Prison without Walls: Perception about Community Service as an Alternative to Imprisonment in Kumasi Metropolis, Ashanti Region, Ghana

The numerous challenges, such as increasing prisoner population, inadequate financial support and deteriorated training facilities, have not enabled the Prisons Service to perform their functions adequately. The paper aimed at investigating the perception among residents of Kumasi metropolis about community service as an alternative to imprisonment. This study adopted the social survey research design to investigate the perception of 200 respondents regarding community service as an alternative form of punishment to imprisonment. The study revealed that generally, the public were well informed about community service and preferred it to imprisonment. On the contrary, preference for community service was related to its perceived appropriateness for reducing the stigma that was usually attached to ex-convicts as well as its perceived ability to reform offenders better than imprisonment. Respondents agreed that minor offences were appropriate for community sentences. Also, people with communicable diseases, pregnant and nursing mothers, single parents and first time offenders should be given community service which must be communal in nature. Some recommendations were made.