Contamination Theory and Unpaid Community Work
| Date | 01 June 1995 |
| Published date | 01 June 1995 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486589502800203 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Contamination Theory and Unpaid
Community Work*
Christopher Trottert
Community work has been available as a sentencing disposition in Australia
for about 15 years. Little is known, however, about the relative impact
of
different types of community work placements on offenders. There is some
evidence that when offenders are placed on worksites with other offenders,
they may be influenced by those offenders
and
in tum become more
criminal. On the other hand, offenders who are placed on worksites where
they either work on their own, or alongside members of the community, may
be influenced in amore prosocial direction.
This study considers this issue and finds that offenders placed on worksites
with other offenders are more likely to commit breaches of their orders in
comparison to those placed on individual worksites. Whilst those placed on
group worksites are more likely to be high risk offenders, the differences
remain significant, even when the levels of risk are taken into account.
Introduction
The sentencing of criminal offenders to undertake unpaid community work as
a penalty for their crimes has been taking place in Victoria and most other
states in Australia for almost fifteen years. In some other countries it has been
available as a sentencing disposition since the 1960s (McIvor 1992).
Anecdotal evidence from people who have worked in the administration
and oversight of community work programs suggests that the interaction
between offenders on community work sites may often be problematic. Stories
are sometimes heard of drug exchanges on worksites, of impressionable
young offenders learning 'the tricks of the trade' from more experienced or
'hardened' offenders, and of offenders committing offences with other
offenders they have met on worksites. Anecdotal evidence again suggests that
offences are sometimes committed on the worksites themselves. These
offences range from minor offences such as damage to equipment, to serious
assaults of other offenders. On the other hand, workers in the field sometimes
hear good news stories about offenders placed in community agencies where
their work was so good, that after completion of their community work, they
were offered a paid job by the director of the agency.
The study reported in this article considers whether some worksites are
more likely to have a positive effect on offenders in comparison to other
worksites, or alternatively, whether some worksites are more likely to have a
negative effect on offenders, in comparison to others.
It considers whether offenders placed on worksites with other offenders are
more likely to breach their orders, or to commit further offences, than
offenders placed on sites where they work alone orwhere they work alongside
members of the community.
*Received: 14 March 1994; accepted in revised form 9 December 1994.
tPhD, Senior Lecturer, Social Work Department, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3168.
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