NCJ Number
137553
Date Published
1991
Length
237 pages
Annotation
This research examined the selection process for Community Service orders in Great Britain and emphasizes the stages of the process involving the Probation Service.
Abstract
The study used information from the literature, court records, and decision board analysis conducted with probation personnel in the West Midlands Probation Service in Birmingham, Solihull, and Sutton Coldfield. Results supported the argument that the selection process is best understood when placed in its context in the sentencing options of modern welfare state capitalism. The government sanctions the discretion of officials in the process and responds to the pressures of economic demands and weakening legitimation. The contradictions in the welfare state felt in the courts as fiscal pressures are counterbalanced by the need to control and coerce the marginal elements of society. Thus, welfare state professionals should not believe that they are free actors who promote individualized responses. In addition, no reform can produce a totally just penal process in an unjust society. Tables, chapter references, index, and over 200 references