The research also explored how both groups rank the difficulty of commonly imposed probation conditions and which offender background characteristics are associated with perceptions of sanction severity. Results suggest that some intermediate sanctions are equal in punitiveness to prison. Inmates and staff ranked most sanctions similarly, although the groups differed somewhat regarding jail and probation and the staff regarded most probation conditions as more difficult for offenders than did inmates. Findings support the views of others that it is no longer necessary to equate punishment solely with prison. At some level of intensity and length, intensive probation is as severe as prison and may actually be the more dreaded penalty. Tables, notes, and 26 references (Author abstract modified)