Alternatives to Imprisonment.

Probation - allowed out but under strict instructions. getting the prisoners back into society and giving them a chance to prove themselves. HAVE TO BEHAVE TO GET IT - PAROLE. GET OUT EARLIER IS SEEN AS AN INCENTIVE. 

Aim; Investigate offenders experience of probation. 

Method; Questionnaire used with 3299 offenders who were randomly selected from 22 probation offices. London. likert scales also used. 

Procedure; Interviews were conducted by independent researchers at the selected offices - vast range of questions about offenders life/likelihood of re-offending. 

Results; 88% said probation was useful 60% felt that a probation officer would help them to sort out problems and talk to them. 37% felt that probation would not stop them re-offending altogether. NOT ONE OFFENDER FROM THE STUDY THOUGHT THEAT THEIR ORDER WAS INTENDED TO STOP THEM RE-OFFENDING & NEARLY 1/3 WENT ON TO COMMIT ANOTHER OFFENCE. 

Conclusion; Probation was seen in a positive light. 

Restorative Justice is where there is a mediation session where the victim gives an impact statement as to how the crime committed against them has affected them. In this the offender is willing to hear the victimes side and vice versa. R.J is tough for both the victim and the offender, but it allows them to come to reasonable decisions. It is mainly used for minor crimes. 

Aim; To see if restorative justice is effective in preventing re-offending. 

Method / Sample / Procedure; review / content analysis. Matched group design and there were 2 groups. group 1 - experienced R.J, group 2 - not experienced R.J. picked 36 people work worldwide. 

Results; Reductions in re-offending found in violence and property crime. more effective in cases with a personal victim. 

Conclusion; effective in some cases especially in young offenders as it is easier to be able to reform a young person. 

Looking at death row in USA, and how black offenders are more likely to be put on death row because of prejudice and it being 'stereotypical'. 

Aim; To see if black offenders with stereotypically black features will be more likely to receive the death sentence than offenders with less/none stereotypically black features. 

Procedure; Analysis of the database of death eligible cases in Philadelphia between 1979 & 1999. In 44 cases a black man had murdered a white victim. Their facial features were shown to naive rates who were asked to rate how stereotypically black their facial features were on a scale of 1 - 11. (p's - 51 raters from stanford uni.) p's were shown the black and white photos one at a time for 4 seconds, multiple variables were analysed at once to look for relationships between them to test for their affects on sentencing decisions such as aggrevating circumstances. 

Results; Stereotypically black defendents were more likely to receive the death sentence by 57% then the less stereotypically black by 24%. 

Conclusion; Black physical traits are associated with criminality and influence decision making in court.