Prison and “Alternative Sentences”: From Political Division to Empirical Mirage

Over the last few decades, French criminal justice sanctions have become considerably diversified. Fines and imprisonment have been supplemented with the possibility of adjusting sentences with an electronic bracelet, partial release or work releases, and with measures enforced in open environments (suspension with probation, community work, and so on). Yet these so-called “alternative sentences” are less real alternatives to prison than its extension in other forms. Hence the difference between prison and extra-mural sentences is a matter of degree rather than a matter of kind. Moreover, the diversification of criminal sanctions and their implementation by the prison administration raises numerous practical issues.