Yahya Torkey Alkhazraj
Department of Sociology and Social Work, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, King Abdul-Aziz, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Volume: 18 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 103-116| March2026 | https://doi.org/10.54940/ss27923703 | PDF
Received: 04/01/2026 | Revised: 10/01/2026 | Accepted: 03/02/2026
Corresponding Author: yalkhazraj@kau.edu.sa
Abstract
The Canadian criminal justice system is considered one of the most advanced in the Western world in terms of the variety and diversity of alternatives to sentencing for both adults and juveniles. Additionally, it adopts a reformative and rehabilitative vision for offenders, avoiding the use of imprisonment for many minor and moderate crimes, and focusing instead on community-based alternatives. This approach aims to keep defend-ants who do not have a criminal record and pose no threat to the security and safety of society away from the prison experience—from which they might emerge more experienced and skilled in legal violations and crimi-nal practices—and to reduce the psychological, social, and professional consequences resulting from custodial sentences.This paper seeks to review the most important aspects of the Canadian experience in the field of alternatives to custodial sentences by focusing on the types of alternative penalties for adults and juveniles, which rely on the rehabilitation and social reintegration of defendants within their local communities rather than in reformatory institutions. The paper also presents the Canadian experience in the field of restorative justice, where offenders accept full responsibility for the criminal act they committed, undertake the responsibility of reconciliation, and fulfill the victim's requests for compensation or apology. This provides victims with the opportunity to express their feelings toward the case to the offenders, as well as the financial, emotional, and psychological impacts they may have suffered. Furthermore, this restorative model allows community members and local leaders to participate in mediation processes, bridging the gap between the offender, the victim, and their families, and collaborating with judicial authorities in formulating and issuing appropriate sentences through restorative jus-tice circles.
Keywords
Custodial Sentences, Alternative Sentences, Juvenile Courts, Restorative Justice.
How to Cite
Alkhazraj, Y. (2026). Alternatives to Custodial Sentences. Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Social Sciences, 18(1), 103-116. https://doi.org/10.54940/ss27923703
License
Copyright (c) 2026. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC)