Offenders, Judges, and Officers Rate the Relative Severity of Alternative Sanctions Compared to Prison

Authors

• Nathan T. Moore, Eastern Kentucky University
• David C. May, Eastern Kentucky University
• Peter B. Wood, Mississippi State University

ORCID

May: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8275-6773

MSU Affiliation

College of Arts and Sciences; Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work; Social Science Research Center

Creation Date

2026-06-01

Abstract

Recent work suggests that offenders rate several alternatives as more severe than imprisonment. We build on this literature by comparing punishment exchange rates generated by criminal court judges with rates generated by offenders and their supervising officers. Findings reveal that none of the three groups rates prison as the most severe sanction and judges and officers rate alternatives as significantly less severe than offenders. Offenders are generally willing to serve less of each alternative to avoid imprisonment than judges or officers. Serving correctional sanctions thus appears to reduce the perceived severity of imprisonment and increase the perceived severity of alternatives. © 2008 by The Haworth Press. All rights reserved.

Publication Date

10-24-2008

Publication Title

Journal of Offender Rehabilitation

Publisher

Taylor and Francis Group; Routledge

First Page

49

Last Page

70

Recommended Citation

Moore, N. T., May, D. C., & Wood, P. B. (2008). Offenders, Judges, and Officers Rate the Relative Severity of Alternative Sanctions Compared to Prison. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 46(3–4), 49–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509670802143276