Out in the open: What victims really think about community sentencing.

Source: (2012) London: Victim Support and Make Justice Work.

Victims’ views on community sentencing are
broadly in line with those of the wider public.
Victims are open to the use of community
sentences in dealing with lower level offences
and take a flexible view of sentencing which allows
for mitigating factors to be taken into account.
However, while they are open to community
sentences in principle, victims along with the wider
public have doubts about them in practice. Victims
are sceptical about whether offenders will take
community sentences seriously and how firmly
they will be held to account if they do not.
They have concerns about the credibility of
certain elements of community sentences, including
restorative justice, unpaid work in the community
or Community Payback, and electronic tagging.
Doubts also remain about whether community
sentences can effectively punish or deter offenders. (excerpt)