Citation

Jones PR. J. Crim. Justice 1991; 19(1): 49-66.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1991, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0047-2352(91)90082-7

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In 1980 Kansas implemented a Community Corrections Act (CCA), which, among other things, sought to alleviate the state's worsening prison-overcrowding problem by diverting offenders from custody into community-based programs. Against the background of a generally negative interpretation of the public-safety implications of the Minnesota Community Corrections Act, public-safety issues have become a primary concern in the broader debate surrounding “alternatives to incarceration.” This article examines reoffending by community-corrections clients in Kansas. The findings suggest that the level of reoffending was no different from that which might have been expected, given the individual risk characteristics of community-corrections defendants. The article concludes that if less costly and less personally damaging sentencing strategies are to be adopted whenever they appear at least as effective as imprisonment, then the case for continued use of community-corrections alternatives seems strong.