Putting the Community Back Into Community Sentences

good behaviour with first time offenders. The growth of restorative Putting the community back justice and mentoring programmes, stimulated by funding from the Youth Justice Board, is leading to a into community sentences substantial role both for individual volunteers and for voluntary organisations in work with young Rob Allen suggests how greater involvement by the offenders. On the adult side, the enforcement community in community based justice can be and 'What Works' agendas are taking achieved. community sentences in a rather different direction. Community hat do a Massachusetts enforcement agency. Service too is being seen more and shoemaker and a One way of balancing the growing more as a punishment and less and less W Hertfordshire printer have trend towards repression might be to as an opportunity to make good, in common? The answer is that thanks put back the community into acquire skills and earn back to the efforts of John Augustus in community sentences. The term acceptance into the community. 182O's Boston and Rainer in 1870's community has recently been used Western probation services have with London, Police Courts began to defer largely as a counterpoint to custody. honourable exceptions been reluctant the sentences of selected alcoholic There is a more positive use of the term to exploit the availability of defendants who would instead receive that means not only that an offender is volunteers. It will be unfortunate if the practical support and care aimed at allowed to remain living in the growing specialisation of the reforming them. These small scale and community rather than in prison but probation role in England and Wales local initiatives were starting a process also that ordinary members of the tends to weaken further the link that has led to the modern day public can contribute in various ways between civil society and the treatment community sentence. to the supervision of offenders. of offenders. Very early on, a formalised agency There are signs of growing providing professional expertise to community involvement around the treat the underlying individual world largely with non-violent, low Beyond cognitive pathology of the offender began to seriousness crimes. In the American behavioural replace the more straightforward and state of Vermont, the content of a practical community response to probation order is decided not by the programmes offending. The first paid probation court or probation officer but by a For one thing the successful officer was appointed as early as 1878 Reparative Panel, comprising ordinary rehabilitation of offenders is as much in the USA while by the time of the citizens. Meeting in public, they if not more to do with the Probation of Offenders Act in 1907 interview the offender and decide how opportunities offered to them by their there were 143 Police Court he or she should make amends for their local communities - accommodation, Missionaries in England. crime and how best they can be helped work, leisure, support - as it is a to stay out of trouble. With help from question of effecting change in the the panel, offenders are responsible for behaviour, thoughts and attitudes of Putting the community negotiating their own community individual miscreants. Extending the into sentences service hours directly with local social inclusion agenda to offenders The creation of a national probation voluntary organisations that supervise requires the winning of hearts and service in the Criminal Justice and the placements. Such direct minds as well as cognitive behavioural Court Services Bill will arguably relationships between offenders and programmes. complete a journey, which has taken communities also characterises Of course the greater involvement community sentences a long way from alternatives to prison in parts of the of communities, whether in decision- their voluntary and community roots. developing world where the model of making or in supervision requires The recent redefinition of the probation Community Service first established in safeguards. People who get involved role in terms of public protection, the Zimbabwe is gaining substantial need to have integrity and reliability, current emphasis on the strict ground across Africa. although the range of attitudes and enforcement of orders according to beliefs with which they approach the increasingly prescriptive national Role of volunteers task should not be trained out of them. standards and the priority being given On the other hand, communities can to the provision of accredited Alongside this growing 'community be even more repressive and programmes of 'effective practice' justice' movement, there seems to be a discriminatory than the formal have combined to move the centre of renaissance in volunteer involvement criminal justice system, which acts on gravity away from the community and in community sentences. In the early their behalf. Getting the balance right further into the heart of the criminal 1990's the Orange County Probation is crucial. justice system. There is some way to Department in California established The prize is worth it. The greater go before the California Probation Volunteer Probation Officers, similar involvement of ordinary people in motto of 'surveill 'em, nail 'em, jail in concept to reserve officers in the dealing with offenders promises to 'em' applies to community sentences police. These played a key role in wean public opinion away from the in Britain. Yet the narrow escape from sustaining the groundbreaking eight mindlessly punitive default position being named the Community per cent programme that identifies and propounded by the media and Punishment and Rehabilitation Service intervenes intensively with potential sometimes the government. It can and growing interest in blurring the serious repeat offenders. introduce citizens to the complexity distinction between custody and In England and Wales, community of crime problems and help us to see community in more seamless sentences involvement is increasing too, what is needed to solve the crime suggests the debate about screws on particularly on the youth side. The problem in an effective and civilised wheels is not far from being revived. Referral Order to be piloted from June way. _ The government has made it clear that introduces Youth Offender Panels they regard the service as a law comprising community members that Rob Allen is Director of Research and will agree a contract of reparation and Development at NACRO Cjm no. 39 Spring 2000.

Load more