The Introduction of Community Service Orders: Mapping its ‘Conditions of Possibility’

The C riminal J ustice A ct 1972 made provision for the introduction of community service orders in England and Wales. In describing the sanction, many commentators adopted the view that it was only in detail a novel disposal, given that work‐based penal dispositions can be traced a long way back in penal history. This article rejects such an approach to understanding the sanction on the grounds that it is ahistorical and proceeds with the assumption that all penal work sanctions are governed by the same commitments and principles. Its conditions of possibility, it will be argued, can only be understood within a modern penal and social complex. Such an approach will be more sensitive to context and will enable the disposal to become a coherent object of analysis by opening up new avenues of enquiry in respect of its meaning and prospects.