Background:
In order to control correctional costs and promote a safe reintegration of offenders into society, community-based alternatives to imprisonment have been adopted. One alternative to incarceration is the electronic monitoring of offenders in the community.
Electronic monitoring (EM) programs were first developed in the United States to enforce the house arrest of offenders. Offenders could be sentenced to remain in their homes and their whereabouts monitored by electronic equipment (e.g., ankle bracelets) worn by them. EM programs offered an apparently inexpensive alternative for offenders who would have been imprisoned were it not for EM. Most evaluations of EM programs do not provide clear results due to methodological weaknesses. Some studies have raised the possibility that EM may actually widen the "correctional net" (i.e., added control that is not necessary to manage the offender safely). There is also very little evidence to show that EM programs reduce the likelihood of offenders returning to crime.
The present study used a quasi-experimental methodology to evaluate the impact of EM on future crime and whether it functioned as a true alternative to incarceration.
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