--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A lengthy term of community service…" description: "\"“A lengthy term of community service working with addicts on the outside would probably have driven the same truth home and been a hell of a lot more p..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/piper-kerman-8613_community-service_a-lengthy-term-of-community-service-work_1056656.png" --- # A lengthy term of community service working with addicts… ![“A lengthy term of community service working with addicts on the outside would probably have driven the same truth home and been a hell of a lot more productive for the community. But our current criminal justice system has no provision for restorative justice, in which an offender confronts the…” quote by Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/piper-kerman-8613_community-service_a-lengthy-term-of-community-service-work_1056656.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/piper-kerman-8613_community-service_a-lengthy-term-of-community-service-work_1056656.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a58/piper-kerman-8613_community-service_a-lengthy-term-of-community-service-work_1056656.png) > ““A lengthy term of community service working with addicts on the outside would probably have driven the same truth home and been a hell of a lot more productive for the community. But our current criminal justice system has no provision for restorative justice, in which an offender confronts the damage they have done and tries to make it right to the people they have harmed. (I was lucky to get there on my own, with the help of the women I met.) Instead, our system of “corrections” is about arm’s-length revenge and retribution, all day and all night. Then its overseers wonder why people leave prison more broken than when they went in.”” [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Criticizes punitive corrections, urging restorative justice where offenders repair harm directly **In simple terms:** Calls for a justice system focused on repair, not revenge Key Takeaway Advocate restorative justice practices Themes justice reform rehabilitation restorative practices Mood thoughtful advocacy Type social ethical When to use this quote - prison programs - community service - victim support groups Key Concepts Restorative circles victim‑offender mediation Questions to Reflect On - What are the challenges of victim participation? - How can society measure success of restorative approaches? A Different Perspective Restorative justice can be complex to implement ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community service](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community-service/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Criminal justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminal-justice/) [Criminal justice system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criminal-justice-system/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Justice Offender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice-offender-1212307/) [Justice system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice-system/) [Leave Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leave-prison-1589321/) [People Leave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-leave/) [Prison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prison/) [Restorative justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restorative-justice/) ## Related quotes > [“...our current criminal justice system has no provision for restorative justice, in which an offender confronts the damage they have done and tries to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/our-current-criminal-justice-system-has-no-provision-for-restorative/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“our current criminal justice system has no provision for restorative justice, in which an offender confronts the damage they have done and tries to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/our-current-criminal-justice-system-has-no-provision-for-restorative-3/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“A lengthy term of community service working with addicts on the outside would probably have driven the same truth home and been a hell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/a-lengthy-term-of-community-service-working-with-addicts-on-the-2/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [Instead, our system of "corrections" is about arm's-length revenge and retribution, all day and all night. Then its overseers wonder why people leave prison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/instead-our-system-of-corrections-is-about-arm-s-length-revenge-and/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [Our current criminal justice system has no provision for restorative justice, in which an offender confronts the damage they have done and tries to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/our-current-criminal-justice-system-has-no-provision-for-restorative-2/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [At the federal level, I believe we should address inequality by reforming our criminal justice system and providing restorative justice to communities devastated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael-warnock/at-the-federal-level-i-believe-we-should-address-inequality-by/) [Raphael Warnock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael-warnock/) > [I would make the case that the vast majority of prisoners leave prison and go back into society. 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I could leave this prison if I liked,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-zelazny/however-confused-i-become-i-will-always-hold-close-the-notion-that-i/) [John Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-zelazny/) > [People who end up in our prisons tend to come from the most difficult backgrounds. They did not have the parental support as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-grayling/people-who-end-up-in-our-prisons-tend-to-come-from-the-most-difficult/) [Chris Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-grayling/) > [“He records that he was almost loathe to leave his prison cell because it was there that he realized that real success is success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-covey/he-records-that-he-was-almost-loathe-to-leave-his-prison-cell-because/) [Stephen R. Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-covey/) > [And other people get the opportunity to leave prison, and then they do something to get put back in there because they can't actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-prepon/and-other-people-get-the-opportunity-to-leave-prison-and-then-they-do/) [Laura Prepon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-prepon/) > [“He (Anwar Sadat) records that he was almost loathe to leave his prison cell because it was there that he realized that real success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-r-covey/he-anwar-sadat-records-that-he-was-almost-loathe-to-leave-his-prison/) [Stephen R. Covey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-r-covey/) > [“It's time to get healed. It's time to confess. Falling for the bait doesn't make you the worst person in the world. 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But how to reconcile it with one's insatiable need for other people?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/stoicism-sure-comes-in-handy-when-they-take-away-your-underpants-but/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“Some of the mothers looked overwhelmed - they were no longer accustomed to supervising their own kids in a normal, day-to-day way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/some-of-the-mothers-looked-overwhelmed-they-were-no-longer-accustomed/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“The female guard in R&D explained that they had no women's street clothes, so she gave me the smallest pair of men's jeans they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/the-female-guard-in-r-d-explained-that-they-had-no-women-s-street/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“I had forgotten about the pleasures of college radio, the exquisite randomness of what got played, the twenty-minute between-songs banter of nineteen-year-olds, the smack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/i-had-forgotten-about-the-pleasures-of-college-radio-the-exquisite/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“I had long recognized that faith helped people understand their relationship to their community. 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If he is a cocky bastard, even more so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/if-he-is-a-half-decent-human-being-he-will-find-himself-the-object-of/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“If you had the misfortune of having the government intimately involved with your life, whether via public housing or Medicaid or food stamps, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/if-you-had-the-misfortune-of-having-the-government-intimately/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“Prison is quite literally a ghetto in the most classic sense of the world, a place where the U.S. government now puts not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/piper-kerman/prison-is-quite-literally-a-ghetto-in-the-most-classic-sense-of-the/) [Piper Kerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/piper-kerman/) > [“He told us that it was important to eat right, exercise, and treat your body as a temple. 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