Paying back: 30 years of unpaid work by offenders in Scotland

Citation

McIvor G (2010) Paying back: 30 years of unpaid work by offenders in Scotland. European Journal of Probation, 2 (1), pp. 41-61. http://www.ejprob.ro/index.pl/paying_back_30_years_of_unpaid_work_by_offenders_in_scotland

Abstract
This article considers the development and use of unpaid work as a penal sanction in Scotland, including its gradual introduction at differing points of the criminal justice process. It is argued that the community service order in Scotland – intended to serve as an alternative to imprisonment - has become a well-established sentencing option, though other penalties involving unpaid work have met with more conditional support. Community service has broadly resisted political pressures aimed at increasing its profile and punitiveness though there is a risk that contemporary policy developments that are aimed, ironically, at decreasing the Scottish prison population may, instead, result in its diversionary capacity being undermined.

Keywords
community service; Scotland; alternatives to custody; penal policy; Community service (Punishment); Community-based corrections Scotland; Work

Journal
European Journal of Probation: Volume 2, Issue 1

People

Professor Gillian McIvor

Emeritus Professor, Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology