As the UK and many other western societies face up to the consequences of a rapidly increasing prison population, so the search for alternative approaches to punishment and dealing with offenders has become an increasingly urgent priority for government policy and society as a whole.
This book reports the results of the research programme commissioned by the Coulsfield Inquiry into Alternatives to Prison, which was funded by the Esmée Fairbairn 'Rethinking Crime and Punishment' initiative. It is written by leading authorities in the field, and provides a comprehensive, authoritative and wide-ranging review of the range of issues associated with the use of noncustodial sanctions, examining experiences in Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales.
Preface 1. How Did We Get Here? 2. Trends in Crime, Victimisation and Punishment 3. Empirical Research Relevant to Sentencing Frameworks 4. Public Opinion and Community Penalties 5. Punishment as Communication 6. Diversionary and Nonsupervisory Approaches to Dealing with Offenders 7. Reparative and Restorative Approaches 8. Rehabilitative and Reintegrative Approaches 9. Electronic Monitoring and the Community Supervision of Offenders 10. Dealing with Substance-misusing Offenders in the Community 11. Intensive Projects for Prolific/Persistent Offenders 12. What Guides Sentencing Decisions? 13. Sentence Management 14. Dimensions of Difference 15. Attitudes to Punishment in Two High-crime Communities 16. Pulling some threads together
