ideology is therefore confirmed on a European level.approach to a “control-oriented” one. The structural crisis of the rehabilitativehow in the last decades their role has been shifted from a “social-welfarist”and reflect on the effectiveness in terms of rehabilitative goals, highlightingIn a broader perspective, the Authors explore the cultural issue of alternativesincrease of these sanctions and a decrease in prison population rates.observatory results did not produce evidence on a possible link between thewidespread increase in the use of community sanctions may be noted, yet thedecrease in the prison population depends on fluctuations in alternatives. Aprison and probation, in order to explore to which extent the rise and theEuropean Probation Rules. The Authors focus on the relationship betweento imprisonment. In all cases national laws and practices are compared to theThree phases are considered: pre-trials, alternative sanctions and alternativescountries (Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, UK, Latvia and Poland).Alternatives to Imprisonment, a EU Criminal Justice project involving 8The article presents some results of the European Observatory onOutside prison: the results of the European Observatory on prison alternatives