Unfortunately, community service has been linked to the concept of “chain gangs,” which are most typically depicted as a line of prisoners chained together working on the side of the road.  This portrayal melds together community service with the “cruel and demeaning treatment” of prisoners, which causes chain gangs to represent a stigmatizing model of community service.  Such a stigmatizing model gives people the perception that community service is a “ceremony of degradation” rather than an “opportunity for earned redemption.”  This derives from the idea that the only way for community service to show the moral disapproval of the community and be a successful alternative sanction is if the service is degrading and humiliating to offenders.

It is important to avoid the above stigmatization and treat those offenders who participate in community service as individuals who are trying to right wrongs and make a difference rather than as people who have committed crimes and deserve harsh punishments.  If offenders are supported in their efforts to contribute to the community, they are more likely to take pride in that community, which in turn may prevent the individual from making offenses against the community in the future.

Those affiliated with and affected by community service must focus on supporting, rather than stigmatizing, offenders who participate in community service. Such an atmosphere allows the offenders to gain a higher feeling of self-worth.  If the offender feels that he/she is successful when doing something other than offending, then their identity may change to be one of a person who feels they have something to contribute.  Not only will the community service become a “vehicle to repair harm to the community,” it will also be a “step toward achieving graceful earned redemption” for the offender.