The Non - Custodial Sentencing Project

“Chance to Change”, NICRO’s Non-Custodial Sentencing Project, is currently operating in 25 magistrate courts around South Africa, and will continue to grow over the next few years.

What are Non-Custodial Sentences?

Non-custodial sentences (NCS) are sentences served outside of prison. NICRO believes that prison is not the best option for many offenders, and in some cases, sending an offender to prison simply makes their behavioural problem worse. Instead, suitable offenders can be sentenced to programmes and services designed to address their behaviour. These sentences can be carried out in the community.

In this way, the root causes of the criminal behaviour are addressed and offenders are afforded the opportunity to turn their lives around. When a non-custodial sentence includes attending therapeutic services and programmes, the offender’s behaviour can be changed. By making therapeutic services available at courts, NICRO seeks to encourage the courts to sentence suitable offenders to a non-custodial sentence to be carried out in the community, rather than send those offenders to prison.

Non-custodial sentencing is a sentencing practice that has gained momentum, both internationally and within South Africa over the recent years. Traditionally, incarceration was seen as the only possible response to crime and the criminal justice system’s emphasis was on punishment. This theory of punishment presumes that by depriving offenders of their liberty, they would learn the error of their ways and upon release, would change their lifestyles habits and not re-offend.

Simply sending offenders to prison for a period of time does little, if anything, to address what causes offenders to commit crime in the first place. It is often the case that an offender will leave prison in worse condition than before, as many offenders are forced to join prison gangs in order to survive their sentence. If nothing else, offenders will be exposed to more dangerous criminals while in prison, and the likelihood of such offenders changing their behaviour is slim.

Alternatives to imprisonment provide greater opportunities and possibilities for:

• Modifying behaviour
• Making amends to victims and communities
• Allowing community participation and monitoring
• Reparation; and
• Developing into constructive citizens.

What Does the Law Say?

South African law allows for a wide range of non-custodial sentences. Examples of non-custodial sentences in South African law include the use of fines, suspended sentences, postponed sentences, community service, probation and supervisions, as well as attendance of treatment and educational programmes. All of these can be imposed with conditions such as attendance of treatment, education and training programmes, conditions pertaining to reparation and restoration, and specific conditions related to the individual person and case.

Why are Non-Custodial Sentences Important?

It is important that offenders are not simply given a non-custodial sentence without addressing the behaviours that caused the crime in the first place. Ordering a fine to be paid or community service hours to be performed does little to change behaviour. Unless the criminal thinking patterns and behaviours that the offender presents are changed, there will always be the likelihood of recidivism. If we are to fight crime in a meaningful way, we cannot simply punish people without addressing their behaviours and thinking patterns. By making use of the NICRO social worker and NICRO programmes available at court, magistrates ensure that offenders make amends for their actions and receive therapeutic interventions at the same time.

How Are Offenders Assessed as suitable for Non-Custodial Sentences?

NCS are not necessarily appropriate for every offender. Community-based rehabilitation is determined based on the risk profile of the offender. A NICRO social worker assesses the offender to determine suitability for a NCS as well as a relevant therapeutic programme. NICRO’s assessments examine the offenders’ risk profile, their receptiveness to therapeutic interventions and the range of criminogenic needs that must be addressed in order to change their behaviour.

How Does Non-Custodial Sentencing Work?

The magistrate refers an offender to the NICRO social worker for an assessment. If the offender is a child, the referral will come via Probation Services. The NICRO social worker conducts a full assessment and submits a comprehensive report which explains the social worker’s recommendations as to whether the offender is suitable for a non-custodial sentence. If the magistrate sentences the offender to a non-custodial sentence, the offender is referred to NICRO for intake. If the offender fails to comply with the sentencing order, the NICRO social worker will make an affidavit to the public prosecutor. The magistrate will then decide whether to give the offender another chance or send the offender to jail.

What Programmes Does NICRO Offer for NCS?

NICRO offers a basket of programmes which include:

• Substance abuse
• Anger management
• Community service learning
• Life skills
• Substance addiction
• Addressing criminal behaviour
• Domestic violence
• Positive parenting skills
• Restorative Group Conferences
• Safety ambassadors as a community-based crime prevention initiative, and
• Youth empowerment

In addition to programmes, NICRO offers individual as well as family counselling and Victim-Offender Mediation.

The Benefits of Non-Custodial Sentences:

Non-custodial sentencing is beneficial to the general public, the criminal justice system, offenders and their families. The long-term benefits of NCS include:

• NCS options offer interventions of a rehabilitative nature, which facilitate and support successful offender reintegration
• NCS encourages offenders to take responsibility for their actions and make amends, affording them significant life skills development and personal empowerment opportunities, and a real chance at turning their lives around and to steering clear of further criminal activities
• Offenders who are afforded the opportunity of NCS will be in a position to continue their education or work, and therefore not become an additional burden on society
• Heads of households / breadwinners will be in a position to continue supporting their dependants
• Young and impressionable offenders will avoid exposure to hardened criminal elements, a highly significant preventive factor in curbing the spiralling cycle of crime
• The greater utilisation of more appropriate sentencing methods will result in a significant reduction in the workload of the formal justice system and concomitant cost savings
• A reduction in the prison population and overcrowding in correctional facilities can anticipate improvement in prison conditions in South Africa. It will ensure that the basic human rights and needs of incarcerated persons will be effectively addressed; and
• Reduced prison pressure will make offenders more receptive to rehabilitation and reintegration initiatives within correctional facilities themselves

Chance to Change Case Studies

Kate turns her life around!

Kate (19 years) was referred by the court to NICRO to be assessed after she was found guilty of assault GBH. She left school in Grade 6 after she became pregnant. She was unemployed since leaving school and did not have any vocational skills. On NICRO’s recommendation she was given a suspended sentence on condition that she performs six months community service and attends an adult lifeskills programme.

She was placed at a local training college to perform her community service, where she was trained to clean the office, to make photocopies, to send faxes, to handle reception and the switchboard and to bind training manuals. She was also given access to a computer and assists to make use of it to type school assignments. Currently she is attending “night school”, as part of her treatment plan is to further her education as far as possible. Her community service was structured in such a way that it allows her to do her homework and attend classes in the afternoon. The personnel of the training college availed themselves to assist her with her schoolwork and assignments. This support is a great source of motivation for Kate.

Opportunity rather than punishment!

Jeremy was sentenced to three months community service at a local Vocational Centre as a condition of his sentence for drunken driving. He started abusing alcohol after he lost his job due to stroke. During his placement, he was taught furniture restoration and to manufacture tools for occupational therapy. After his placement ended, he was invited to stay on at the centre’s protective labour unit and to work for pay. He is not using alcohol anymore and his feeling of self-worth is restored. For him, community service was an opportunity to come to terms with his disability, rather than punishment.

A desperate mother gets help

A new mother named Gloria*, aged twenty years, abandoned her baby out of desperation from the lack of support received from her family. She left the baby at the gate of a local school wrapped in a blanket. The SAPS found the baby and visited the local hospitals making inquiries. The nurses said that they suspected Gloria as the guilty offender. Gloria, in the meantime, told her relatives that the child had passed away. Gloria’s parents were informed that a baby had been found by the Police and the female offender’s own mother went to go and collect the baby. The baby then remained in the care of the grandmother. Gloria was detained in the local police cells, after which she was released for a NCS assessment by NICRO. She demonstrated remorse for what she had done and underwent individual counselling before her court appearance.

The NICRO social worker recommended Family Group Conference for both Gloria’s and the boyfriend’s family. After attending Family Group Conferencing, Gloria was able to access a child care grant and better her ability to care for her baby. She also repaired the damaged family relationships, thus improving her support network. The boyfriend paid damages and half of lobola and Gloria returned to her mother’s house.

*All names changed

Can You Help?

We all want to do something about crime in South Africa, but many of us just don’t know what we can do. By supporting the Chance to Change Project, you can really do something meaningful. You could:

• Encourage people to visit our website. Promote Chance to Change by talking to your friends, colleagues and family. We need to build strong public support for Change to Change, and get people talking about other ways to deal with offenders
• Apply to become a mentor to an offender
• Provide employment opportunities for an offender
• Provide equipment to NICRO [click here for more details]
• Offer financial support, big or small, to the project by contacting your nearest NICRO office or NICRO’s National Office.

Please contact your nearest NICRO office to get or offer help. We value all the support you can offer and give South Africans the Chance to Change.