Maybe a little bit of justice. He did 50 hours of “community service” for his last infraction. I have always wondered what that type of “service” that might be.
In a former life, part of my role was helping to rehab offenders. Scotland has a well-developed community service programme, and in our area much of it involved helping out less well-off older people with projects like painting and decorating.
In conjunction with counselling and groupwork it was very effective in changing attitudes and reducing reoffending.
One of my warmest memories was an interview with a notorious local ruffian who had repainted a house for a sweet old lady. She had been genuinely grateful and given him a nice gift as a thank you. This hardened petty criminal burst into tears and said that no-one had ever valued him as a person and thanked for anything before. The whole experience was a turning point in his life.
So keep open minded – when done well community service can be very effective – far more effective than yet another short prison sentence.
Whether it would have helped a crazy like our guy here is another question. He may be beyond reaching…
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