Advantages And Disadvantages Of Community Sentencing

The phrases non-custodial sentence, community sentencing and alternative sentencing are commonly used interchangeably to refer to the same concept. Community sentencing is phrase used in criminal justice to punish offenders that have been convicted without using either capital punishment. Community sentencing is subdivided into different categories such. The first type of community sentencing is compulsory work where offenders are required to work for a local community for up to 300 hours by performing tasks such as; removing graffiti from buildings and collecting litter. The second type of community sentencing involves taking the offender through a series of programs that can change his behavior. The other types of community sentencing include; …show more content…
Even though most of the community sentences are not soft, they are considered less harsh compared to prison sentences; implying that community service may not change the behavior of the offenders. The fourth criticism of community sentencing is that it does not make offenders to be ashamed of their behavior. Prisons are an unpleasant place that makes people to suffer from shame and public humiliation (Champion, Hartley and Rabe, 2011). The feeling of the society is that people that are subjected to community sentencing do not suffer public humiliation. Because they freely neither interact with members of the society, nor are they denied their basic rights and freedoms. To sum it all, the other demerit of community sentencing is that they are less high profile. Prison sentencing is considered the most severe punishment that the society or government gives to law breakers. Therefore, the type of sentencing that is used acts as a barometer of gauging how serious the government and the society take crime. Since community sentencing does not have the symbolic power of orison, it could imply that the society tolerates crime (Calvi and Coleman,