Alternatives to Prison (Paperback, Illustrated Ed)

As the UK and other nations 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 British government policy and society as a whole. This book, a product of the Coulsfield Commission and written by the leading authorities in the field, provides a comprehensive and wide-ranging review of the range of issues associated with using the variety of noncustodial sanctions, examining experiences in Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as England and Wales. The book will be essential reading not only for British government policy makers and criminal justice practitioners but for anyone with a professional or academic interest in prison, probation and the nature of societys response to wrong-doing. The chapters in the book cover such issues as trends in crime, victimization and punishment; sentencing frameworks; public opinion and community penalties;