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sentenced had a record of earlier imprisonment. Forty two per cent of those imprisoned
during 1981 had a record of 4 or more imprisonments while 55% of females sentenced in
1981 had served 1 or more earlier sentences (NESC 1984:160). Moreover, the experience
learned by the prisoners of early release may have diluted significantly any special or
deterrent effect especially in relation to female offenders who received early release more
quicklydue to the scarcityof prison accommodation.
The perception that prison has ceased to have a deterrent effect was borne out by the
studies above. The extent to which community service would act as an agent of change in
the behaviour of the offender was promoted in the White Paper and reflected in the
Oireachtas debates. The introduction of any new sanction is usually accompanied by a
sense of optimism that finally a useful sanction has been devised which will make a
significant difference where others have failed. As recidivist rates for community service
were perforce unknown, this required a certain leap of faith that community service would
reduce offendingbehaviour.
7. Community as a Location for Punishment
The White Paper (1981) in keeping with the Wootton Report (1970), suggested the
advantages of maintaining an offender in employment with a minimum disruption of
family life and away from the corrosive influence of habitual offenders was far more
preferable as a setting for the imposition of a penalty than imprisonment. Moreover, the
community would benefit from such work done by persons sentenced to community
service which would not otherwise be done (White Paper 1981: par. 7). Some experience
of prisoners working on community projects had already been gained in the Irish prison
system and the results were deemed positive both for the community and for prisoners
alike. Moreover, public sentiment, influenced bymedia coverage and bypublications such
as Crime and Punishment (MacBride 1982) increasinglyquestioned the necessityto incarcerate
a large number of prisoners who might otherwise be capable of serving their sentence in a
communitysetting. Public sentiment, insofar as it could be considered a true reflection of
community attitudes, was receptive of the possibility that certain offenders might be
suitable to serve out a sentence within a community setting. The extent to which this
tolerance would extend to medium to serious offending was tested by certain views
expressed in the Dail Debates by Deputy Gahan and Deputy Tunny who spoke of the
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