PROJECT TITLE: Supervision in the community: intervention in community sentences. Special attention to violence against women.

Supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Grant DER2012-32150).

MAIN RESEARCHER: Elena Larrauri Pijoan

SUMMARY: The aim of this project is to ascertain which kind of criminal sanctions and what specific interventions in the community are effective in order to reduce recidivism, with a special attention to crimes against women.

The starting premise for this project is the fact that community sanctions (ie, punishments which do not consist in a deprivation of liberty and which require the person to assist a course, to undertake unpaid work in the community and/or the supervision by a probation officer of the compliance with various requirements) are currently imposed upon low risk offenders (primary offenders who have committed non serious offences). We believe that these responses are also effective to address offenders with a medium risk level as long as they are adequately supervised with requirements directed both to control and to support.

Our hypothesis, based on evidence from other European countries, is that community sanctions are appropriate, with an adequate judicial supervision and control by probation officers (in Catalonia, 'officers for the enforcement of alternative measures'), in order to respond to offenders with a medium risk level.

In order to achieve this effectively it is necessary to provide these sentences with adequate forms of supervision (instruments for risk assessment, development of guidelines for the supervision of the various requirements, and appropriate instruments to respond to non-compliance).