Crime and Punishment / 1900-present
Crime and Punishment: Non-custodial Punishments
Not every offender went to prison. Modern courts often used punishment in the community instead.
What To Remember
- Non-custodial punishments punish offenders without sending them to prison.
- Probation, suspended sentences, parole, community service, ASBOs, tagging and rehabilitation orders gave courts more flexible choices.
- They were designed to reduce prison use, supervise offenders and tackle causes of crime such as addiction.
Probation and support
Probation began in 1907 and required offenders to meet regularly with a probation officer.
This kept offenders in the community while giving them supervision and support.
For young offenders, Youth Attendance Centres from 1948 offered weekly or daily sessions that taught basic life skills.
Alternatives to custody
Birching was abolished in 1962, showing a move away from corporal punishment.
Suspended sentences and parole were introduced in 1967, and community service began in 1972 with offenders completing 40 to 300 hours of unpaid work.
These punishments still restricted freedom, but they avoided the cost and disruption of prison.
Tagging and behaviour orders
Electronic tagging in the 1990s allowed curfews and movement restrictions to be monitored.
ASBOs from 2000 restricted where a person could go and who they could contact, targeting anti-social behaviour before it became more serious crime.
Rehabilitation for drug and alcohol addiction also reflected the modern belief that punishment should address causes of offending.
Revision Prompt
Why did punishment move away from prison for some offenders?