Rehabilitation- treatment/ training can run alongside community services, 34% reoffend compared to 50-75% for prison;
Research shown that after a community sentence, only 34% of offenders committed a further crime, in comparison to 64% of those with a custodial sentence of less than 12 months. They are particularly useful for people who have multiple previous convictions. They aim to tackle some of the underlying reasons for offending – e.g. unemployment, lack of education, drugs misuse, mental health problems etc. Programs are in place to address some of these needs. BUT in 2013, the BBC reported that more than ¾ of people sent to prison the previous year had at least one previous community sentence, suggesting they aren’t as effective as they might be. The use of community sentences halved in the last decade.