The Virtual Prison: Community Custody and the Evolution of Imprisonment

By: Julian V. Roberts

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Synopsis: The 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 analyzes 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 of sentencing. So that offenders given community custody orders are punished yet also given the opportunity to change their lives in ways that would be impossible if they were in prison. Julian V. Roberts has been working in the area of sentencing and public opinion for over twenty years. He is Editor of The Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice and has written and co-edited ten books.