The Virtual Prison Community Custody and the Evolution of Imprisonment Roberts

Cambridge University Press

The Virtual PrisonCommunity Custody and the Evolution of Imprisonment\nAuthor(s): Julian V. Roberts\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521536448, 978-0521536448\nSynopsis\nThe last twenty-five years have seen dramatic rises in the prison populations of most industrialised nations. Unable to keep up with increased numbers of convicted offenders, governments and criminal justice systems have been seeking new ways to control and punish offenders. One sanction adopted in Canada and some parts of Europe and the US is community custody which attempts to recreate the punitive nature of prison but without incarceration. This book analyses the effectiveness of this approach and explores its implications for offenders and society as a whole. It demonstrates that if properly conceived and administered, community custody can reduce the number of prison admissions and at the same time promote multiple goals .