When considering punishment options you are already dealing with the symptoms not the causes. A series of public opinion polls, commissioned by the Prison Complain about this comment (Comment number 73). We did complete some good work for the community but much more could be done. Champions of community punishment suggest they are also more effective, pointing to reoffending rates of around 36%, compared to 60% among those released from short sentences. I am sure that it isn't like this all over the country but at the end of the day it seems to be treated as a joke - a badge of honour, like an ASBO. As an example, someone who is unemployed and causes criminal damage to a motor vehicle might well get 40 hours community service as a punishment. ", Complain about this comment (Comment number 27). The Combination Order (combining probation and community service) was introduced in the 1991 C riminal Justice Act, with a probation element of 12 months to three years, and community service element of 40 to 100 hours. There should be a bank of people on community service where say an elderly person can call and get someone round to fix the garden for example. It's better than spending money on schools, parks, libraries, roads, etc. https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/non-custodial-sentences prison life cannot possibly be of use to young offenders in a country hard on crime,with so much crime being committed on a daily basis there is no room to breathe let alone be reconditioned to serve a useful life when released.Would it be correct in saying that most of the observations made on youngsters doing community service are in the large towns and cities,already cluttered with to too many people,any way,depends on where the work load is directed from and in whose area the service is held.To observe a cause and comment on the same issue of reforming the law is outlandish in a nation that has bred crime for several hundred years,in fact other nations have learnt from the discovery of how to live on crimehowever basic the need for crime is,there is nothing selfish about crime in your own back yard,when it happens the law will add it's bit to defend the rights of the criminal while the victim can still go on observing an' cussing the remedy for letting loose on the community a much needed service,like picking up litter,cleaning areas where the good people have thrown their rubbish away and like every other remedy there will always be another day for collecting rubbish. It is evidence current processes are deeply flawed.What does a community service order seek to achieve? You obviously have access to a computer, you have a brain, and must have seen the evidence that harsher regimes do NOT deter. A relative of mine was involved in running the "short sharp shock" program tried by the Tories in the early 80's. I expect the 'human rights' movement would veto that; they prefer crime to flourish rather than punish anyone. For the so called lesser crimes that people like to call them, we had how own deterrent.They were called parents, a mum and a dad, or a mother and father.Now more and more the rest of society as to do that job.As a child and young man and in fact at any time, I've never found it a problem showing respect to others.I was punished as a child when I did wrong, once I'd served my punishment it was forgotten and we all moved on.I get fed up today with people always making excuses for people who do wrong.Nearly all of them know what they are doing, for that reason I think the punishment should be a deterrent, which it clearly isn't at the moment.We have clearly been soft on crime for more years than I care to remember. Complain about this comment (Comment number 20), Complain about this comment (Comment number 21). Complain about this comment (Comment number 89). Bring back national service, thats the answer. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. So why are good behaviour bonds imposed more often than CSOs? Not only that, according to an Australian Institute of Criminology study, community service is far more economical than imprisonment, which is very expensive. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. Islam would emphasise the importance of retribution and deterrence rather than reform. Read more. Having seen the reaction on TV by some individual representing legislative law, my initial thought was, what a farce. In fact, any breach can lead to the CSO being revoked and a sentence of imprisonment being imposed. Many argued that offences punishable with community service do not really ample together. Currently, in order to be eligible for a CSO you must have committed a crime that is punishable by a prison sentence, and you must not be considered a risk to the community. Background. I was a CSV once, of my own volition, and it certainly wasn't easy. How does forcing the offender to do something the aggrieved is already doing equate to punishment bearing in mind that when the criminal has completed his 40 hours he just walks away. One must invest one's self esteem in that which is perceived as positive to one's self - but you would have people make a negative association with work as a form of punishment!!!! A look at documentaries of other countries (including the US) show prisoners in cells with multiple prisoners, no TVs, no playstations, no pandering.Can anyone, please, tell me why we shouldn't have that here?Because Cherie Blair, Shami Chakrabati and their ilk wouldn't allow it !!! Complain about this comment (Comment number 5). The second was tree planting where some of the men worked hard whilst others just leant on their spades.So my view of it is somewhat jaundiced and I remain to be convinced that as a punishment it is a soft option which is not properly enforced. They should be assigned tasks that normally get paid for with public money such as grafitti removal.So no, it didnt seem to be working. Complain about this comment (Comment number 91). But society won't start winning until it manages to create citizens who instinctively want to do the right thing, in the first place. Like any attempt at making a lifestyle change, the individual involved has to really, really WANT to make that change.Attending community service in a spirit of getting it done, getting it over with, isn't going to make the offender any different: but those who grasp the opportunity of structured support to turn their life around, to not even want to do whatever their offence was again, have a good chance of making that change happen.It's the same with gaol. Journal of Scandinavian Studies in Criminology and Crime Prevention, 2(1), 72-82. The investigation comes as Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke puts forward plans for more offenders to do community service instead of short prison sentences. Complain about this comment (Comment number 2). Islam. Prison should be used only for those offenders deemed to be too dangerous to be allowed to remain in society. Dear god. At 01:09am on 03 Sep 2010, devilzadvacate1 Why thanks for agreeing with my rational approach! If he misses work or skives they can report him and he will go back to court. It was renamed as the C ommunity Punishment and Rehabilitation Order (CPRO) in 2001. Community service is more effective than short jail terms for low level repeat offenders, experts will say. This means that large differences in the rates of offending can still only show a small percentage difference in the reoffending habits of those who received a CSO versus a good behaviour bond. These need to be replaced by people with some backbone - perhaps looking to the Army for an example. Complain about this comment (Comment number 83). This is the most important aim of punishment for a Christian. Seems curious to ask us if they really want to know.As far as I can see, so long as they are no worse, then CS would appear to save us a lot of money for no extra crime burden. Do they really need locking up in some already overcrowded prison so they can learn new (criminal) skills? A chance to kick back with friends or colleagues, enjoy a tea or a smoke (legal or otherwise) and discuss plans for the weekend (legal or otherwise). Complain about this comment (Comment number 94). (Not the party, I'm not that hard). If you aren't sure what RSS is you'll find our beginner's guide to RSS useful. Complain about this comment (Comment number 55). Stick them on the frontline then see if they offend again. I tried to get one to clean my high windows a coupleof years back but was told that only bodies of people (eg councils, companies etc) could be accommodated. One of those who made a comment suggested that individual people should be able to acquire the services of a community server. … Community service fits with the aim of reformation. Muliluvuori, M. L. (2001). The aggreived continues with this 'punishment' every week for perhaps 45 years. WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT???????? Complain about this comment (Comment number 15). End of subject. Let the government take a bite out of her life at the loss of her job, home, family and loved ones.. Let her as well be forced to live on the streets with nothing, and doing anything to stay alive. Complain about this comment (Comment number 57). “Community punishments are effective – often more effective than short prison sentence. The programs give young people the chance to build connections with business and people in their community. This community service scam is the thin end of the wedge. Complain about this comment (Comment number 51). Community Service remained largely unchanged (albeit it was the first aspect of Probation practice to be subject to National Standards in the early 1990’s) until it was renamed Community Punishment in 2000. Also keep them under guard at all times. At 9:14pm on 02 Sep 2010, Alan wrote:I would like to see young criminals sent to a boot camp, ran by the Army and taught disipline and team work"Against their human rights. You may have seen that international celebrities including Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan in the United States, and Boy George in the United Kingdom, have been required to perform community service. Unlike now where they have a TV games console, internet etc.Prison should be a punishment and not the cushy number it is now, Complain about this comment (Comment number 19). Jail should be the penultimate deterrent, the sort of place that even the hardest of hard men never want to go back to and not a Holiday Inn witha fence. Complain about this comment (Comment number 48). The evidence shows that community service is a "holiday camp" where offenders drink tea and smoke illegal drugs. Community service has never been a punishment. Chewing gum and graffiti removal. Under the Crimes (Sentencing and Procedure) Act, they can involve up to 500 hours of work in the community. Only an idiot would think that.It's not about crime rates in other countries, it's about punishment in this one.Why shouldn't prisons be a more basic punishment? All the evidence I've seen suggests that neither requirement is being met. Likewise I don't know what would be if these low lifes were birched instead. There is little point in spending a small fortune locking people up if all it does is confirm them in a life of crime. So why do you keep on saying that they do? Do community service sentences adequately punish the offender? It seems to me, and correct me if I am wrong - but community service is designed as a form of punishment which entails, predominately unemployed petty criminals, being forced to do essential or useful work for the community - to teach them a lesson,and as a negative consequence of their actions in breaking a law! Compulsory contribution to socially responsible work is just one option. Place orders with the warders via the correct channels and had, amongst other things, a digital radio delivered to him. Community service punishments are 'good news for people who like sitting around,' a judge declared yesterday. Complain about this comment (Comment number 22). There are several eastern european countries that spring to mind, after all their prisons must be empty as all their criminals are over here! Punishment without walls: Community service sentences in New York City. Does community service work? Punishment without walls: Community service sentences in Ne w. Y ork City. On the surface, from this latest 'sting', it looks as though the Probation Trust is a failed 'quango' that is over-funded and dangerously under-staffed by adequately trained professionals on the ground to enforce Community Service by offenders? Every healthy society should make its people work for an living, there should be no FREE giveaways, especially to those who breed irresponsibly and make everyone else pay for it. Community service can play a role but in many cases just isn’t tough enough. The rest was taken up drinking tea , lunch and waiting for supervivors to turn up. Complain about this comment (Comment number 54). I was disappointed. "Prison is terrible at reducing re-offending (if it was introduced now for the first time it would not last long, the re-offending rate would be all over the press).No matter what you may think of community service, and how much work is actually done, it is working for free (would you want to work for nothing? But the four experimental centres failed to have any impact on re-offending and were criticised for simply turning out fitter criminals.So expensive and didn't work. Community service must work, getting criminals to do some work or give back to the community is a good thing.However, just because in some cases the community service is or has been badly managed it does not make it wrong, it just means it needs to be run better.Personally I think dancing criminals is the way to go, that would give me a right laugh and make up for the fact that someone has assulted me or broken into my house or stolen my car...OooOooh a dancing queen...I can see it now..quick Mildred, get the sequins.. They can also be given as punishment for unpaid fines. but something for them to do in the daytime. Complain about this comment (Comment number 7). “But some offenders think when they are given a community punishment they are being let off. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. For certain categories of crimes and certain categories of offenders, especially young offenders and first-time offenders, community service would be appropriate," Akila says. As we cannot control many pupils in our schools, I find it difficult to see how we are able to find individuals who have the skill, character and powers to enforce discipline on our criminals in fairly 'open' situations. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The guy should take up acting. And in terms of rehabilitation, CSOs are often successful in helping young offenders rehabilitate and integrate back into society. By all means get prisoners into a routine doing a job but under no circumstances let them home at night. ‘Payback’, which was launched alongside Sir David Ramsbotham, the chief inspector of prisons, as they tried to persuade the public that non-custodial sentences can save money and benefit local environments. "The young people who I come across in my life doing this, seem a very nice bunch, but you get a few bad ones'? Back to prison for the lot of them. She wants the current system to be radically changed. Community service orders (CSOs) are available for both State and Commonwealth criminal offences. I recently had to do 4 weeks of work (160 hours) at a recycling plant, oh and the crime i committed , being unemployed!!!! But short term, better discipline / control of community service seems necessary. On the other hand, where we need work done- painting an old peoples' home for example, the residents don't trust the people near their homes as they think they are crooks!I personally think that community payback is a good idea. This is because community service is not harsh enough to educate and rehabilitate the offenders compare to imprisonment. On another topic last week someone raised what I thought was a brilliant idea.If we cant afford to either imprison criminals or build more prisons why dont we sub-contract it out to countries with spare prison beds? It seems to work quite well in this area. Anything less is simply creating problems for the future. Complain about this comment (Comment number 96), 69. Read more. Complain about this comment (Comment number 28). Furthermore, why must people howl for blood? A breach of a community sentence can trigger an instant prison sentence. Is community service too easy?The pictures were filmed by ITV1's Tonight programme and have led to the government's victims' commissioner, Louise Casey, saying that it is "disgraceful". This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Complain about this comment (Comment number 77). Complain about this comment (Comment number 85). The reason why community service doesn't work is because, the people who are meant to inforce community service either don't have any powers to force these people, or just think the hassle just isn't worth the effort on council staff wages.The community service should be taken over by the CSO (community support officer) devision of the police, so that when convicted people are sentenced to do community service, they actually do it or face stiffer punishment from people who inforce the law. To learn more about other criminal penalties, offences and information about the criminal justice system, visit our regularly updated blog. Community sentences . Then lets see what she has to say. It could work very well - if OUR Councils reconsidered their PC biassed atitudes and did what their local Tax-payers have a right to expect. Complain about this comment (Comment number 63). Justice Secretary, Ken Clarke MP QC., now responsible, should find the stats and publish what 'Community Service' has achieved over the last five years perhaps?If Ken Clarke's only brief is to cut prison admissions - then that will certainly be a distorted stat for the next election?In conclusion, if the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke wishes to maintain credibility - then he must explain and provide clear evidence of his current views of reducing prision admissions, plus, his evidence that offender community service works for the offenders and their victims? Probably the first time that had happened to a lot of them,and they benefited from it. there was a time when kids used to play 'kick the tin'in the twilight hours of autumn,an exciting time for kids before responding to the call for bedtime,that was then when days and nights were clad in cotton wool and people loved each other without any ill feeling or bawling the kids down because of their heaven sent happiness.If a kid makes a noise today,heaven is shut down,and all the tins are selected for recycling,and community service is marked up for down grading the local village and the green is seldom used to encourage young life to be happy.The mood of the nation is below the norm and if to play music is a paupers dream,and happy hour means the pub,what on earth has any kid done to deserve the harsh treatment of joining the chain gang? This means that minor criminals are neither being punished nor reformed.It's an easy option for politicians, judges and magistrates - a tick in the box, no great cost, problem gone away. Would this not make you more resentful of society, and incline you towards further anti-social behaviour? Society needs to get serious with criminal behaviour and deal with it as a crime not as a cry for help by a few misguided children.What is a suitable sentence or punishment? i have recently completed some unpaid work and I can confirm everything what the programs shows it true. Complain about this comment (Comment number 18), The penal system is a joke, not just community service.Prisoners rights bill??? No: We should re-introduce the stocks in town centres, rotten cabbage, tomatoes and flogging. How does it compare to sending people to prison? (suitably equipped). Unfortunately any activity associated with the do-gooders in social services or the probation services is doomed to failure. 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