A survey from SmartJustice and Victim Support showed that victims are not that punitive as commonly thought.
The most striking finding of the research, conducted by ICM, was that eight out of ten (80%) victims think that more constructive activities for young people in the community and better supervision by parents would be effective in stopping re-offending. Seven out of ten victims also want to see more treatment programmes in the community for offenders suffering from mental health problems, and for drug addicts, to tackle the causes of non-violent crime. Among the key findings from the poll, which asked how non-violent crimes like shoplifting, car theft and vandalism can be reduced, were:
- two-thirds (62%) of victims think that going to prison does not prevent re-offending.
- more than half (54%) were in favour of making offenders work in the community - in schools, old people's homes or parks - to stop them returning to crime.
- 51% of victims were also in support of making offenders meet their victims to make amends personally.
The results of the poll can be found at: http://www.icmresearch.co.uk/reviews/2006/Smart%20Justice%20-%20Crime%20survey%20-%20Jan%2006/Smart%20Justice%20-%20Crime%20survey.asp.
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