
Trade
Unions
would
be
a
vital
factor.
Probably
the
greatest
hindrance
to
the
reformation
of
a
prisoner
is
his
flight
from
reality.
By
forcing
at
least
some
degree
of
reality
upon
him
the
extra
cost
to
the
community
may
soon
be
saved
by
fewer
reconvictions.
E. R.
BRADY
BOOK
REVIEWS
The
Case
for
Radical
Alternatives
to
Prison
R.A.P.,
104
Newgate
Street,
London,
E.C.1.
10p
Within
the
space
of
a
few
months
R.A.P.
has
established
itself
as
a
vigorous
pressure
group
campaigning
against
the
irrelevance
and
futility
of
the
prison
sentence,
whilst
at
the
same
time
setting
up
an
information
centre
on
alternatives
in
the
community.
This
ambitious
pamphlet,
their
first
publication,
offers
a
comprehensive
survey
of
non-custodial
alternatives
already
tested
or
currently
in
use.
Most
of
the
material
is
drawn
from
experiments
in
the
United
States
or
this
country
but
it
also
contains
descriptive
accounts
of
the
Van
der
Hoeven
clinic
in
Utrecht
for
persistent
criminals
and
the
&dquo;directed
probation&dquo;
scheme
in
Germany.
It
covers
alternatives
in
nine
broad
areas:
non-residential
centres
for
adults;
hostels
and
half-way
houses;
extended
use
of
probation;
alternatives
for
young
people;
treatment
facilities
for
drug
addicts
and
alcoholics ;
psychiatric
provision ;
alternatives
for
professional
criminals ;
and
victini-offen-
der
schemes.
Much
stress
is
laid
on
the
community
and
agencies
providing
a
social
climate
in
which
offenders
are
given
the
opportunity
to
examine
and
experience
alternatives
related
to
a
realistic
choice
between
delinquent
and
non-delinquent
behaviour.
Prison
life,
they
suggest,
cannot
allow
the
offender
to
make
the
decisions
or
face
the
conflicts
that
he
would
experience
in
the
more
testing
setting
of
the
community.
By
comparison,
the
pamphlet
cites
the
cre-
ative
use
that
can
be
made
of
the
ex-
offender
by
describing
the
New
Careers
movement
in
the
U.S.A.
in
which
selected
offenders
worked
alongside
probation
officers
in
rehabilitation
schemes
for
juveniles
and
parolees.
Overall,
despite
some
inaccuracies
and
omissions,
this
survey
is
a
timely
re-
minder
to
those
engaged
in
thinking
about
treatment
programmes
in
the
com-
munity.
It
is
a
useful
document
for
discussion
purposes
and
a
further
stimu-
lus
to
action
on
a
broad
front.
JOHN
HARDING

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