Vermeidung von Ersatzfreiheitsstrafen

Imprisonment for fine-default holds disadvantages for everyone involved: Those imprisoned face negative personal and social consequences, the state faces tremendous costs and in addition to this, people who are fined are not supposed to end up in prison. In North-Rhine-Westphalia a new procedure has been introduced that aims to support offenders in avoiding imprisonment. To achieve this, prosecutors' offices are to cooperate with governmental and non-governmental social services. This volume contains the results of a mixed-methods-evaluation carried by the Institute for Criminology at the University of Cologne. Analyses of official data and interviews illustrate the living conditions of offenders. Furthermore the cooperation of prosecutors' offices and other organizations is examined and recommendations for political action are given.