Doing Hours Instead of Time: Community Service as an Alternative to Imprisonment
| Author | Gerald Cromer |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486587801100108 |
| Published date | 01 March 1978 |
| Date | 01 March 1978 |
54
ANZJ
Crim
(1978) 11
DOING
HOURS INSTEAD
OF
TIME:
COMMUNITY SERVICE
AS
AN ALTERNATIVE
TO
IMPRISONMENT
Gerald
Cromer"
Introduction
Worsening prison conditions
and
a
growing
movement
in favour of
community
based
corrections
prompted
the
British
government
to set up a
committee
on "Non-custodial
and
Semi-custodial
Treatment
of
Offenders".'
One
of its central
recommendations
was
the
introduction
of
Community
Service as a
constructive alternative to Imprisonment." On the strength of
the
committee's
recommendation
and
the
public interest
that
it
generated,
the
Home
Office set
up a working
party
to examine
the
feasibility of
the
scheme. It
favoured
the
implementation
of
the
Wootten
Committee
report
with only a
few
minor
modifications to
the
initial proposals.
Community
Service schemes
were
set
u~
on an
experimental
basis in six
probation
and
after-care
areas in
January
1973.3A
Home
Office
Research Unit
evaluation study"
carried
out
during
the
first 18 months
of
the
experiment
reached
the conclusion that the idea is a viable one."
Consequently
probation
and
after-care
committees
throughout
England
and
Wales
were
invited to
provide
similar
schemes
as soon as
practicable
after
April 1975. Within five
months
over
three-quarters of
them
had
done
SO.6
The Law
The
legal
aspects
of
Community
Service
are
incorporated
in sections 15-19 of
the
Criminal Justice
Act
1972.
They
can
be
summarized
as
follows:-
(1) A
court
dealing with a
man
or
woman
over
the age
of
17
who
is convicted
of an
offence
punishable
with
imprisonment
may
make
a
Community
Service
Order
requiring
the
offender
to
perform
unpaid
work
for
between
40
and
240
hours within 12
months
following the
order.
(2) Before
making
a
Community
Service
Order
the court
must
have
(i)
considered
asocial enquiry
report;
(ii)
obtained
the
defendant's
consent;
(iii)
be
satisfied
that
there is not only a
scheme
in existence,
but
that suitable
work
is available for the
offender
to
perform.
(3)
The
duties of
the
offender
subject to a
Community
Service
Order
are
(i) to
report
to the relevant
Community
Service organizer;
(ii) to
inform
him
of any change of address;
(iii) to
perform
the
work
specified in the
order
at such times as he
may
be
instructed to do so.
• PhD Lecturer in Criminology, Bar-Han University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.
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