Alternatives to Imprisonment: Intentions and Reality

Alternatives to imprisonment become all the more important with the almost worldwide increase in incarceration. While knowledge about the destructive effects of imprisonment is well-documented, there is less scientific evidence as to the effectiveness of its alternatives. In Alternatives to Imprisonment, Ulla V. Bondeson undertakes a unique socio-legal and criminological study of the impact of three alternative sanctions: conditional sentence, standard probation, and probation with institutional treatment.

Bondeson thoroughly researches the history of alternative treatments, the genesis of the Swedish Penal Code, and the goals of criminal policy. She further examines the implementation of the sanctions by the courts, probation officers, lay supervisors, institutional staff, and how treatment is perceived by offenders throughout the process. Bondeson's extraordinary work also includes a recidivism study demonstrating considerable and surprising differences among rates of relapse, even when controlling for risk groups. She finds that those sentenced to conditional prison sentences had the lowest rates of criminal relapse. Those on probation had higher rates of relapse, while a combination of probation and institutional approaches had the highest rates. The author shows that despite the legislator's intent to improve the possibilities for re-socialization, principally the opposite result ensued. However, compared with the results of treatment in correctional institutions, the alternatives to imprisonment prove much more effective and less costly. Based on her findings, Bondeson makes a considerable number of practical suggestions for effective reform of penal law and treatment of offenders. Many of her proposals have also been subsequently implemented.

Alternatives to imprisonment become all the more important with the almost worldwide increase in incarceration. While knowledge about the destructive effects of imprisonment is well-documented, there is less scientific evidence as to the effectiveness of its alternatives. In Alternatives to Imprisonment. Ulla V. Bondeson undertakes a unique socio-legal and criminological study of the impact of three alternative sanctions: conditional sentence, standard probation, and probation with institutional treatment.

Bondeson thoroughly researches the history of alternative treatments, the genesis of the Swedish Penal Code, and the goals of criminal policy. She further examines the implementation of the sanctions by the courts, probation officers, lay supervisors, institutional staff, and how treatment is perceived by offenders throughout the process. Bondeson's extraordinary work also includes a recidivism study demonstrating considerable and surprising differences among rates of relapse, even when controlling for risk groups. She finds that those sentenced to conditional prison sentences had the lowest rates of criminal relapse. Those on probation had higher rates of relapse, while a combination of probation and institutional approaches had the highest rates. The author shows that despite the legislator's intent to improve the possibilities for re-socialization, principally the opposite result ensued. However, compared with the results of treatment in correctional institutions, the alternatives to imprisonment prove much more effective and less costly. Based on her findings. Bondeson makes a considerable number of practical suggestions for effective reform of penal law and treatment of offenders. Many of her proposals have also been subsequently implemented.

"Once again, the renowned criminologist, Ulla Bondeson, has written a penetrating analysis of Swedish policies that should be of interest to policymakers and scholars throughout the English-speaking world. Carefully researched and clearly written, this book will become one of the standard studies on alternatives to imprisonment." -- Malcolm M. Feeley, University of California. Berkeley

Booknews

Originally published in 1994 (Westview Press), Bondeson's (criminology, U. of Copenhagen) text examines the history of alternative treatments, the genesis of the Swedish Penal Code, and the goals of criminal policy, and provides suggestions for reform of penal law and treatment of offenders. In a study of community correction in Sweden, the author analyzes recidivism rates, their correlates and predictors, for those receiving three kinds of community penalty; the perceptions of the case supervisors of the types of assistance and control they provide; and the clients' perceptions of the supervision they receive. The new edition includes Bondeson's updated account of the Swedish penal system, based on the latest reports of official penal committees and the criminal statistics. No subject index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Daryl Glaser is an associate professor in the Department of Political Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

Ulla V. Bondeson has been professor of criminology at the University of Copenhagen since 1980 and was previously professor of sociology of law at Lund University. She has also been a guest professor at several American universities, including Harvard and Yale.

Ulla V. Bondeson has been professor of criminology at the University of Copenhagen since 1980 and was previously professor of sociology of law at Lund University. She has also been a guest professor at several American universities, including Harvard and Yale.