NCJ Number
87278
Journal
Angolite Volume: 7 Issue: 6 Dated: (November/December 1982) Pages: 70-81
Date Published
1982
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the nature of community service programs, the types of offenders generally involved in them, and some of the problems they pose for sentencing.
Abstract
Community service programs provide that an offender work so many wage-free hours doing work that will benefit the community. Although initially community service programs were perceived as alternatives to jail sentences, it now appears that community service is not lightening the load on other parts of the criminal justice system. Judges have used community service primarily as a sanction to add to probation. With few exceptions, community service programs are populated by white, middle-class, first-time offenders who have committed traffic violations or petty property offenses. Often, the only poor people doing community service are there because they cannot afford a fine. Most offenders involved in community service work perform such work as picking up trash in parks and along highways, clipping grass, or washing municipal vehicles. Many are assigned to clerical work such as stuffing envelopes and answering telephones. The bulk of community service work is probably done for private, nonprofit agencies in the offender's community (nursing homes, hospitals, and community centers). Many are worried about the volume of offenders being given community service work, because this dilutes the supervision required to keep the completion rate high. Further, those who want to govern the length of community service by the severity of the offense are pressing for long periods of community service, which are difficult to enforce. Community service sentences are most likely to be completed when there is some prodding, encouragement, of the threat of jail or prison if the work is not completed.