COMMUNITY-BASED ALTERNATIVES TO PRISON - HOW THE PUBLIC AND COURT PERSONNEL VIEW THEM

An important factor that contributes to the success of community corre ctions programs is acceptance of them by the public and by the persons who work in the justice system, Authors Robert T. Sigler and David La mb report on a study designed to measure and compare the attitudes of community residents and court personnel regarding the use of community -based alternatives to prison, The study revealed that both groups hel d similar perceptions of the relative effectiveness of various sentenc ing alternatives but that court personnel had a more positive general orientation toward community corrections and toward the use of communi ty-based alternatives with first offenders than did community resident s.