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Community Service as Reintegration: Exploring the Potential

Gelsthrope, Loraine
June 4, 2015

Source: (2004) IN, George Mair,ed., What Matters in Probation?. Cullompton, Devon,UK: Willan Publishing. Pp. 229-254.

Community service for offenders has been practiced in England and Wales for some time now. It has been variously conceived as simply a cheaper and more constructive alternative to incarceration for certain crimes, as reparation to the community, as punishment suitable to the crime, and as rehabilitation for the offender. Following the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000, the community service order has been renamed the community punishment order. Community punishment has been incorporated into the What Works agenda for the probation service. In this context, Loraine Gelsthorpe and Sue Rex draw upon recent findings from research on community service xe2x80x93 the term they prefer to community punishment xe2x80x93 their aim being to clarify and emphasize the rehabilitative and reintegrative potential of community service. This research covered the Pathfinder community service projects initiated in the mid 1990s in ten probation areas in England and Wales. Additionally, since little reflection has been given to women and community service in the past, Gelsthorpe and Rex give special attention to research findings regarding women.

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