No issue is quite like that of short custodial sentences, which tick all of the wrong boxes. They are expensive, they risk destroying any positive links the individual may have with their home community, they fail to put in place any sustained reforming provision such as educational classes or therapeutic treatment, and they clog up the secure estate.
This is certainly not making a case for lengthening the sentences of those committed to custody. It is an unequivocal case for diverting those who currently receive short sentences to intensive community-based provision that severely curtails any space for self-indulgent liberty and requires compliance with proven positive activity. The latter would range from personally beneficial individual counselling and mentoring programmes to socially beneficial, and desirable, community payback and service. In between, there might be group-oriented activities that encourage young people's personal reflection and development, and gain a sense of social responsibility.
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