They suggest that in both England and Ontario concern about the social and economic costs of imprisonment, doubts about prison effectiveness, a rising crime rate, and interest in community based alternatives to imprisonment form the background to CS. They point to the main differences between the two contexts and the way CS operates. They explain those differences by resort to socio-historical, legal, and administrative factors which, they argue, have been at work since the inception of the sanction in both contexts. In particular, they point out the possible reasons why the English CS is a male dominated partial prison alternative, while in Ontario, women are overrepresented on a sanction which rarely, if ever, functions as an alternative to imprisonment. They also show how the same factors have been instrumental in shaping CS which in England is higher up in the tariff structure than in Ontario. 2 notes and references. (Author abstract)