Source: (2005) In Traggy Maepa, ed., Beyond Retribution: Prospects for Restorative Justice in South Africa. Monograph no. 111, February. Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, with the Restorative Justice Centre. Downloaded 9 August 2005.
This article examines the effectiveness of the growing trend towards prison sentences in South Africa as compared to the number of non-prison sentences. The article employs numerous charts to explain the relationship between the sentence and the likelihood of the offender to re-offend, and then suggests that a restorative approach may be more successful given the data on the types of crimes committed and sentences served. Among the benefits to alternative sentencing noted by Muntingh are appropriateness, integration and rehabilitation, cost effectiveness and lowered prison populations. Muntingh concludes with a helpful list of factors needed for a successful alternative sentencing program, including characteristics of eligible offenders and a summary of the process needed to effectuate the sentences. Abstract courtesy of the Marquette University Law School-Restorative Justice Initiative http://law.marquette.edu/cgi-bin/site.pl?2130&pageID=1831
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