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In England and Wales the unknown risk of a harsher penalty such as imprisonment is
avoided byproffering consent to perform communityservice, but the offender in so doing
is aware s/he may have equally miscalculated the offer of consent to perform community
service in lieu of a less stringent penalty such as a fine or probation. The offender has no
method of avoiding this dilemma of committing himself/herself to a sanction which will
require him/her to perform work with strangers, some of whom s/he may dislike or not
identify with. S/he must attend for such unpaid work over a period of weeks if not
months, at times which would curtail his/her leisure time and lifestyle. All of this work
activity is subject to surveillance and control which if not performed properly and in a
timelymanner will attract further penalties for non-compliance.
It would be naive to assume that an offender, particularly an habitual offender, when
placed on a community service order, would present as a well-adjusted and eager
participant in community service, although such generalisation may not be true for all
offenders. For those offenders who firmly believe that they have avoided a certain term
of imprisonment, there is a certain amount of relief but once the commitment required to
perform a community service order is fully appreciated especially when the order is one of
long duration of hours, realitysets in for such offenders (Vass 1990:118). The participant
observation study which Vass conducted (1984) provides a fascinating insight into the
working of community service schemes and in particular identifies behavioural and
attitudinal characteristics of offenders when working on community service schemes.
Vass noted a tendency towards dissociation on the part of offenders whether through
avoidance of work within the scheme or through absenteeism. Some offenders present
outwardlyas incapable of performing straight-forward tasks as a technique of avoidance of
work while others present as perpetuallyunwell on such schemes. Other offenders appear
willing to perform work but complain that the tools and materials are not being supplied
and this is frustrating of them. These reactions have been identified as being instrumental
adjustments on the part of offenders as solutions to the constraints of community service
organisation rather than personal characteristics or traits of individual offenders as Vass
notes:
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