Alternative to Incarceration for Women in the Criminal Justice systems of Iran and Western Countries: With an Approach to Islamic Jurisprudence

Use of imprisonment as an important sanction in dealing with delinquency in the criminal policy of different countries has not been very successful and this has led to the tendency of legislative and judicial authorities to use its alternatives. Why and how to restrict imprisonment for women is one of the issues that has occupied the minds of thinkers and policymakers at the national and international levels. Research suggests a double necessity using alternatives to incarceration for this group of convicts because their personality and behavior often do not pose a significant danger to others to make their imprisonment necessary. In addition, the punishment of imprisonment not only causes the occurrence and spread of mental illnesses and increases self-harm among them in prison environments that are primarily male in nature, and in practice cannot help their rehabilitation, but also incarceration will increase the risk of delinquency in them and even their children, both inside and outside the prison. Therefore, in the present article which is done by a descriptive-analytical method, it would be clear that the capacity and experience of penal systems both in our country and in the West have shown that alternatives such as self-regulatory penalties, community services and financial penalties, if used accurately and appropriately, can prevent further harm to this important segment of society while preventing the recurrence of crime. A view that is quite consistent with the minimalist approach of Islam in dealing with imprisonment.