Alternative Sentencing For Recidivism
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Although alternative sentences to prisons are growing popular these days, many people still feel that prison punishment is the only form of real punishment for the offences that one commits.
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Alternative sentencing is basically used for those offenders who do not have a past criminal history or those whose records indicate that they can be trusted again.
Some criminals and offenders have a chronic tendency toward repetition of criminal or antisocial behavior, commonly referred to as recidivism. There are a number of alternative sentences that can be granted to a recidivist other than a prison sentence, which can have a therapeutic impact on the individual rather than a punitive effect. Alternate sentencing can help in reducing a person’s inclination towards drifting back to criminal activities.
A few options include participation in community service programs, work release, and detention in a rehabilitation centre or electronic monitoring. Other options include meditation and restitution, wherein the offender meets the victim under the supervision, and support of the community worker facilitates reconciliation and restores normalcy between them.
Another alternative sentence to prison includes work release and weekend sentencing, which is made available to prisoners who are on the verge of completing their term. Such programs allow the prisoners to work in close association with communities and prepare them to return to the community. They also allow inmates to earn money, reimburse the state for part of their confinement costs, build up savings for their eventual full release, and acquire more positive living habits. These attempts are basically used as a technique to reduce the tendency of recidivism in the prisoner.
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Alternative Sentencing For Recidivism
