Eid Mohammad Ahmadi
Criminal studies show
that despite all the reforms made in the prison systems of countries in recent
years, which have improved the physical and repair conditions of prisons, they
have not resulted in significant or noteworthy outcomes for the rehabilitation
of offenders or the prevention of crime, and crime rates are on the rise. As a
result, in recent years, criminologists have been prompted to reconsider the
punishment system, leading to the development and implementation of
alternatives to incarceration, primarily legislated and applied in developed
countries. In the recent decade, the country’s criminal policy has adopted this
idea and experience, addressing it through legislation. Part of the Penal Code
has been dedicated to defining and forecasting alternatives to imprisonment,
with Article 150 addressing various alternatives to imprisonment and Article
162 focusing on community service and its conditions. Community service is a
form of social reaction in which a person is engaged in voluntary or
semi-voluntary work in a public institution by court order. This type of judicial
response aims at the rehabilitation and reform of the convicted individual
through preventing the negative consequences of imprisonment. One of the most
important foundations of community-based punishment is the social
rehabilitation and reintegration of the offender, as well as reducing the
economic, social, and family costs that imprisonment imposes on society. Data
and findings from countries that have employed this approach show positive and
acceptable results. The country's criminal policy, aware of this effective and
beneficial approach, has legislated the use of community and social services as
alternatives to imprisonment, and this research aims to raise awareness and
support this new approach by discussing the conditions, governing principles,
and mechanisms for its implementation.
Keywords: Crime, Imprisonment, Alternatives to Imprisonment,
Community Service, and Rehabilitation