Limiting Prison Use: Experience in England and Wales1

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Abstract
This paper reviews policies adopted in England and Wales, especially since 1965, in attempts to limit the prison population. It is shown that measures designed as ‘alternatives to custody’ have had little success in reducing the prison population. Measures designed to shorten the length of custodial sentences have had more impact on the size of the population, but at the cost of several anomalies. It is suggested that few outside observers see in present government policy any real likelihood of improving the recent rather dismal track record of attempts to limit prison use in England.

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